Volunteerism is a unique way to bring people together for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Through volunteerism, communities are engaged and build their own sustainable futures. In 2018, as every year since the founding of UNV in 1971, we mobilized volunteers to contribute to the priorities and uphold the values of the United Nations.
The integration of volunteerism into the United Nations system is anchored in the strong relationships between UNV and our United Nations partners. While, UN Volunteers actively contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The UNV Annual Report 2018, Volunteering in Motion, puts together our latest results and achievements, and demonstrates how UN Volunteers continue to make an impact in all five pillars of sustainable development: planet, people, prosperity, peace and partnerships.
EXECUTIVE BRIEFING
Olivier Adam, UNV Executive Coordinator, meets members in one of the 26 Territorial Training and Reincorporation Spaces in Colombia. (Cristina Segarra/ UNV, 2018)
The long-term trend towards increased demand for national UN Volunteers continued in 2018: 45 per cent of all UN Volunteers worldwide compared to 40 per cent the year before. National UN Volunteers enable UNV partners to strengthen national ownership and local capacities, engage local citizens and empower communities. The ratio of women UN Volunteers remained stable at 47 per cent for the second year running. This year, UNV has explicitly sought out and recommended highly qualified women candidates to its United Nations partners for selection.
In 2018, 81 per cent of UN Volunteers were from the Global South. This number represents a major contribution by UNV to South-South cooperation, bringing people from the South together to find solutions to development challenges through exchanges and transfer of skills, knowledge and best practices between counterparts.
The average age of a UN Volunteer in 2018 was 35, while the number of UN Youth Volunteers, who are between 18 and 29 years of age, increased from 8 per cent in 2017 to 11 per cent in 2018. This year, UNV continued working with UN Member States and other partners on the recognition of volunteering under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
With our new and more fit-for-purpose organizational structure, along with advances in national volunteering, innovation and strong partnerships, we will maintain our drive to leave no one behind and ensure the benefits of volunteerism are recognized throughout the world.
We share our thanks to Members States for their confidence in UNV and their support, to United Nations partners for their close collaboration and to UN Volunteers for their selfless contributions to peace and development around the world.
Olivier Adam, Executive Coordinator, UNV
STATISTICS
19%
From the global North
81%
From the global South
UN Volunteers served with 38 UN entity partners
53%
Men
47%
Women
2,136
served with UNDPKO/UNDPA
848
served with UNHCR
2,286
served with UNDP
1,800
UN Volunteers under the age of 29
29,6%
of them women
161
Countries of origin
146
Countries of assignment
NUMBERS
Online volunteering allows organizations and volunteers to team up to address sustainable development challenges – anywhere in the world, from any device. Online volunteering is fast, easy – and most of all, effective. When skilled, passionate individuals join forces online with organizations working toward sustainable development goals, everyone wins.
Online Volunteers
From global South
Women
UN entities
Civil society organizations
UNV FUNDING PARTNERS 2016-2018
UNV thanks its UN Member State partners for their generous contributions in support of volunteerism for sustainable development and peace.
UN Member States are listed by magnitude of contributions received during the three year period 2016-2018.*
* Amounts indicated are in thousands of US dollars.
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | |
|---|---|---|---|
 Sweden
|
974
|
2,508
|
5,885
|
 Republic of Korea
|
2,494
|
3,670
|
4,137
|
 Germany
|
4,358
|
4,603
|
3,860
|
 Switzerland
|
1,276
|
1,701
|
1,786
|
 France
|
933
|
2,078
|
1,307
|
 Japan
|
723
|
1,542
|
1,133
|
 Russia
|
- | - |
1,004
|
 Norway
|
- |
763
|
867
|
 Finland
|
628
|
829
|
859
|
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | |
|---|---|---|---|
 Ireland
|
556
|
532
|
575
|
 Luxembourg
|
418
|
- |
491
|
 Czech Republic
|
249
|
336
|
360
|
 United Kingdom
|
165
|
125
|
147
|
 China
|
30
|
30
|
30
|
 India
|
- |
15
|
20
|
 Bangladesh
|
- |
1
|
3
|
 Kazakhstan
|
2
|
2
|
2
|
 Thailand
|
- |
71
|
2
|
UNITED NATIONS PARTNERS 2018
UNV is as strong as its partnerships. UN Volunteers deliver on sustainable development for our United Nations partners.
Refer to our partnering pages for detailed information on our collaboration with key UN entity partners: https://www.unv.org/united-nations-partners
2286 Volunteers
2136 Volunteers
848 Volunteers
420 Volunteers
257 Volunteers
230 Volunteers
221 Volunteers
126 Volunteers
116 Volunteers
105 Volunteers
84 Volunteers
70 Volunteers
70 Volunteers
46 Volunteers
37 Volunteers
28 Volunteers
21 Volunteers
21 Volunteers
18 Volunteers
Volunteers advance sustainable development every day by fostering participation, building social cohesion and promoting dialogue within communities. They serve with UN partners, working tirelessly in support of their development, peace and humanitarian efforts. In these videos, we feature inspiring UN Volunteers in action.
UNV partners with you to mobilize skilled UN Volunteers who make valuable contributions, advance your delivery and provide strong results.
UN Volunteers are one of the our integrated talent solutions available to the UN system and development community. Different categories of UN Volunteers are available, offering flexible solutions to the needs of United Nations entities, governments, public institutions and civil society organizations.
UNV has developed service lines to provide partners with a set of standardized volunteer assignments in areas such as monitoring and evaluation, electoral support, health emergencies, and in support of international and national events, the Resident Coordinator system or UN partners at headquarters duty stations.
Are you investing in UN Volunteers? Read more about how to Host a UN Volunteer and contact us .
READY TO BECOME A UN VOLUNTEER?
UN Volunteers deliver results for sustainable development and peace at the grassroots. Become a volunteer !
Visit our website for more information on how to register as a UN Volunteer in your country or abroad, or as a UN Online Volunteer.
