2011/12 Report

Volunteering for peace

A joint programme of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV)
programme and the Hiroshima Peacebuilders Centre.
Funded by the Government of Japan.

About the Japanese programme for peacebuilders

Peacebuilding is about resolving violent conﬂict and establishing lasting peace. It involves restoring justice,healing trauma, reconciliation, development and leadership. With violent conﬂict never far from the headlines, a central part of the Government of Japan strategy to help foster lasting peace worldwide is theProgramme on Human Resource Development in Asia for Peacebuilding.
Funded by the Ministry of Foreign Aﬀairs, the Programme aims to demonstrate the role of volunteeringin peacebuilding and peacekeeping activities by ﬁelding skilled, trained and committed citizens fromJapan and other Asian countries. Volunteers deployed under the Programme bring new skills that expand
the reach of peace building eﬀorts.

Working alongside national counterparts, they help empower women, young people and marginalized groups. They also contributeto building trust among ordinary people involved in some of the world’s most fragile peace processes. Some Volunteers also work at
regional and national levels to improve UN coordination, as well as programmes dealing with nutrition and health.
Promoting volunteerism in peace and development activities is a key aspect of the long-term role that Volunteers under the Programme
play. In conﬂict aﬀected areas volunteerism can be a powerful contributor to peace and development. Evidence shows that the chance
to volunteer is also the chance to move from being passive recipients to becoming engaged in peace, reconciliation and development
processes. Processes that genuinely involve people - especially those on the margins of society - have a more lasting impact.
UN Volunteer Tomoya Soejima holds a discussion with youth leaders in Dadaab, Kenya, on community participation andaction in emergency situations.

Photo by: Tomoya Soejima ©2011 UNV

Programme objectives
Enhancing knowledge and skills through university training with international institutes
Hosted by the Hiroshima Peacebuilders Centre (HPC) at Hiroshima University, the Programme has been running since 2007. The Centredelivers classroom-based training in collaboration with Canadian, Swedish and other international institutes. Participants work throughproblem solving exercises, discussions and lectures for six weeks, before taking up assignments as UN Volunteers.

Building practical experience with the United Nations
The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme is responsible for the volunteer management component of the programme.
Following an extensive matching process, HPC participants are assigned with UN agencies and are typically working on the frontlines directly with vulnerable groups, such as refugees, women, children and others aﬀected by conﬂicts. Their role usually involves
bringing excluded groups into peace and development processes, protecting and supporting those at risk, and strengthening theskills of authorities so that vulnerable peoples’ basic needs are met.
As HPC/UNV Programme Associates, they often ﬁnd themselves living and working in challenging conditions. They deal with longhours, limited infrastructure and volatile security situations. Despite this, many say they get as much from the experience as theygive. They develop new skills and gain conﬁdence in their abilities. They are also able to make signiﬁcant contributions towards
improving the lives of people aﬀected by crises.

Assisting people aﬀected by war, disaster and those excluded from development opportunities
By the end of 2012, a total of 82 HPC/UNV Programme Associates from 13 Asian countries will have completed their UNV assignments.
They will have supported the UN and its counterparts in providing humanitarian assistance and improving basic services to vulnerable people. They will have contributed to projects that helped people to protect their environment, especially in the face of climatechange. In some of the world’s most troubled places, they will have assisted in crisis prevention and recovery eﬀorts, and served withUN missions to boost their operational capacity or to build the skills of national counterparts.

For more information, please visit: www.peacebuilderscenter.jp
Photo on front cover by: Rommel Dela Rosa ©2011 UNVPhoto on back cover by: Keiko Kaneda ©2011

Crisis prevention and recovery

The focus of HPC/ UNV Associates serving in crisis prevention and recovery was on supporting national counterparts
to strengthen their skills. From border management in South
Sudan to child protection in Timor-Leste, Associates helped
introduce new systems and procedures. They also trained
officials and non-government organization staff. Meanwhile, several Associates supported inﬂuential advocacy efforts, which raised awareness about issues such as corruption
and violence against women.
Often working directly with national counterparts and basedoutside UN oﬃces, HPC/UNV Associates faced many challenges. These included diﬀering cultural perspectives, language
barriers, and sometimes a sense of isolation. But, the experience has been exceptionally rewarding for many and some
reported that their assignments tested their abilities andgave them a chance to make tangible diﬀerences.
The HPC/UNV Associates joined thousands of UN
Volunteers around the world working on crisis
prevention and recovery eﬀorts. They worked
with governments and communities to reduce therisk of disasters; they supported crisis recovery work,
which often includes revitalizing peoples’ livelihoods;
and they worked with communities to prevent and recoverfrom conflict. Often their role involved bringing marginalizedgroups such as young people and women into decision-making or development processes.

HPC/UNV Associate Yoko Mizutani works with border oﬃcials in South Sudan to help
bring its border and migration management system up to international standards.

Photo ©2011 UNVPhoto ©2011 UNV

Shoko Fujita
UNV Child Protection Oﬃcer.
Serving in Timor-Leste with UNICEF helping as part of the Child Protection TeamAs part of the UNICEF Child Protection Team, Shoko Fujita is working on creating better coordination among authorities and others involved with child protection. For the
moment this involves re-classifying crimes against children in line with the national
penal code; and developing common data collection tools. This work will provide authorities with a template to uniformly report crimes and to set-up a case tracking system for the ﬁrst time.

Through her discussions with community members, Shoko Fujita realized the needfor an awareness campaign about violence against children.

“When I was conducting interviews with rural members of the child protection network, they insisted on the need to raise general awareness about what child abuse isand how to combat it,” she said. Now Shoko is also leading a nationwide campaign that
includes a big advocacy event, workshops and consultation meetings to raise suchawareness. “The advocacy event can be seen as a catalyst for UNICEF’s strengthened
partnership with religious communities and faith-based organizations for preventing
violence against children,” Shoko’s supervisor, Antonia Luedeke, said.

Yuiko Watamoto

Photo ©2011 UNV

UNV Violence Reduction Community Advisor
Serving in Haiti with a UN inter- agency programme to help displaced communities reduce violence

More than half a million Haitians are still living in makeshift camps set-up to house those displacedby the 2010 earthquake. With few income opportunities, recreational outlets, or basic services,
frustration and stress are boiling over and violence, especially against women, is on the rise. Yuiko
Watamoto is serving with a UN inter-agency programme that aims to stem violence in some of themost badly aﬀected communities.
The focus is on improving the ability of local and national institutions to gather and analyse relevant data; to raise public awareness about non-violent options; to increase income opportunities;
and to improve the capabilities of non-governmental organizations, especially those supporting
women.
Yuiko’s role involves researching and analysing violence data. She also helps staﬀ at local non-governmental organizations to strengthen their skills in budgeting and planning. Most recently herrole has expanded to include coordinating eﬀorts between civil society and the Government torehabilitate sport facilities in the community of Leogane, the worst earthquake hit area.

Yuiko Watamoto works with earthquake-aﬀected communities in
Haiti to help stem increasing violence, especially against women.

Hiroko Oda

Photo by: Driton Pacarada ©2011 UNV

UNV Programme Analyst
Serving in Kosovo with UNDP to support the implementation of governance projects

Experts believe that a major problem hindering development in Kosovo is corruption. Serving with UNDP under the Governance programme, Hiroko Oda recently worked with the
Association of Professional Journalists and the Kosovo Anti-Corruption Agency to organize
the 2011 Anti-Corruption Journalism Award. And, for the ﬁrst time, she introduced a social
media category. “The whole eﬀort truly encouraged journalists to continue their valuable
work,” she said.
Next on the agenda for Hiroko is establishing a web-based platform with civil society organizations that will allow anyone in Kosovo to post corruption reports and their opinions
about the issue. “This is a rewarding experience for me,” she said about her assignment. “Thegovernment is still young here and needs the support of the international community and
I am glad to be part of this support,” she said.

Photo Junsuki Suzuki ©2011

Anti-corruption Journalism Award ceremony: Hiroko Oda says the Awards shehelped organize in 2011 encouraged journalists to continue their ‘valuable
work.’

Junsuke Suzuki
UNV Monitoring and Evaluation Oﬃcer
Serving in Uzbekistan with UNDP to support better programme management

UNDP is currently managing more than 30 projects across Uzbekistan and Junsuke Suzuki is tasked with improving the monitoring and evaluation of these initiatives so that better results can be achieved in the long run. In thepast Junsuke has seen change processes such as these fail because of poor personal relationships, so from theoutset he took time to get to know his colleagues: their challenges as well as the systems and procedures thatthey work with.
Armed with good background knowledge, Junsuke is introducing new systems and guidelines for project reporting, and coordinating staﬀ training. The biggest challenge then will be to make the changes stick. “Anything I introduce has to be useful and user friendly,” he said. “But most importantly the colleagues I am working with needto recognize the problems and solutions for themselves,” he said.
“Those who have beneﬁted from the support provided by Junsuke are principally the Country Oﬃce, its staﬀ and
its projects. Ultimately, however, the support he has provided in formulating the 2012 Annual Work Plans will havepositive impacts on the beneﬁciaries of UNDP projects,” said Junsuke’s supervisor, Stefan Liller, Assistant Resident
Representative.
Junsuke Suzuki taking time out to see the sights in his duty station in Uzbekistan.

Photo ©2011 UNVYoko Mizutani
UNV Migration and Border Management Oﬃcer
Serving in South Sudan with IOM to improve border management

When South Sudan became the world’s newest country last year, it also gained
charge of the world’s newest international border, which stretches 2,100 kilometres across a region troubled by insecurity. IOM is assisting the country tobring its border and migration management system up to international standards by improving infrastructure and the abilities of authorities. Yoko Mizutani
led IOM’s eﬀorts for ﬁve months before a more senior oﬃcial arrived. Her role
involved drafting procedures, deploying equipment, but most importantly,
organizing and conducting training for immigration oﬃcials.

Friend and mentor: Yoko Mizutani has been instrumental in introducing new systems and training
oﬃcials for the management of the world’s newest international border, which stretches 2,100
kilometres around South Sudan.

Yukako Niimi

Many had had no training before and they keenly absorbed information especially on the new Personal Identiﬁcation and Registration System (PIRS). “Yokohas contributed strongly to the installation of a national warning system, thePIRS, for border police,” her supervisor, Tom Attwood said.
On a personal note, Yoko’s biggest challenge was ﬁnding an equal professional footing with some of her counterparts. “Being a young woman can bea major disadvantage here,” she said. But, Yoko won over sceptical senior
officials by emphasising her experience with the Japanese Immigration
Bureau and her specialisation in Migration Studies. “I have been amazed at
the way operational staff on the border treat her as a friend and mentor,”
Tom Attwood said.

UNV Child Protection Oﬃcer
Serving in Sri Lanka with UNICEF to promote organizational learning on child protection responses

Restoring and strengthening child protection services in conﬂict-aﬀected parts of Sri Lanka is a key UNICEF focus. Yukako Niimi’s role is to capture lessons
learnt through activities under the child protection programme. These lessons are important for improving future programming as well as government
policies and practices.
So far, Yukako has helped develop an appropriate project monitoring system and helped create systems for sharing knowledge with partners andcolleagues. This has allowed her to gain a deeper understanding of child protection concerns and to develop her monitoring and evaluation skills.
“The fact that I am a volunteer has also helped my work because through the UNV oﬃce here I was able to gather information about volunteer organizationsin Sri Lanka to support our advocacy work,” she said. “We are currently working to scale up the project and replicate it in three other places in Sri Lanka,” shesaid.

In recent years, nearly half of UN Volunteer assignments under this programme were in support of partners involved in emergency andextended humanitarian assistance. 2011/12 deployments were no exception with HPC/ UNV Associates assigned to serve with projects
responding to the urgent needs of refugees and internally displaced people ﬂeeing war or famine and those on the margins of societies
facing food and other insecurities.
Typically HPC/ UNV Associates lived and worked directly with crisis-aﬀected communities, especially women and young people. Theirroles involved information gathering, coordination, protection, logistics and helping to provide essentials such as shelter. Their eﬀorts
contributed towards marginalized groups being more involved in decision-making processes, stronger local ownership and sustainabilityof UN humanitarian and early recovery programmes.

Humanitarian assistance
HPC/UNV Associates served in some of the world’s most crisis-aﬀected places - where government services are often overwhelmed andpeople struggle to ﬁnd adequate food and shelter. They reported that the greatest skill in working under these conditions was an ability
to be ﬂexible and innovative in response to rapidly evolving situations.
Meanwhile, supervisors said HPC/UNV Associates rose to signiﬁcant challenges, such as unexpectedly and successfully managing complex
programmes, or strengthening systems and procedures, and supporting life-saving awareness on issues such as water and sanitation.
HPC/ UNV Associate Kumudunie P.Abeykoon working with the community in the Philippines in 2010 .

Photo by: M.K.P. Abeykoon ©2011 UNV

Keiko Kaneda
UNV Associate Programme Officer
Serving in South Sudan with UNHCR to assist returnees, internally displaced people and refugees
Serving with UNHCR, Keiko Kaneda is an architect by training and is now helping to provide
temporary shelters for thousands of returnees to the world’s newest country, South Sudan.“ It’s
challenging. During the rainy season our movement is restricted, so we can only build shelters
half the year.” Keiko also has to contend with wildly ﬂuctuating building material costs and thecomplex land ownership laws of a new country emerging from crisis.

Photo ©2011 UNVKeiko Kaneda visits local school children who are among the shelter beneﬁciaries.

“The project’s goal is to promote a peaceful co-existence between those that are coming back andexisting communities,” she said. To achieve this, the project also helps whole communities withlivelihood opportunities and basic infrastructure development. “We build schools, drill boreholes
and provide vocational trainings. This creates a win-win situation for both returnees and local communities,” Keiko said.
Over the past ﬁve months Keiko has gained many professional, personal and cultural insights. “I’ve
had to adapt the way I communicate, for example, because the style in Africa is very diﬀerent to what
I know. Professionally I’ve also realized how diﬃcult it is to promote the idea of peacebuilding after
decades of ﬁghting,” she said.

Tomoya Soejima
UNV Inter –community Youth Relationships Oﬃcer
Serving in Kenya with UNHCR to empower youth at the world’s largest refugee camp
Almost half a million people, mainly from neighbouring Somalia, are taking shelter at any one time at
the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya. This is a protracted refugee situation, where thousands of people from the same nationality ﬁnd themselves in a state of limbo for years. Therefore, UNHCR is keen
to involve the community in camp management and service delivery. This is where Tomoya Soejima
helps by coordinating 117 youth groups that reach out to 2,000 young leaders who in turn empowersome 152,000 refugee youth. The aim is to bring young people into camp decision-making processes,
servicedelivery,and into activities that raise awareness about issues such as hygiene and health.
Photo©2011 UNV“In a protracted refugee situation, people need to get a sense of responsibility, that they also havesome control over their lives, and being a community volunteer can do that. As a volunteer myself I
can convincingly promote these values,” he said.
Some 30 youth leaders discuss their work. During the recent Somalia
The recent Somalia drought crisis saw the camp population surge drastically, with 150,000 more arrivals.
drought crisis, which saw more than 150,000 extra refugees arrive, youth
Youth groups played a critical role in monitoring protection and service gaps. Then political tensions
leaders like these became vital monitors of service and protection gaps.
within the region sparked a second crisis at the camp. The security situation deteriorated and aid workers
were often unable to access the camp. “Involving community volunteers, like those in the youth groups, was considered a non-life saving activity, but when the security
situation in the camp deteriorated, aid groups came to rely on the community volunteers and their structures at Dadaab are now more highly valued,” Tomoya said.

Katsunori Koike

Photo ©2011 UNV

UNV Peacebuilding Oﬃcer
Serving in Kenya with UNHCR to maintain peace in an ethnically-diverse refugee camp

The Kakuma refugee camp hosts more than 80,000 people from ten diﬀerent
nations, which, under the trying conditions, can be a tinderbox for tribal andethnic tensions.
Koike Katsunori serves with UNHCR to manage speciﬁc cases of conﬂict and tomonitor the peace education activities being undertaken by the UNHCR implementing partner for peacebuilding, the Lutheran World Federation.
“One of the main aims is to strengthen refugee communities’ ability to solve
problems themselves. We do this through training and by providing advice,”
he said. Through his assignment, Katsunori feels he has gained a better understanding of how the UN works and the refugee situation globally. “The experience has been rewarding,” he said.
Katsunori Koike sharing oﬀ duty time in the evening with colleagues, he ﬁnds it is a great way
to build strong networks.
Photo ©2011 UNVYuko DoiUNV Associate Protection Oﬃcer
Serving in Kosovo with UNHCR to help forced returnees re-establish themselves

The number of forced returnees from Western Europe to Kosovo has increased in recent years. Yuko
Doi is part of the UNHCR Protection unit that is, among other activities, monitoring the impact that
readmission has on the rights of individuals. Their ﬁndings are used to identify needed interventions
on behalf of individual returnees; to advocate for their rights to authorities; and to advise on related
policies. Recently, for example, their work enabled newly returned Roma children to enrol in local
schools despite having lost their school certiﬁcates in transit.

Yuko Doi laughs along with local friends in the community in
Kosovo.

Yuko visits and conducts interviews with readmitted people to identify protection issues and produces
human rights monitoring reports every quarter. These include detailed recommendations for both
Kosovo authorities and sending countries. The ﬁndings have inﬂuenced the policy of authorities, andrecently German authorities have decided to introduce a winter-ban on the deportation of minorities
to Kosovo as a result.
In addition to serving with UNHCR, Yuko also volunteers on weekends with minority children. “Thishelps me better understand the communities that I work with. I believe this also adds a signiﬁcantvalue to the returnee monitoring project,” she said.

Rommel G. Dela Rosa

Photo by: Rommel Dela Rosa ©2011

UNV Programme Oﬃcer
Serving in Nepal with WFP to help provide food aid to 1.2 million people

The Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation is the largest WFP eﬀort in Nepal. It targets 1.2 million
beneﬁciaries in food insecure districts of the country.
Rommel Dela Rosa has been based in far-ﬂung Dadeldhura, Far-Western Nepal, serving in one of three
WFP ﬁeld oﬃces. He has been instrumental in setting-up programme monitoring tools, providing
feedback on reports and coaching partners on developing case studies and lessons learnt to improve
the overall function of the programme.
Rommel said he appreciated the experience because he gained valuable cultural insights, while also
having the chance to share his knowledge. “He brought new experiences, new ideas and creativity,”
said Rommel’s supervisor, Kiran Pal.
Rommel Dela Rosa from the Philippines was based in the farﬂung Nepalese district of Dadeldhura assisting food insecurecommunities.
Photo by: June kashio ©2011 UNVVolunteers can play a huge role in helping returnees to resettle.

Improved basic services

In communities aﬀected by conﬂict, the chance for all members to become more actively involved with shaping their own futures andto have their concerns heard, eases tensions and often becomes an important part of the peacebuilding process. For this reason, UNV
promotes community involvement through volunteerism. Experience has shown that when community volunteers are part of a service
delivery programme its reach and sustainability become stronger.
HPC/UNV Programme Associates’ assignments often involved a special focus on mobilizing young people, women and marginalizedgroups in peace and development activities. This approach ultimately helps forge stronger communities that are more resilient against
crisis and conﬂict.

Returnees, many of whom have spent their lives in refugee camps in Zambia, attend language and ‘catch-up’ classes to help reintegration .

Photo by: Annika Hampson ©2011 UNV

Improved access to basic services can cause positive ripples across many aspects of people’s lives, including their overall health, education and wellbeing. For this reason UNV focuses on supporting UN agencies, funds and programmes to improve service delivery. HPC/UNV Programme Associates were among the hundreds of UN Volunteer experts worldwide that helped to build the skills of local andnational authorities to deliver services in a more accountable and eﬀective way. They also supported local people, especially women, tobecome involved in shaping and monitoring services in their areas.

Haruka Ishii
Photo ©2011 UNV

UNV Gender Based Violence Prevention Specialist
Serving in Cambodia to assist the Government in preventing and educating about gender-base violence
nationwide

Empowering Cambodian women is the aim of a UNDP-supported eﬀort that Haruka Ishii has
volunteered with since June 2011. Based at the Ministry of Women’s Aﬀairs, her role involves
helping to set-up a One Stop Service Centre for victims of gender-based violence. “It’s diﬃcult
for people to get seamless help here because diﬀerent services are housed in diﬀerent places
and many services for victims are unavailable in most rural areas, “she said.
The idea behind the Centre is to bring all relevant services under one roof. Together with hercolleagues, Haruka supported the Ministry to design and conduct a feasibility study for theCentre. Key to the study, were consultations to capture the views and ideas of those who will
use the service and those who will provide it.

Working with local authorities in rural Cambodia.

“The process helped improve government authorities’ understanding of the gaps, and enabled
them to decide on eﬀective policy and approaches for setting up the Centre,” she said. “Thestudy recommendations will be included in the Ministry’s action plan for an improved service
and this will beneﬁt thousands of victims eventually.” In 2012, Haruka will focus on supporting
the Ministry to train local authorities. They are considered the best sources of help for victims,
but often lack the skills and knowledge to respond.

Eijiro Murakoshi

Photo by: UNICEF Indonesia ©2011

UNV Health Care Finance Oﬃcer
Serving in Indonesia with WHO to support universal health insurance for 240 million people by 2014

The Government of Indonesia is committed to achieving universal health insurance for all of
its 240 million citizens by 2014. Eijiro Murakoshi is serving with WHO, in the Ministry of Health,as an advisor helping to design the new universal health insurance system.
His role involves assisting policy makers in their eﬀorts to understand their health system andto improve its performance by preparing plans of action and budgetary systems.
Being able to provide tailor made systems that respond to local demands is a career milestone
for Eijiro. He values the chance to work in close collaboration with his colleagues on this eﬀort
and to learn from each other and to share his own knowledge and experience.

Eijiro and colleague during the “Flagship Course on Equity and Health
Systems” in Indonesia 2011.

Photo by: Rommel Dela Rosa ©2011

Volunteers around the world play a critical role in protecting the environment and acting to mitigate the impacts of climatechange. In 2011/12 several HPC/UNV Associates contributed towards efforts in this area as part of their roles. For example, inSouth Sudan under the UNHCR shelter project for returnees, Associate Keiko Kaneda (please see above) facilitated the involvement of community volunteers to help manage valued water resources.

Environment and climate change“Through our Quick Impact Project, we drill boreholes as basic infrastructure in the shelter project location. We then normallyform water management committees within the local community. The members include women and youth and they work on
a voluntary basis,” she said.
Environment and climate change is a key focus for UNV. Worldwide the organization involves community members in environmental assessment, planning, project implementation and monitoring natural resource management. In this way forest protection, resource management and bio-diversity conservation are strengthened and communities are able to recover more quickly
from natural disasters while also becoming more resilient against them. In 2011/12 one HPC/ UNV Associate was deployed toserve solely in this focus area.

Rural farmers in Nepal tending the terraced rice paddies.

Photo ©2011 UNVAyako Tsuyada
UNV Programme Specialist
Serving in Cambodia on a joint UN eﬀort to assist the country improve its forest management

Cambodia is blessed with one of the highest levels of forest cover in Southeast Asia, but rapid
development is threatening this status. Ayako Tsuyada is working on a joint UN eﬀort thataims to improve the governance of this valuable national heritage. The programme involves
three agencies: FAO, UNDP, UNEP and two main government ministries, along with stakeholders from civil society and the private sector.
It is Ayako’s role to facilitate communication and build understanding between these diverse
groups. “The programme has just started but we hope that it will beneﬁt many Cambodians,
especially indigenous people whose livelihoods are tightly linked to healthy forests,” she said.

Ayako Tsuyada visits the forest of Mondol kiri in Cambodia.

In remote Pu Char, Ayako interviews achief about how illegal logging aﬀects
his community.

Photo ©2011 UNV

A second element of Ayako’s role involves collaborating with colleagues at the regional level
on research into illegal logging. The goal is to come up with a common approach to tackling this challenge. As part of this work, Ayako conducted interviews with rangers and local
administrators who are on the frontline of forest protection every day. “I try to understand theirchallenges and needs and then convey these to our regional level to reﬂect in policy,” she said.
“One of the things I value most about this assignment is the opportunity to think globally andto collaborate with neighbouring countries,” she said.

Operational and capacity building support to UN missions

UN Volunteers are an important part of the 22 UN missions
currently underway around the world. They bring both substantive and technical support. They serve across the board inareas such as civil aﬀairs, human rights, child protection, engineering, air operations and logistics.
Since the beginning of the HPC programme in 2007, several
HPC/UNV Associates have served in UN missions. This year one
HPC/UNV Associate joined the thousands of UN Volunteers
who are serving with UN missions worldwide. UN Volunteers
typically work alongside national counterparts. On a daily basis they transfer skills and often this is the added value which
they bring to missions.
UN Volunteers generally work directly with communities in theﬁeld and are therefore seen as having a vital role in contributing towards social cohesion and community conﬁdence.

Haiti post hurricane food distribution by MINUSTAH.

Photo ©2011 UNV & MINUSTAH

Nao Iwamura
UNV Information Analyst
Serving in the Democratic Republic of Congo with the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO)

Nao Iwamura is part of a team that coordinates and supports more than 50 projects aimed at helping to stabilize the troubled Eastern regions of the
Democratic Republic of Congo. For example, the team is supporting a major eﬀort to disarm, demobilize, and reintegrate (DDR) former combatants.
Scores of government, UN and non-governmental organizations are involved with implementing the stabilization projects and it is Nao’s role to help
keep all partners and stakeholders informed of project developments.
This critical role requires Nao to travel to the project sites to help assess progress. She also supports her colleagues in preparing regular reports andsituation analyses. Recently she also helped develop priority plans for future projects. These plans provided important baseline analyses and recommendations to policy makers on feasible targets over the next two years.
“This is the largest UN Peacekeeping Mission in the world and it’s been incredible for me to be based in the area where the Mission is mobilizing most of
its resources,” she said. “The challenges we face here are absolutely daunting but it is immensely rewarding to be involved in daily eﬀorts to bring peaceto this place,” she said. “For instance, in the DDR project, 4,900 combatants have been demobilized and 2,600 of them are now enrolled in community
reintegration projects.”

Residents of Silea in Darfur gather to hear Rodolphe Adada, African Union-United Nations Special Representativefor Darfur and Head of UNAMID, explain the assistance they will receive.

Photo by: S. Hunter©2010

What associates reported about their roles“For me the HPC programme opened up a whole new world of peacebuilding. The Programme is deﬁnitely unique and it should be
expanded to allow more people to have this opportunity.” – Yuko Doi, UNHCR, Kosovo.
Contributing towards empowering women – Because women are often those most aﬀected by poverty, conﬂict or disaster, UNV seeks toempower them through its work. In 2010/11 and again in 2011/12, over 60% of HPC/ UNV Programme Associates reported that their roles
contributed towards this goal. Associates collected data speciﬁc to women’s needs, encouraged women to participate more actively in peaceand development activities, or carried out analysis that took account of women’s needs and perspectives.

Programme highlights

Working directly with local level government and communities – UN Volunteers are often the face of the UN and HPC/UNV Programme
Associates are no exception. The majority of Associates were ﬁelded into assignments where most of their work was with national government counterparts or civil society organisations. In 2011/12 they worked directly with national counterparts to strengthen their planning andmanagement skills. Associates were usually deployed to the local levels of government, where the people they worked with – civil society
representatives, government oﬃcials – played a pivotal role in consolidating peace and development.
Enhancing capacity of governments and host agencies – A third of Associates reported that they felt their work enhanced the capacity of
governments or host agencies to deliver basic services.
Integrating volunteerism into peace and development programmes – Nearly half the HPC/UNV Associates said they helped to strengthenor establish groups or institutions for mobilizing and managing volunteers. These included groups where the involvement of women andyoung people was actively encouraged; and groups that helped manage scarce resources or respond to crises.

What associates reported about their experiences
Volunteers’ list top three beneﬁts of their assignments – Overall HPC/UNV Associates felt they gained a great deal from the experience.
They rated opportunities to participate in a new culture, to learn from colleagues, and to do meaningful work as the top three beneﬁts of theirexperiences.
New challenges build volunteers’ personal and professional conﬁdence – Many found their assignments challenging which helped themto build their personal and professional conﬁdence, while they were also able to contribute towards the successful delivery of UN assistance insome of the world’s most troubled places.

Security and infrastructure issues – HPC/UNV Associates reported that security concerns and the lack of infrastructure were the biggest obstacles to carrying out their work.
Feelings of isolation – A number of HPC/UNV Associates felt isolated at times as their assignments were often shorter and in non-permanent roles. Because of this, some felt their colleagues perceived them as outside the UN system or respective project.

What supervisors said
“The programme brings additional technical expertise ... and the volunteer brings impartial support, views and advice,” – Mohammad
Shahjahan, Team Leader, Health Systems, WHO oﬃce, Indonesia.

New ideas and perspectives – Supervisors reported that HPC/UNV Associates brought fresh perspectives and new ideas to host agency programmes. In
some cases this resulted in the introduction of new procedures or advocacy eﬀort.
Building partnerships – Some HPC/UNV Associates proactively developed new partnerships that helped programmes to advance; or they helped securemuch needed funding.
“One of the main strengths of the programme is that UNVs function as role models for increased volunteering in the host country.” – Antonia
Luedeke, Head of Child Protection Section, UNICEF Timor-Leste.

Skills and ﬂexibility – Supervisors appreciated HPC/UNV Associates’ ability to rise to the challenge of unexpected developments such as natural disasters
or staﬀ shortages.
Improving the performance of key programmes – HPC/UNV Associates made signiﬁcant contributions towards project planning and monitoring andevaluation processes, thereby improving the overall performance of key programme eﬀorts.
“The program permits our Country Oﬃce to get access to support and expertise provided by a volunteer, which in our case is helping toensure the eﬀective delivery as well as adequate monitoring and evaluation of the UNDP Country Program.” – Stefan Liller, Assistant Resident
Representative, UNDP Uzbekistan��������������������������������
The 15 Associates deployed in 2011/12
supported UN eﬀorts in diverse ways, fromproviding training to oﬃcials and civil society to helping formulate the interests ofstakeholders.

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Working across 17 UN operations in 29 countries or regions,
90% of Associates felt they had an opportunity to learn
from their counterparts as well as doing worthwhile work.

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KosovoAzerbaijan

CyprusLebanonoPt (East Jerusalem) Jordan

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Sudan &South Sudan
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Uzbekistan

Nepal

Afghanistan

Sri Lanka

Laos
MyanmarThailandCambodia
Philippines
Indonesia

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South Korea Japan
China

India
Cape Verde
Guinea Bissau
Sierra Leone
Liberia�����Photo : ©2011 UNV

Shoko Fujita addresses the United Nations General Assembly during
the celebrations for the tenth anniversary of the International Year of
Volunteers

Acronyms
DPKO

Department of Peacekeeping Operations

FAO

Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations

HPC

Hiroshima Peacebuilders Centre

IOM

International Organization for Migration

UNDP

United Nations Development Programme

UNEP

United Nations Environment Programme

UNESCO

United Nations Educational, Scientiﬁc and Cultural Organization

UNFPA

United Nations Population Fund

UNHCR

Oﬃce of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

UNICEFThe United Nations Children’s Fund

UNODC

United Nations Oﬃce on Drugs and CrimeUNVThe United Nations Volunteers Programme

WHO

World Health Organization

WFP

World Food Programme

Some photographs used in this booklet depict the wider United Nations Volunteer (UNV) programme and volunteerism sector.
They are used to illustrate the context in which HPC/UNV Volunteers serve.

The 2011/12 HPC/ UNV Associates

This picture of the programme associates includes:
Shoko Fujita, Yuiko Watamoto, Hiroko Oda, Junsuke
Suzuki, Yoko Mizutani, Yukako Niimi, Keiko Kaneda, Tomoya Soejima, Katsunori Koike, Yuko Doi, Rommel G.
Dela Rosa, Haruka Ishii, Eijiro Murakoshi, Ayako Tsuyada,
Nao Iwamura.

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 recognitionof volunteers, working with partners to integrate volunteerism into development programming, and mobilizing an
increasing number and diversity of volunteers, including experienced UNV 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.

Front cover: Rommel Dela Rosa from the Philippines was based in the far-ﬂung Nepalese district ofDadeldhura assisting food insecure communities.

Back cover: Keiko Kaneda worked with youth groups to build demonstration shelters. During theprocess they were trained to produce mud blocks and are now selling this service locally.

http://www.unv.org United Nations Volunteers, UN Campus, PO Box 260 111, 53153 Bonn, Germany