Why volunteer abroad with the UN?
As an international UN Volunteer, you will learn about different cultures, expand your networks, study or perfect foreign languages and gain matchless professional and life experiences.
Volunteering abroad is an unbeatable opportunity to serve as a global citizen. International UN Volunteers promote peace and development in communities around the globe, while upholding the ideals and aspirations of the United Nations.
International UN Volunteers come from 160 countries, representing many cultures and backgrounds. They bring a wide variety of perspectives and approaches which lends a dynamism to the experience.
Your international UN Volunteer assignment will make a lasting impact. It can create a ripple effect that extends far beyond the immediate results of your efforts – both for the people you serve and yourself.
Volunteer abroad: Requirements.
The minimum requirements to serve as an international UN Volunteer are:
- 25 years old and older (no upper age limit)
- university degree or higher technical diploma
- at least two years of relevant work experience in a professional background
- good working knowledge of at least one of UNV’s three working languages: English, French or Spanish
- commitment to the values and principles of volunteerism
- ability to work in a multicultural environment
- willingness to work with people and local organizations to draw upon the synergies between expert solutions and local knowledge
- ability to adjust in difficult living conditions and sometimes remote locations
- strong interpersonal and organizational skills
- prior volunteering and/or working experience in a developing country is an asset
Volunteer abroad: Conditions of Service
International UN Volunteer assignments are usually an initial contract of 6 to 12 months, sometimes with a possibility to extend for one to two years. Short-term assignments of three months or less are also requested from time to time by our partners.
- A person younger than the United Nations retirement age may serve for a maximum of four years under the international UN Volunteer modality, irrespective of the time served under other UN Volunteer modalities.
- If ten years have lapsed since completion of the first international UN Volunteer assignment, a person may serve again (once) for another maximum of four years.
- Those older than the United Nations retirement age and retired United Nations staff do not face any maximum service restrictions.
Allowances
The purpose of allowances is to enable international UN Volunteers to sustain a modest and secure standard of living at the duty station. The allowances are in no way to be understood as a compensation, reward or salary in exchange for the volunteer work.
Allowances provided are:
- volunteer living allowance: a monthly allowance intended to cover basic living expenses (this is not a salary)
- travel expenses: for travel to duty station upon appointment and for repatriation at the end of the assignment
- settling-in-grant: a grant calculated on the duration of assignment, paid at the beginning of the assignment
- insurances: life, health and permanent disability insurance
- annual leave
- resettlement allowance: calculated based on the duration of assignment, paid upon satisfactory completion of the assignment.
Living conditions
Living conditions vary from stable environments to very changing and dynamic ones. Be aware that many UN Volunteers work in remote, isolated duty stations where basic comforts may be limited. Many other UN Volunteers work under routine conditions, such as capital cities, with all modern conveniences available. Our assignments are categorized as “family” or “non-family” duty stations, depending on the nature of the assignment and the security context.
