UNV released the Unified Conditions of Service on 1 October 2021. These unify and supersede prior versions of the national and international UN Volunteer Conditions of Service. The provisions apply to all individuals recruited as UN Volunteers. The below infographics highlight the key provisions of the Unified Conditions of Service by UN Volunteer category.

Mme. President, Members of the Executive Board, Mme. Associate Administrator, I am honoured to present the Strategic Framework of UNV for 2022-2025. In line with UNV tradition at the Executive Board, let me start by inviting you to watch a short video of UN Volunteers in action.

Mme. President, Members of the Executive Board, I am pleased to introduce this session presenting the new Strategic Framework 2022-2025 for the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) Programme. Please allow me to highlight some of the key elements of the framework – and the close cooperation between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UNV – before Mr. Kurbanov takes the floor to speak to the Framework in greater detail. This Strategic Framework is the third such one for UNV, with the previous two covering the years 2014-2017 and 2018-2021.

Every day, volunteers dedicate time and effort to ensure the inclusion of those often left behind, to drive climate action and advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For its 50th anniversary, UNV celebrated volunteers across the world through national volunteer awards. The award ceremonies were the results of our joint efforts with Member States governments, Resident Coordinator offices, many times volunteer-involving organizations and UN partners. 

In 1996, I was appointed by the UNDP Administrator as the new Director for the Arab States, Latin America and the Caribbean (ARLAC) section at UNV. At that time, UNV was celebrating 25 years since its founding. It was also in the process of moving its headquarters from Geneva to Bonn – resulting in more than two-thirds of its staff reassigned to new functions.

We’re talking of literally thousands of people, as I reflect upon 31 years. I served for two years in the early 1980s as a US Peace Corps co-sponsored volunteer in rural Liberia working for a UNDP Self-Help Village Development Project. Then in 1986, four years as the UNV Programme Officer at the Colombo office of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), where I oversaw the UNV Domestic Development Service volunteer programme in Sri Lanka.

Under a partnership with the Government of the Russian Federation established in 2018, UNV is offering UN Volunteer assignments in different areas of expertise for Russian nationals.

The award comes as the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme celebrates its 50th anniversary and on the 2021 International Volunteer Day. Recipients of the Volunteer Service Awards are acknowledged for the impact of their volunteer efforts in the community; for the challenges they have overcome and for their inspiration to others. From over 130 nominations, the 14 winners across UNHCR’s seven regions are celebrated and acknowledged for going the extra mile in making an impact in their communities (video below).