The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme is the UN organization that contributes to peace and development through volunteerism worldwide.

Volunteerism is a powerful means of engaging people in tackling development challenges, and it can transform the pace and nature of development. Volunteerism benefits both society at large and the individual volunteer by strengthening trust, solidarity and reciprocity among citizens, and by purposefully creating opportunities for participation.

UNV contributes to peace and development by advocating for recognition of volunteers, working with partners to integrate volunteerism into development programming, and mobilizing an increasing number and diversity of volunteers, including experienced UN Volunteers, throughout the world. 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.

Based in Bonn, Germany, UNV is active in around 130 countries every year. UNV with Field Units in 86 countries is represented worldwide through the offices of UNDP and reports to the UNDP Executive Board.

UNV in the Pacific

The UNV field unit in Fiji, which is integrated into the UNDP Pacific Office in Fiji, promotes and advocates for the recognition of volunteerism, and manages UN volunteer assignments in 10 Pacific Island countries: Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu and Cook Islands, Tuvalu.

UN Volunteers have supported development efforts of UN agencies, the governments and civil society actors in the Pacific since 1973. They have provided technical assistance in the fields of education, health, environment, human rights, peace and reconciliation, social inclusion, youth engagement, economic development and many others.

In 2014-2017, UNV will work by partnering with United Nations entities, governments, civil society and private sector organizations to deliver its results particularly in the five priority areas:

• Securing access to basic social services
• Community resilience for environment and disaster risk reduction
• Peace building
• Youth
• National capacity development through volunteer schemes.