The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) program is the UN organization that promotes volunteerism to support peace and development worldwide.
Volunteerism is a powerful means of engaging people in tackling development challenges, and it can transform the pace and nature of development. Volunteerism benefits both to the whole society and the volunteer individual by strengthening trust, solidarity and reciprocity among citizens and by purposefully creating opportunities for participation.
UNV contributes to peace and development by advocating for recognition of volunteers, working with partners to integrate volunteerism into development programming, and mobilizing around the world an increasing number of volunteers, with more diversity, including specialist UN Volunteers. UNV embraces volunteerism as universal and inclusive. It recognizes volunteerism in its diversity as well as the values that sustain it: free will, commitment and solidarity.
Headquarters of the UNV programme, active in more than 140 countries, is based in Bonn, Germany. It is represented worldwide in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) offices, and within peacekeeping missions. The program submits an annual report to the Executive Board of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Established in 1971, UNV works with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations since 1992. Today, nearly 3,000 UN Volunteers are serving in a peacekeeping mission. Since 1971, more than 30 000 people have been or are currently UN Volunteers. The UN Volunteers are 38 years old on average, with over 5 years of professional experience. More specifically, about 60% of our Volunteers are males and 40% are females. They represent 152 nationalities and over 60% of them / they are from countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. The United Nations Volunteers are deployed in 129 countries, and over 150 professional categories are represented.
The United Nations Volunteers program in Côte d’Ivoire
The UNV integrated field unit in Côte d’Ivoire is working under the overall supervision of the Programme Manager. The team is based in two offices in Abidjan: one office at UNOCI Headquarters, primarily responsible for supporting Volunteers working in the Mission, and one office at UNDP Country Office, covering the Volunteers assigned at UN agencies, funds and programs.
Activities and advocacy projects for volunteering, mobilization of volunteers, Volunteers’ training, in partnership with civil society, and the Ivorian Government, are conducted jointly by the UNV integrated Field Unit.
At UNOCI, UN Volunteers are serving in 29 sections (out of 38) from Transport to Engineering, through the Human Rights Division and the Medical field. Nearly 90 international UN Volunteers are currently mobilized in the Mission in Côte d’Ivoire.
At UN agencies, funds and programs, 15 UN Volunteers, national and international, are currently serving at UNHCR, UN Women, UNDP, UNEP, in Abidjan and in the sectors.
The UNV integrated Field Unit also mobilized 10 online volunteers (www.onlinevolunteering.org) in 2016 to support activities of communication and advocacy in Côte d’Ivoire.
Among the initiatives of advocacy for volunteerism, the UNV Integrated Field Unit in Côte d’Ivoire implements a national volunteer project to support the Ministry of Youth, in partnership with UNDP. The project was officially launched in June 2016 and will target 1,000 national volunteers in the regions of Gbeke, Tonkpi, and the district of Abidjan.
UNV also implements many advocacy activities, such as International Volunteer Day (5 December), the Gender Promotion Day as part of the post-2015 agenda, ‘’Cafes des Volontaires’’, and other activities conducted jointly with our UN partners, civil society and the government.
How to become a Volunteer ?
For more details, please visit: www.unv.org