The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme has partnered with Sweden, through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), since 2007. The partnership was formally renewed in 2018 to align with Sida’s Strategy for Capacity Development, Partnerships, and Methods Supporting Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development (2018-2022).
In 2017, Sida and UNV signed the first agreement to supporting full funding of UN Youth Volunteer assignments for Swedish Volunteers. During 2023, 71 Swedish nationals served as UN Volunteers. The Government of Sweden fully funded 48 volunteer assignments in total
Sida and UNV engaged in a pilot initiative in 2019 to support the UNDP-UNV Talent Programme for Young Professionals with Disabilities for Swedish nationals. In 2020, as part of this initiative, Sida decided to extend its support to also fund assignments for persons with disabilities for national UN Volunteers.
In 2020, Sida diversified its support by extending funding for UN Volunteer Specialists, namely for support to the COVID-19 response and for UNV assignments for midwifes, in the context of 2020 as International Year of Midwives and Nurses.
Sida provides a contribution to UNV’s Special Voluntary Fund (SVF), a flexible resource to implement UNV’s Strategic Framework. Sida and UNV hold annual consultations to assess the status and results achieved through this partnership.
The Swedish Government was also one of the 124 co-sponsors of the 2018 UN General Assembly Resolution on Volunteering for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2018.
Featured UN Volunteer testimonial
For further information, visit the websites of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden and Strategy for Capacity Development, Partnerships and Methods Supporting Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, as well as the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and dedicated section on UN Youth Volunteers. Also refer to UNV's Annual Report 2023, including our Special Voluntary Fund and Full Funding reports.
