40 Years of United Nations Volunteers

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme is the UN organization that promotes volunteerism to support peace and development worldwide. Volunteerism can transform the pace and nature of development, and it benefits both society at large and the individual volunteer. UNV contributes to peace and development by advocating for volunteerism globally, encouraging partners to integrate volunteerism into development programming, and mobilizing volunteers.

At the global level, UNV focuses on governance, health, social inclusion and volunteer infrastructure, cross-cut by an emphasis on youth, gender and achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

• Every year, close to 8,000 qualified and experienced women and men of 160 nationalities serve as UN Volunteers in 130 countries.
  
  
• More than 75 percent of UN Volunteers come from developing countries, and more than 30 percent of UN Volunteers volunteer within their own countries.

The United Nations Volunteers programme is the volunteer arm of the United Nations. It was created by the UN General Assembly in 1970 to serve as an operational partner in development cooperation at the request of UN member states. It is administered by and reports to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and works through UNDP's country offices around the world.

"At the heart of volunteerism are the ideals of service and solidarity and the belief that together we can make the world a better place. In that sense, we can say that volunteerism is the ultimate expression of what the United Nations is all about." - Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General.