“Quite simply put – the UN could not deploy, and Security Council mandates could not be delivered, without UNV.” These were the comments of Assistant Secretary-General Hubert Price of the UN Department of Field Support, speaking on behalf of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Department of Political Affairs. Speaking at the annual session of the Executive Board of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in New York on 9 June 2016.

Ramallah, State of Palestine: "Adolescents can be powerful agents of change in communities," says Chizuru Iwata, an international UN Volunteer from Japan, who worked with UNICEF as a UNV Adolescent Participation Officer in the State of Palestine.

New Delhi, India: Miho Yoshikawa, an international UN Volunteer from Japan, was stationed in India with UNICEF. As a UNV Child Protection Officer in UNICEF’s Delhi office, she was responsible for programme monitoring, assistance to the organization’s state offices, documentation and research.

Gaza, State of Palestine:  Volunteers are catalysts of change and make important contributions to sustainable development – this is so aptly personified by Mona Ouda and Diana Abu Ramadan, two national UN Volunteers with UNDP’s rubble removal programme. Engineers and workers are part of this USD $ 14 million project to facilitate the removal of debris of destroyed homes and other civic infrastructure in The Gaza Strip. Four female engineers that include Mona and Diana are also part of this programme.

Hanoi, Viet Nam: When Leika Aruga (Japan) arrived at her duty station as a UN Volunteer Programme Specialist in Governance for UN Women in May 2014, it was a critical moment for women’s rights in Viet Nam. Little did she know how much she would use her training and background in international law to secure the inclusion of women's human rights in Vietnamese laws.

"The new State of World's Volunteerism Report: Transforming Governance was designed to create a conversation," said Richard Dictus, Executive Coordinator of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme which published the document. "I look forward to an inspiring dialogue on the impact of volunteerism and governance," said UNV's chief at the launch of this report at UN Headquarters on 5 June 2015.

Volunteers are playing a vital role in making governments worldwide more accountable and responsive to their citizens, but their potential is seriously under-valued, a new report from the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme said today. The State of the World’s Volunteerism Report 2015 is the first global survey of the contribution of volunteers to better governance, a prerequisite for the success of the new Sustainable Development Goals to be agreed at the United Nations in September.

Manila, Philippines: My name is Alma B. Sevillano, I am from the Philippines and I work as a UN Volunteer for the Haiyan Response and Recovery programme.  

Naomi Umeda, UN University Volunteer from Japan, talks about her 5 month placement at UNV Cambodia Field Unit.

The International Day for Disaster Reduction (IDDR), celebrated every year on 13 October, encourages every citizen and government to take part in building more disaster resilient communities and nations. It is a day to celebrate how people and communities are reducing their risk to disasters and raising awareness about the importance of DRR.