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U.N. Volunteers Program Mission Statement

The U.N. Volunteers Program identified “volunteerism” in its mission statement:

Volunteering brings benefits to both society at large and the individual volunteer. It makes important contributions, economically as well as socially. It contributes to a more cohesive society by building trust and reciprocity among citizens.

The United Nations Volunteers is the U.N. 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. It values free will, commitment, engagement and solidarity, which are the foundations of volunteerism.

Great Events from History: The Twentieth Century, 1941-1970

United Nations Volunteers Program Is Established

by Kasia Polanska

Date December 7, 1970

The U.N. General Assembly established the Volunteers Program to serve as an operational partner to the Development Program. The successful Volunteers Program was mandated to promote the spirit of volunteerism within and among countries around the world.

Also known as United Nations Volunteer Programme

Locale New York, New York

Categories United Nations; organizations and institutions

Summary of Event

At the December 7, 1970, plenary meeting under the leadership of Secretary-General U Thant, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a resolution establishing the Volunteers Program (UNV). The resolution was to take effect on January 1, 1971. Appointed to oversee the UNV was the administrator of the U.N. Development Program (UNDP), who would, in turn, appoint a coordinator for the UNV. This coordinator would administer recruitment and training, and also the activities of the program. The UNV’s founding was inspired by the successful Peace Corps, which was established in 1961 by U.S. president John F. Kennedy. The Peace Corps had sent American volunteers to work in the developing world. (The Peace Corps also would help recruit American participants for the UNV.)

The resolution mandated that voluntary service was to be well planned and that it had to span a wide geographical area, but with a special focus on developing countries. Volunteers were required to have professional qualifications in skill areas needed in the recipient countries. The UNV, under its first coordinator was Assad K. Sadry, also required that the recipient government request and approve each potential volunteer.

The program, created at the request of U.N. member states, was envisioned as an organization that fosters the participation of youth in social and economic life. Discussion centered on the conviction that voluntary service is rewarding and beneficial to all involved—that volunteerism helps those who are aided as well as those who volunteer their time and energy.

Significance

Since 1971, the UNV has successfully tapped into the energies, enthusiasm, and idealism of young people to make a contribution to international development efforts. Through the first years of the twenty-first century, more than thirty thousand volunteers from developing as well as industrialized countries have supported a variety of relief, peace, and development-related initiatives in many parts of the world. UNV has more than one hundred professional volunteer categories, including agriculture, health, education, information and communication technologies, vocational training, population, and industry.

Program participation provides midcareer professionals from all continents a way to make significant and measurable contributions to the efforts of the United Nations. The volunteers are typically experienced professionals with college degrees and several years of related work experience.

The program has initiated thousands of projects worldwide, including developing clean-water supplies, fighting desertification, providing education to women, helping to train local human rights agencies, and facilitating dialogue across borders and across national and ethnic lines. Also addressed by volunteers are environmental sustainability, democratic governance, energy, the environment, crisis prevention, and HIV/AIDS. Program volunteers have been involved in civilian peacekeeping operations in more than a dozen countries. Many of these volunteer projects have complemented the work of other U.N. agencies, such as UNDP, or have followed up on the work of U.N. peacekeepers in war-torn regions such as Uganda or the former Yugoslavia.

Citation Types

Type

Format

MLA 9th

Polanska, Kasia. "United Nations Volunteers Program Is Established." Great Events from History: The Twentieth Century, 1941-1970, edited by Robert F. Gorman, Salem Press, 2008. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=GE20b_2700.

APA 7th

Polanska, K. (2008). United Nations Volunteers Program Is Established. In R. F. Gorman (Ed.), Great Events from History: The Twentieth Century, 1941-1970. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.

CMOS 17th

Polanska, Kasia. "United Nations Volunteers Program Is Established." Edited by Robert F. Gorman. Great Events from History: The Twentieth Century, 1941-1970. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2008. Accessed September 15, 2025. online.salempress.com.

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