Mission and Mandate
UNV INTERNATIONAL
The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) is a UN organization which was established in 1970 by the UN General Assembly. UNV aims to be a strategic asset and powerful contributor to peace and development. UNV is currently on the ground in 128 countries with more than 7500 volunteers. UNV is represented worldwide through the offices of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The United Nations Volunteer progamme has specified five priority programme areas which are:
- Delivery of Basic Services
- Environment and Climate Change
- Crisis prevention and Recovery
- Humanitarian Assistance
- Operational and Capacity Building Support to UN missions
The cross-cutting objectives of gender, youth and marginalized people underpin all UNV's work.
Volunteering brings benefits to both society at large and the individual volunteer. It makes important contributions, economically as well as socially. It contributes to more cohesive societies by building trust and reciprocity among citizens. The United Nations Volunteers is the United Nations organization that supports sustainable human development globally through the promotion of volunteerism, including the mobilization of volunteers. It serves the causes of peace and development through enhancing opportunities for participation by all peoples. It is universal, inclusive and embraces volunteer action in all its diversity.
UN Volunteers bridge the gap between development actors and governments on one hand, and people at the grassroots level on the other hand. They promote the participation at the local level of civil stakeholders in the planning and implementation of development processes aimed at improving the living conditions of the communities. It thus stresses local empowerment through community participation, and guarantee national ownership through a bottom-up approach, with youth as both a cross-cutting pillar and a target group.
UNV embraces volunteerism as universal and inclusive, and recognizes volunteerism in its diversity as well as the values that sustain it: free will, commitment, engagement and solidarity.
Our mandate
The UNV mandate has been expanded through several General Assembly resolutions over the years. In 1970 the initial role of UNV was to recruit, place and administer qualified volunteers. With the GA resolution from 1976, the mandate was extended to promote the role of youth in volunteering. In 2001 UNV was the designated focal point of the International Year of Volunteers, with an increased focus on public awareness. United Nations Volunteers is seen as an essential tool when it comes to achieving the Millennium Development Goals, and this is specified in a resolution from 2002. In 2005 UNV's mandate was extended to incorporate corporate volunteerism.
Read more about UN General Assembly's (GA) resolutions with regards to UNV mandate
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Lebanon
