From 2006 to 2017, the PBF allocated US $772 million to 41 recipient countries. The PBF works across pillars and supports integrated UN responses to fill critical gaps; respond quickly and with flexibility to political opportunities, and catalyze processes and resources in a risk-tolerant manner.  UNV is a strategic partner and efficient interlocutor of the PBF at the national/local levels through the mobilization of committed and skilled UN Volunteers in remote locations.

In communities hardest hit by conflicts, such as Bambari, Bangassou and Ndelé, UN Volunteers are at the heart of social cohesion, awareness raising, the restoration of state authority, capacity building activities or access to economic opportunities for populations suffering from the crisis.

The case of these two doesn’t stand in isolation. According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), 31 people are displaced every minute across the globe.

For about four years now, 16 UN Volunteers have been helping build local capacities for lasting peace in 12 regional clusters across Kenya through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). UN Volunteears are serving under UNDP's Deepening Foundations for Peacebuilding and Community Security project and the joint programme for Strengthening National Capacities for Conflict Prevention of UNDP and the UN Department of Political Affairs (DPA).

The Funding Facility Stabilization of Iraq was established by UNDP in June 2015, to help newly retaken areas from ISIL to return to normal life. The programme is currently implementing more than 1,100 reconstruction and rehabilitation projects in 28 locations in Iraq.

Iraq has a long way to go towards peace and prosperity. The United Nations is doing its best to support the Iraqi people on this path and make the future bright for families like the one I met in Mosul. Behind this reconstruction, there is a lot of hard work done by UN agencies, local contractors and UN Volunteers. Among them is Gladys Gbegnedji, a civil engineer from Spain, who came to Iraq to help improve construction designs.

Volunteer programmes are frequently not well integrated into their own country’s broader overseas national development programming, with potential partnerships with official mechanisms, national strategies and development actors (including the government, the private sector and the third sector) limited by a lack of trust and experience.

Prior to my UNV assignment, I worked with the UNHCR representation in Ghana as a national staff member, thus UNV presented an excellent opportunity and platform to further develop a career in programme management in that it afforded me an opportunity to work and learn from more experienced colleagues. I was also particularly excited about international UNV as it was a platform where I could gain experience and knowledge of humanitarian response within the UN, particularly UNHCR.

Hadijah works with important stakeholders like the Parliament of Uganda, Electoral Commission, Equal Opportunities Commission and coordinates the drafting of work plans and reporting progress of the programme activities. I became a volunteer wanting to support communities in achieving the Agenda 2030, reduce discrimination and improve women’s political participation, and have gotten a wealth of experience from my work, coupled with the satisfaction of being able to impact the lives of many.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is leading the timely provision of international protection and life-saving assistance to DR Congolese refugees in Nchelenge, with remarkable support from UN Volunteers. Fortunatus Kambaragwe and Dr. Jonathan Calbayan are both international UN Volunteers based in Nchelenge, Northern Zambia, working as Associate Programme Officer and Public Health Coordinator respectively.