Since 1973, the United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) has been partnering with the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme to mobilize trained health, gender and youth specialists within its programmes. From 2012-2022, 1,347 UN Volunteers served with UNFPA, supporting the organization's mission of delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled.
How does the recruitment of UN Volunteers add value to UNFPA?
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 UNFPA’s programmes and support the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
At UNFPA, we see a very important role for UN Volunteers in delivering the programme in South Sudan, in both the humanitarian context and peace work that we have been doing. We are increasingly institutionalizing our engagement of UN Volunteers in our structure, because of the value add that we have seen from their work. --Dr Wilfred Ochan, UNFPA Deputy Country Representative, South Sudan
Working within communities, UN Volunteers are impactful players in advancing UNFPA’s efforts to mainstream gender equality at the community level and including youth into development in the most remote, and often dangerous, regions of the world. UN Volunteers are also well-placed to support household surveys and data analysis to use in policy development, advocacy and in monitoring progress towards development goals.
With the support of UNV, UNFPA has mobilized local volunteers to work as peer educators in many countries, improving health care service delivery both in the context of development assistance and humanitarian assistance caused by natural disasters, political crises and health emergencies.
Read more about UN Volunteers serving with UNFPA in the articles below.
UN Volunteers are experienced personnel available to support UNFPA’s mandate. They can strengthen the impact, sustainability and inclusivity of development initiatives, fostering participation and generating local ownership.
In 2022, over 12,400 UN Volunteers served with 56 UN partners. Of these, 62 per cent were national UN Volunteers. Of the international UN Volunteers, 65 per cent came from the global South, offering an understanding of complex local development challenges and societal norms.
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, expert, community, refugee 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 UNFPA’s programmes and operations, contact the UNV Field Unit or Regional Office for guidance and support.
For further information, refer to UNV’s website at: https://toolkit.unv.org.
