Who we are
The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme contributes to peace and development through volunteerism worldwide. We work with partners to integrate qualified, highly motivated and well supported UN Volunteers into development programming and promote the value and global recognition of volunteerism. UNV is administered by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and reports to the UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS Executive Board. Read more about the added value of UNV, UN Volunteers and volunteerism.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AND LEADERSHIP

UNV headquarters are in Bonn, Germany. UNV has around 150 staff members at headquarters, and over 9,400 UN Volunteers deployed in the field in 2020.

Mr Toily Kurbanov (Russian Federation) is the Executive Coordinator of UNV, and took up his appointment on 4 January 2021.

Ms Kyoko Yokosuka (Japan) is the Deputy Executive Coordinator and took up her appointment in April 2021.

UNV's Office in New York (ONY) promotes volunteers and volunteerism through partnership development with Permanent Missions to the UN, UN partners headquartered in New York, civil society organizations and other NY-based partners. It monitors policy and strategy developments at the UN in New York and contributes to UN Volunteer mobilization by developing and promoting volunteer solutions within UN partner operations, projects and programmes, coordinating closely with UNV headquarters, regional offices and field units.

UNV has six Regional Offices in Amman (covering the Arab States), Bangkok (covering Asia and the Pacific), Dakar (covering West and Central Africa), Istanbul (covering Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States), Nairobi (covering East and Southern Africa) and Panama City (covering Latin America and the Caribbean). The regional offices are the first entry point for partners wishing to engage with UNV. They offer UNV services and solutions to government partners, UN entities, civil society and the private sector, and takes the lead in scoping and delivering UNV advisory services on volunteer infrastructure. They also provide oversight and strategic guidance to UNV's field units in the regions.

At the country level, UNV Field Units interact with UN entities to strategically and meaningfully integrate volunteerism into the implementation and delivery of their mandates. As part of this process, UNV works with UN entities to identify opportunities where volunteers add specific and unique value to development programmes and peacekeeping missions. The UN Partner Toolkit is the first point of entry for partners seeking information about mobilizing and managing UN Volunteers.

For further information about the work of the United Nations system, kindly visit www.un.org.

Our mission: Mobilize volunteers
We mobilize volunteers to serve in UN agencies, both in development programmes and peacekeeping operations.
Once primarily a provider of volunteers to the United Nations (UN) system in support of programme countries, UNV has evolved in terms of the size and spread of its mandate, results and activities, driven by the changing external environment for peace, development and the eradication of poverty, by the wider acknowledgment of the role of volunteerism globally and by intergovernmental legislation.
Executive Board decision 2006/18 confirmed UNV’s business model, leading to UNV being operational in three domains:
mobilizing volunteers to enable more people to be directly involved in humanitarian, peacebuilding and post-conflict recovery, as well as sustainable development and poverty eradication work of the UN;
advocating for volunteerism and civic engagement in peace and development; and
pursuing the integration of volunteerism across policy, legislation and programming as well as delivering on internationally agreed development goals.

UNV works under a dual mandate – to mobilize volunteers for the United Nations System and to advocate for the importance of volunteerism in development worldwide.

The United Nations General Assembly created UNV in 1970, with an initial mandate to provide qualified and motivated volunteers for the United Nations System in support of peace and development in operational countries.

Over nearly five decades, the scope of UNV’s mandate has expanded, driven by a constantly changing global environment and wider recognition of the value of volunteerism. A series of UN decisions now direct UNV activities and results to also focus on youth engagement and on demonstrating how integrating volunteering in peace and development projects and programmes can widen and deepen impact.

Changes in the development paradigm over the years also created a shift from international technical cooperation towards greater support for national and home-grown solutions, achieved by strengthening national and local capacities. Likewise, the growing vulnerability of communities due to exposure to recurrent natural disasters and conflict has demanded a much more robust humanitarian intervention globally. These trends are reflected UNV volunteer mobilization and programming for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and peacekeeping.

Our mission: Promote volunteerism
UNV champions environments in which volunteerism can flourish. It pushes for the ability and right of people to participate in their own development.