News 04 Dec 2018

International Volunteer Day 2018

Volunteers build resilient communities This International Volunteer Day 2018, we celebrate the work of volunteers everywhere, with a focus on local volunteers working at the community level. Through its State of the World's Volunteerism Report (SWVR) 2018, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme provides concrete evidence, and recognizes the many ways in which people are dedicating their time to make communities more resilient against natural disasters, economic stresses and political shocks. Although most voluntary action happ

Invitation flyer to join the launch of the SWVR

News 11 Jul 2018

Launch of the 2018 State of the World’s Volunteerism Report

Join a global conversation on volunteerism and community resilience Around the world, extreme weather events linked to climate change – including the catastrophic flooding in South Asia, Hurricane Maria in the Caribbean, and mudslides in Sierra Leone – have pushed volunteers to the forefront of disaster response efforts. Ordinary people contribute time and efforts to help communities cope and respond to emerging shocks and stresses. And volunteerism is the thread that binds people, enabling them to work together for the good of their communities. This was a

© Destiny Shapers: Paper giraffes made by children

Story 14 May 2018

Breaking the cycle of dependency in Korogocho

UN Online Volunteers mobilize support for a community-run training programme in Nairobi When Esther Munene and Lilian Kamigwi founded Destiny Shapers, a community-based-organization working to provide literacy training to young children in the Korogocho slum in eastern Nairobi, Kenya, they had to work hard to convince the families of the 23 children to allow them to attend the daily classes. Five years later, the organization has 150 children aged 3 to 9 enrolled and 60 of their parents or guardians participating in its programme – and a website, brand identity, social media pres

Tips for organizations 30 Apr 2018

Try these 5 tips to make the most of your collaboration with online volunteers

By Linda Kotschack Whether it is your first time working with online volunteers or you have managed many already, it is easy to agree on one thing: there are things that work and things that don’t, there are small actions that can maximize the results of a project and that can be applied to all online volunteering work processes. Here are 5 top tips on how to make your collaboration with online volunteers as successful as possible. Always assess the applicants Carrying out an assessment may seem as a tedious and t

Award 20 Mar 2018

UNV Online Volunteering Award 2017

UNV honours outstanding Online Volunteers and launches public voting Bonn, Germany, 20 March 2018: The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme today announced the five winners of its “UNV Online Volunteering Award 2017” and invites everyone to vote for their favourite award winners. The award recognizes the important contributions UN Online Volunteers are making to the work of the UN, NGOs and governments, and demonstrates how active citizens engage in addressing global challenges via www.onlinevolunteering.org: getting vital information to communities in the C

© Lulu Ileho Poulty Group: A woman from Lulu Ileho Poultry Group is selling a chicken to another woman at the market

Award 20 Mar 2018

Lulu Ileho Poultry Group Team

Zuzana Filipova Ileho Division is a rural area in western Kenya, on the eastern edge of the Kakamega Forest. The women in Ileho are traditionally dependent on their husbands’ incomes, most of which derive from agriculture. Taking the popular “merry-go-round” practice – where women meet at regular intervals to take turns in supporting each other – one step further, a group of women decided to take up income-generating activities to improve their livelihood and support their community. In October 2015, they reg

Award winner

Public's Favourite

© Simuka Africa Youth Association: Campaign ad for the Skip A Meal Campaign showing smiling children

Award winner

Public's Favourite

Award 20 Mar 2018

Simuka Africa Youth Association Team

Bianca Dayrit We are delighted to announce the winner of our social media campaign: Bianca Dayrit received the highest number of votes from the public for her substantial contributions to advocating against child marriage together with the Simuka Africa Youth Association in Zimbabwe. Founded in 2006, the Simuka Africa Youth Association works to promote the realization of young people’s rights and alleviate poverty in the communities of Norton, a town located 40 km west of Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare. One o

© International Blind Sports Association: Men playing blind football.

Award 20 Mar 2018

The International Paralympic Committee Team

Keon Richardson The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) organizes the Paralympic Games for athletes with a range of disabilities. It also acts as the International Federation for ten sports, enabling Para athletes to achieve sporting excellence and inspire the world. For the IPC, UN Online Volunteer Keon Richardson has passionately advocated for blind football on social media – with top engagement figures. As a trained athlete and football coach, Keon came with prior experience in disability football –

© The Red Elephant Foundation: Image for the GBV help map with the slogan "Find help wherever you are" displayed across a world map

Award 20 Mar 2018

The Red Elephant Foundation Team

Alka Mann, Luqman Mani, Prathyusha Munjuluri Gender-based violence is prevalent in every region of the world and knows no social, economic or national boundaries. To improve access to help and support services globally, the India-based NGO The Red Elephant Foundation has launched Saahas / The GBV Help Map, for survivors as well as bystanders of gender-based violence. The app, which features information and directories of verified services across 196 countries, was coded by the NGO’s founder Kirthi Jayakumar. It uses data researched and u

© UNICEF: Man in a UNICEF T-Shirt working on a laptop, with a weather map projected on a screen in the background

Award 20 Mar 2018

UNICEF Global Innovation Centre Team

Anamaria Cabrera Rodriguez, Claudia Lisette Ramirez Monterrosa, Emmanuelle Grandaud, Loïc Druenne, Lorena Belenky, Nouriatou Ntieche, Paula Alejandra Ballesteros Campos In September last year, three powerful hurricanes hit the Caribbean, causing numerous casualties and widespread devastation across the region. To prepare the affected populations, UNICEF launched its boldest social media messaging Disaster Risk Reduction exercise to date, and partnered with Facebook, Viber and teams of UN Online Volunteers to get life-saving messages out to the communities living in Hurricane Irma’s path. Using its U-Report messaging platform – originally developed to send pol

Award 04 Dec 2017

UNV Online Volunteering Award 2017

Celebrate volunteerism, nominate your online volunteers! On International Volunteer Day (IVD), the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme is calling for nominations for the UNV Online Volunteering Award 2017, which will be presented to five online volunteers or teams of online volunteers for their contributions to peace and development projects. A jury made up of UNV representatives and external experts in volunteerism and development cooperation will review the nominations and select the 5 winners. The winners will be announced on the Internationa

Cover page of Equator Initiative case study translated into Mooré © UNDP / Zoramb Naagtaaba Association, Burkina Faso

Story 28 Sep 2017

Enabling community participation for development

How UN Online Volunteer translators contribute to the localization of the SDGs The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), from the early stages of their formulation through their first years of implementation, emphasize the role of all actors to participate in and advance sustainable human development. As innovative approaches to tackling development challenges often come from the affected communities themselves, organizations reach out to local communities to gather learning and best practices. Translation plays an important role in including communities in knowledge exc

Design of a poster showing two children and the slogan in French "Recuitment of children is a crime".

Story 07 Aug 2017

How online volunteers bring added value for strengthening peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo

UN Online Volunteers are a fast, professional and highly efficient resource for MONUSCO’s activities In its aim to protect civilians, humanitarian workers and human rights defenders under imminent threat of physical violence, the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the DR Congo (MONUSCO) engages military and civilian personnel, police, and UN Volunteers in its daily operations. Activities range from protecting children’s rights to justice support, often in challenging and even dangerous environments. Since April 2016, UN Online Volunteers are supporting MONUSCO from right where

Photo of women on a boat at a fish market on Lake Nokoué

Story 17 Jul 2017

Linking local communities with donors, trainers and partners

UN Online Volunteers help mobilize USD 40,000 and create new networks for sustainable fishery project in Benin Lake Nokoué is located on the southern coast of Benin in West Africa. Bordering on Cotonou, Benin’s largest city in the south, and its capital Porto Novo in the east, lake Nokoué is threatened by pollution and deforestation along its shorelines. It is also affected by congestion from sediments and the traditional acadja fish farming practice, which uses wood, leaves and branches to build enclosures for the fish. At the northern part, where the Sô river feeds into the lake, lies the town of Sô

Story 08 Mar 2017

Distilling knowledge for gender equality in entrepreneurship

UN Online Volunteer Alisa Niakhai collaborated with the UN Office of Information and Communications Technology to help integrate knowledge on women entrepreneurs through ICT in UN Secretariat initiatives Shortly after Alisa Niakhai completed her Master’s degree in Public Administration, she discovered online volunteering through UNV. Coming from a family of modest means, the unpaid internships in New York or Geneva were no option for her to contribute to the work of the UN. But through online volunteering, other opportunities to do just that presented themselves to her, and Alisa has completed a number of online volunteering assignments for various UN agencies since. When she saw that the Inno

Tips for organizations 12 Jan 2017

How to value volunteers

Beyond giving organizations access to a diversity of skills, expertise and extra hands, volunteers bring additional commitment, enthusiasm and dedication to what they do. Volunteers are diverse in what they expect to receive in return for their contributions. While some appreciate formal recognition such as receiving a certificate or being featured in a newsletter, this kind of recognition is not important to all. There are three principles that organizations need to place at the basis of all volunteer engagement in order to nurture and sustain the commitment of all volunteers: a. Open communication: informing all candidates about the outcome of their application

News 05 Dec 2016

International Volunteer Day 2016

“The example volunteers set for us all cannot be underestimated. Today, join me in giving volunteers everywhere a round of #GlobalApplause.” International Volunteer Day (IVD), on December 5th, was designated by the United Nations in 1985 as an international observance day to celebrate the power and potential of volunteerism. It is an opportunity for volunteers, and volunteer organizations, to raise awareness of, and gain recognition for, the contribution they make to their communities. “More than one billion people globally volunteer, internationally and in their own communities, driven by a deep commitment to making the world a bett

Story 03 Dec 2016

Creating an inclusive global environment for achieving the SDGs

In 2016, 156 persons with disabilities have volunteered their skills and time online through the UNV Online Volunteering service. The International Day of Persons with Disabilities is celebrated annually on 3 December. This year, it coincides with the 10-year anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. And as 2016 is also the first year of the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the day highlights the role of these goals in building a more inclusive and equitable world for persons with disabilities. On December 3rd, International Day of Persons with Disabili

Tips for organizations 22 Nov 2016

Why it’s important to give feedback

Some organizations said that they have never used the feedback form on our website. Here are some important reasons why you should: Let your volunteer know what you think about your online collaboration Completing the short feedback form is an excellent way of telling your volunteers what you liked about your collaboration. It also gives you the chance to share your thoughts on what you think they could improve. The feedback you share with your volunteers counts towards an average displayed in the volunteers’ accounts. Volunteers can immediately see how organizations rate the c

Tips for volunteers 22 Nov 2016

Why it’s important to give feedback

Many volunteers tell us that they have never used the feedback form on our website Here are some important reasons why you should: Let the organization you supported know what you think about your online collaboration Completing the short feedback form is an excellent way of telling an organization what you liked about your collaboration. It also gives you the chance to share your thoughts on what you think they could improve. The feedback you share with the organizations counts towards an average displayed in the organizations’ accounts. Organizations can immediately see whic

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