The UNV Annual Report for 2015, Delivering at the Grassroots, showcases the contributions and achievements of UN Volunteers in addressing the challenges of peace and development. This is a report first and foremost about the dedication, skills and unrelenting spirit of UN Volunteers around the world.
When Nepal experienced a devastating earthquake on 25 April last year with the epicentre close to Kathmandu, UNV responded by rapidly recruiting about 200 national UN Volunteers, funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and fielded them in such vital areas as coordination of the response effort, rubble removal and early reconstruction.
Following the October 2014 unrest in Burkina Faso, UNDP developed an Electoral Support Project to provide technical support to the organization of free and transparent elections. In collaboration with UNV, UNDP deployed 14 international UN Volunteers and 48 national UN Volunteers who supported participation in the elections in all regions of the country, including remote locations with difficult access.
UNV's continued dedication in Peru came to fruition with the launch of a new Department of Volunteerism, together with the new Regulation of the General Law of Volunteerism. This was built upon a volunteer infrastructure project UNV had initiated in partnership with the Peruvian Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations in 2011. The second State of the World's Volunteerism Report (SWVR), Transforming Governance, demonstrated once more how volunteers are champions of change.
In 2015 alone, UNV deployed 6,796 UN Volunteers in 122 countries worldwide. 435 UN Youth Volunteers were sent on assignments around the world. 11,554 UN Online Volunteers have dedicated their time and efforts, proving that anyone anywhere can volunteer.
Those are just some highlights of UNV's results and achievements in 2015. The chapters of Delivering at the Grassroots showcase UNV and UN Volunteer interventions spanning the five programme priority areas, as well as knowledge and innovation. The fact files highlight specific success stories and include an additional fact file on celebrating volunteer inspiration in action. This report has a special centrefold feature on Volunteering for the Sustainable Development Goals and a reporting annex on the UNV Special Voluntary Fund.
Read entire Annual Report online here.