The Special Voluntary Fund (SVF) is the second most important source of funding for UNV. Projects and programmes around the globe benefit from the generosity of donors who entrust their voluntary contributions to UNV and leave the allocation of these substantial funds at the discretion of our organization. We are keenly aware of the responsibility conferred on us by the willingness of UN Member States and other donors to support our work.

UN Volunteers work with United Nations partners, governments, civil society organizations and the private sector, enabling them to deliver on their mandates and programmes. Volunteers make a lasting impact. The UNV Annual Report: Creating Lasting Impact captures the essence of the contributions of UN Volunteers, UNV staff and partners to advancing peace and development in 2012.

Our UNV Annual Report 2011, "Volunteering for our Future," is about sustainable peace and development: meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It lifts people out of poverty, while at the same time protecting the natural systems that support economic growth. Volunteerism contributes to sustainable development by engaging people at all levels of society to bring about transformational change in communities.

Often a large part of the population, youth represent a valuable resource to respond to peace and development challenges within their communities. In 1976, the UN expanded the mandate of UNV to include advancing the role of youth in contributing to economic and social progress and development. UNV has created opportunities for youth to become engaged and to build their skills through volunteer action. Statistical and Financial Information for 2010 (PDF)

Making a difference: An assessment of volunteer interventions addressing gender-based violence in Cambodia (Partners for Prevention, 2010) highlights the crucial role and the far-reaching positive effects that community volunteers play in the prevention and response to gender-based violence.

Structured around advocacy, integration and mobilization, the cornerstones of our work, it examines how UNV and development partners, powered by volunteerism, achieve human development. Results are highlighted in gender and youth empowerment (chapter one), environment and climate change adaptation (chapter two), as well as health, peacekeeping and humanitarian response (chapter three).

The objective of the present review of the United Nations Volunteer (UNV) programme is to evaluate UNV administrative and management structure and methods, with a view to recommending improvements that could ensure the most efficient use of resources. The scope of the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) report is limited to the following areas: mandate; volunteer resources management; partnerships; management structure; human resources management; programme planning, monitoring, evaluation and reporting; and oversight. 

The objective of the Report is to evaluate the administrative and management structure and methods at the UNV, with a view to recommending improvements that could ensure the most efficient use of resources.

The Report describes the background to the Year, provides an overview of actions taken, presents conclusions and discusses the future.The Year was successful by any account. One hundred and twenty-three National Committees and scores of local, regional and state committees were formed. The official web site received close to 9 million hits. A heightened recognition of the role of volunteerism in development resulted from the plethora of activities, including efforts to measure the contributions of volunteers, in every part of the world.