This Memorandum of Understanding is a stepping stone for more fortified and promising collaboration between the two organizations for the benefit of future generations. UNV has long been a proponent of WFP, and UN Volunteers have steadfastly supported its delivery over the years. Notably, UNV and WFP have been working together in the Sahel region, where it is estimated that over 20 million people are affected by conflict and 2.4 million people are mired in poverty, hunger and in need of food assistance.

Some volunteers load trucks with medical masks and hygiene items. Others rush to distribute printed handouts which outline basic hygiene principles to use in the face of COVID-19. Many more sit in front of their laptops and phones at home, reaching out to households in remote and affected areas, and assisting health and social workers who disseminate handouts.

This Memorandum of Understanding marks a significant milestone for the partnership between the two organizations, as it sets the legal and operational framework for future collaboration. UNV will continue to support UN Women in achieving its strategic priorities through the deployment of volunteer talent and by utilizing volunteerism. This will enable UN Women to build local capacities, engage with grassroots communities and civil society, and involve women and youth in its development interventions. 

Year 2020. After this one-year life-changing journey, I got my certificate and shared it on my LinkedIn profile, tagging the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme. With that another exciting journey began: people from all over the world started liking, sharing and asking me to talk through my experience with them. From Africa to Asia, more than 2,000 people felt inspired by two simple sentences I wrote when sharing my UN Volunteer Certificate of Service.

Transcript: Happy UN Day!   This United Nations Day, 2020, marks the 75th Anniversary of our organization, the United Nations.

So, what does “move towards more people-centered solutions” mean in practice? The answer is surprisingly straightforward. It resides in the opportunities created for citizens to meaningfully engage in the issues affecting them. The more engagement is secured, the more impactful will development initiatives be. From this perspective, volunteering is perhaps the greatest and most underutilized asset in development assistance today.

The Government of Germany is a long-standing key partner of UNV, and regular partner consultations take place with the two lead ministries in Bonn and Berlin, and with the German mission to the UN in New York, to assess and advance this multi-faceted partnership: the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Federal Foreign Office. The focus of the recent dialogue was on the current collaboration as well as broader issues relate

2020 is the year when UNV moved towards strong financial BI capabilities, which has facilitated delivering an exhaustive, accessible and accurate financial picture of the organization and set the baseline for stronger financial monitoring and forecasting. We are proud that UNV has invested into BI and that through our digital transformation project we are transforming how UNV is using data and statistics for all critical domains. --Frederic Le Maistre, Chief, ICT Unit at UNV