Promoting Volunteerism for Peace and Development

INTRODUCTION . 3Your role as a UN Volunteer is that of bothfacilitator and catalyst. UNV encouragesyou to be creative and entrepreneurial infinding ways to develop capacity and topromote and foster volunteerism fordevelopment both within and beyond theformal framework of your assignment.After all, there is no single ‘correct oroptimal way to volunteer for peace anddevelopment. By optimizing the impact ofvolunteerism, especially in terms ofdeveloping capacity, you can have a deepand long-lasting impact.Whether your service is in your owncountry or abroad, we believe that youhave chosen to be a UN Volunteerbecause you share the United Nations’commitment to development, humanrights and peace. All of these values havevolunteerism at their core. As a UNVolunteer, you are part of a cumulativeglobal effort – volunteerism – that is apowerful force for peace anddevelopment. Indeed, the MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs) are onlyachievable if many millions of peoplearound the world voluntarily mobilize toattain them.personally give expression tovolunteerism for peace and developmentduring – and beyond – your UNVassignment. It draws on previousexperiences promoting and advocatingvolunteerism for peace and developmentin the field. Many UN Volunteers providedvaluable insights and practical advicebased on their personal experience inassignments around the world.This guide is intended to be a livingdocument that will be continually updatedbased on feedback from UN Volunteersso that it remains relevant. Yourcomments and suggestions will thereforebe greatly appreciated.I wish you a great assignment with manypositive results.Flavia PansieriExecutive CoordinatorUnited Nations VolunteersIn this handbook you will find practicaltools and some examples of how you can