UNV Executive Coordinator Flavia Pansieri attended the UNDP/UNFPA Executive Board in June 2011 in New York. She emphasized the need to acknowledge volunteerism in various ways, “in particular not as an afterthought, but as an intentional component of programmes designed to promote national ownership and the development of national capacities,” she said.

Houay Ngou, Lao PDR: My last field visit was for a small hydro power project in the remote village of Houay Ngou in northern Lao PDR. The villagers had invited our GEF (Global Environment Facility) SGP (Small Grants Programme) team to the opening ceremony to celebrate the launch of the new small hydro power generating system. It takes almost two days to reach the village from Vientiane, the capital city, due to its remote mountainous location and dusty road conditions, but we were happy to attend.

On the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, Rizwan Latif, a national UN Volunteer Outreach and Capacity Development Officer based in Islamabad, was sharing his work with young men and boys so that they can contribute to local efforts for the empowerment and protection of women in Pakistan.

UNV Executive Coordinator Flavia Pansieri is in Australia this week meeting with government and civil society representatives to share information about the unique contribution of volunteerism to peace and development and the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers (IYV+10).

A team of over 22 volunteers in rural Glengoffe, Jamaica, has been working towards empowering this small community of 5,000 people in order to sustain their environment against the impact of climate change. Known for their strong spirit of self-reliance and volunteerism, the people of Glengoffe rely heavily on farming for their livelihood. Heavy rainfall and long periods of drought have exposed the ecosystem of Glengoffe to landslides and have threatened biodiversity.

Port Louis, Mauritius:  Originally from Italy, since last February, I have been a  "volonter pou Moris", which means "volunteer for Mauritius" in Mauritian Creole, serving in the UNDP Country Office in Port Louis as a UNV Intern in Inclusive Development and Gender.  In my internship, which is fully funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I have been assigned to the Support to Inclusive Development project which is aimed at assisting the Mauritius Government in its efforts to address the issues of poverty reduction, socio-economic developm

Gulfam Mustafa, UN Volunteer Partnership and Resource Mobilization Officer serving with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Guinea Bissau  As an international UN Volunteer, I live in a country thousands of miles away from my home. I have my family and kids back in Pakistan. Following the news of increasing COVID-19 cases causes me fear, anxiety and mental stress.

We encourage you to update your profile on UNV’s web application system. With the right skillset, you could support the response in one of the following areas:

How does the recruitment of UN Volunteers add value to UNDP?As an efficient, speedy and diverse talent solution for UN partners, UN Volunteers serve with UN entities to bring people to the forefront of development, peace and humanitarian issues. UNV manages a pool of over 350,000 talented and qualified UN Volunteers who can be deployed to bolster the delivery of UNDP’s programmes and support the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.