In the priority area of community resilience for climate change and disaster risk reduction, the critical involvement of volunteers has been in disaster risk management, particularly by strengthening the capacity of communities to respond to and prevent disasters.

Supporting the operations of various UN agencies in humanitarian assistance and emergency relief, UN Volunteers engage in a wide range of assignments with the ultimate aim to save and protect the lives of people such as refugees and internally displaced persons, to alleviate suffering and to maintain human dignity.

National UN Volunteers come from all walks of life. In the health sector UNV’s partners have requested volunteers knowledgeable and experienced as general medical practitioners, medical specialists and doctors specialized in public health; staff counselors and psychologists; midwives and nurses, dentists, pharmacists and laboratory technicians.

This publication synthesizes the process a potential volunteer should complete in order to register with UNV.  It highlights a two-step process that covers understanding essential information for potential UN Volunteers and submitting basic information to create an account in the UNV candidate pool, then subsequently regularly tracking and updating, ‘My Profile’ – a website that allows potential candidates to access their account.

UN Volunteers are skilled and have the expertise to help alleviate the plight of people in desperate situations.  Through their commitment, local knowledge and neutral status, they are able to build bridges between stakeholders in affected communities, by promoting mutual trust, enhancing ownership and building capacity.

Online Volunteering enables UN Volunteers, through the Internet, to help address peace and development challenges and strengthen the impact of organizations. In addition, online volunteering offers the private sector a contemporary and modern tool to demonstrate corporate social responsibility, allowing employees to connect with a social cause from wherever they are and to contribute to tackling global challenges while pursuing a demanding career.

Switzerland is one of the key partners of the United Nations Volunteers programme, and one of its top donors.  Since 2001, UNV and Switzerland have focusing through their partnership on the placement of

UNV partners at governmental and non-governmental level with the Republic of Korea to advance peace and development. UNV promotes university-level volunteering in partnership with leading universities in Europe, and the successful Online Volunteering service that opens up possibilities for young people to volunteer off-site through the internet. This publication highlights the long-standing partnership between UNV and the Republic of Korea, the contribution of Korean UN Volunteers, as well as some key data.

The UNV Strategic Framework 2014-2017 focuses on UNV programmatic effort in the key area of national capacity development through volunteer schemes. UN Volunteers facilitate efforts between governments, civil society, the private sector and partner United Nations entities. Fostering strong partnerships, generating complementary skills, resources and expertise, UN Volunteers increase the development impact and add to sustainability.

Through its UNV Strategic Framework 2014-2017, UNV supports efforts to advance innovation and knowledge by focusing on building a credible body of knowledge informed by research, innovation and evidence in order to advocate and enhance the integration of volunteerism into peace and development programming. UN Volunteers support partnerships especially in terms of engagement with civil society at all levels, creativity in addressing local challenges and facilitate innovative forms of volunteering to increase the depth and breadth of civic engagement.