Since 1971, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has been partnering with the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme to combat food insecurity and global hunger. During 2012-2022, 202 UN Volunteers served with FAO, supporting the organization's mission to eliminate hunger, fight poverty, and ensure that global and national food and agriculture systems are environmentally sustainable.
How does the recruitment of UN Volunteers add value to FAO?
As an efficient, speedy and diverse talent solution for UN partners, UN Volunteers serve with UN entities to bring people to the forefront of development, peace and humanitarian issues. UNV manages a pool of over 350,000 talented and qualified UN Volunteers who can be deployed to bolster the delivery of FAO’s programmes and support the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Working at the community-level, UN Volunteers support inclusive and efficient agriculture and food systems that increase the resilience of livelihoods to disasters and climate shocks, making agriculture, forestry and fisheries more productive and sustainable, which directly contributes to reducing rural poverty. In June 2017, a new Memorandum of Understanding was signed to invigorate the partnership and create a mechanism for rapid deployment.
Read more about UN Volunteers serving with FAO.
Volunteers are experienced personnel available to support FAO’s mandate. In 2022, over 83 per cent of UN Volunteers came from the global South, offering an understanding of complex local development challenges and societal norms. UN Volunteers can strengthen the impact, sustainability and inclusivity of development initiatives, fostering participation and generating local ownership
How can your office recruit UN Volunteers?
UNV offers different categories of UN Volunteers to suit the needs of UN partners, such as international and national specialists, youth or online volunteers. UN Volunteers can serve from two weeks to up to four years, depending on the category of volunteer. UNV manages all contractual, legal and management aspects to help minimize the administrative impacts for the host organization.
To partner with UNV and recruit UN Volunteers to support FAO’s programmes and operations, contact the UNV Field Representation or Regional Office for guidance and support.
For further information, refer to UNV’s website at: https://toolkit.unv.org.
