Page 119 - 80 YEARS OF VOLUNTEER IMPACT WITH FAO

Terumi Onuma

FROM UN VOLUNTEER TO

RESPONSIBLE AGRICULTURAL

INVESTMENTS OFFICER WITH FAO

When Terumi Onuma first heard about the United Nations Volunteers, she was serving as a press attaché at the
Japanese Embassy in Paris. A conversation with a friend at UNESCO sparked her interest in the opportunity and led her
to apply for a UNV assignment in Dakar, Senegal. Eager to test her skills in a new context, she became the first Strategic
Communications and Knowledge Management Officer at the UNV Regional Office for West and Central Africa.
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There, Terumi developed a strategy covering 24 countries, built strong partnerships with agencies like UNIC, UNHCR
and UN Women, and helped raise UNV’s visibility across the region. “Being the only Asian communications officer in the
region was intimidating,” she recalls, “Visibility became advocacy: it was a chance to show the diversity and expertise
UN Volunteers bring to the UN system.”

Her time as a volunteer marked a shift from bilateral diplomacy to multilateral development. Today, Terumi is a
Responsible Agricultural Investments Officer at FAO, working on projects across Southeast Asia and West Africa. “My
work is about promoting responsible agricultural investments and recognizing their value—kinder to people and the
planet,” she adds. “In Mauritania, for example, we’re aiming to document how this can contribute to social cohesion.
I enjoy working across very different regions and bridging high-level policy with grassroots realities: from farmers and
Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), to parliamentarians."

Terumi Onuma (centre), former UN Volunteer, is now. a staff member at FAO. [UNV, 2017]