The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme supports UN partners to integrate talent from community level into their teams. This facilitates inclusion and representation, as well as the mainstreaming of community-oriented solutions.
In Peru, UNV partnered with two UN entities that host the highest numbers of UN Volunteers, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), to carry out a talent outreach mission on the northern border of the country.
The objective was to present the UNV offer to highly motivated professionals from the communities, who could contribute with their first-hand knowledge to interagency humanitarian assistance efforts on the ground.
With the support of local implementing partners, five informative sessions were held in Piura and Tumbes. A total of 642 professionals of diverse areas of expertise were informed on how to become a UN Volunteer and guided through the process to join the UNV talent pool.
"It is great that you came to Tumbes and liaised with the different professional associations, universities and local government labor department to disseminate information on how to become a UN Volunteer. This will allow skilled professionals to give back their knowledge and service back to their own community through decent work," says José Vásquez Heredia, Coordinator of the Tumbes Office with UNICEF in Peru.
With the proven methodology of UNV, it is possible to strengthen and diversify local talent pools. UN partners can benefit from having local perspectives and, in this way, arrive at more efficient solutions. At the same time, professionals outside capital cities can join the UN Volunteers talent pool and support the work of the United Nations.