The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme brings together Member State governments, the UN system, funding partners and UN Volunteers. Through volunteerism, these different stakeholders collaborate in pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals. UNV enables its partners – including governments, universities, civil society organizations and the private sector – to fund UN Volunteer assignments through its Full Funding Programme.
Funding partners may choose to sponsor nationals of their own country or those of other nationalities to contribute their skills and talents for peace and development.
UN Volunteers contribute to key UN projects and functions at country and regional level, and address some of the most pressing peace and development challenges around the world.
In 2023, approximately 709 UN Volunteers worldwide were fully funded, with 73 per cent women and 55 per cent UN Youth and University Volunteers. Of these, 7 per cent were UN Volunteers with disabilities.
In the 2016 UNV Annual Survey, 91 per cent of fully funded UN Volunteers indicated that they were satisfied or very satisfied with their experience and 91 per cent agreed that their knowledge, competencies and skills had been developed through the assignment.
Our studies (2016) indicate that the three most highly rated aspects of the volunteer experience were:
- Intercultural experience;
- Knowledge of the UN system; and
- Development of personal and social skills.
Over 75 per cent of respondents indicated that the UN Volunteer experience had been valuable for their career development and employment perspectives.
Immediately after their assignments, 27 per cent of respondents continued to work with the UN.
To learn more about the real-life experiences of UN Volunteers, watch below the Behind the scenes of a UN Volunteer of Carla Enrica, UN Volunteer fully funded by Switzerland, and the experiences of Yiran Zhao, Xinhao Yao, and Xiangyu Jin, UN Volunteers fully funded by China.
For more information
For enquiries about the UNV Full Funding Programme, contact our Partnerships Section at: partnershipsupport((at))unv((dot))org
For more information on who can partner with the Full Funding Programme, how we work and the cost of an assignment, refer to our most recent UNV Full Funding Programme Report 2023 and Annual Report 2023.
Partners interested in supporting UNV with other financial resources are invited to refer to the page on UNV funding partners.
