HRD Programme: 2012/13 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 PROGRAMMEFOR HUMAN RESOURCEDEVELOPMENT IN ASIA FOR
PEACEBUILDING
Peacebuilding is about resolving violent conflict andestablishing lasting peace. It involves restoring justice,healing trauma, reconciliation, development andleadership. With violent conflict never far from theheadlines, a central part of the Government of Japan’s
strategy to help foster lasting peace worldwide is theProgramme for Human Resource Development in Asia for
Peacebuilding (HRD Programme).
Funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Programmeaims to demonstrate the role of volunteering inpeacebuilding and peacekeeping activities by fielding
skilled, trained and committed citizens from Japan andother Asian countries. Volunteers deployed under the
Programme bring new skills that expand the reach ofpeacebuilding efforts.

‘When the international community
assists vulnerable post-conflict
nations in consolidating peace, theactivities of civilian experts
supporting coherent andcomprehensive nation-building are
indispensable. The HRD Programmeaims to nurture the civilian experts
needed to build peace and contributeto peace and stability in theinternational community.’
Fumio Kishida, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Japan

Working alongside national counterparts, HRD
Volunteers contribute their skills and experience toprojects that range from humanitarian coordination
within emergencies and protracted displacement2

situations to crisis prevention and post-conflict recovery
efforts. There are also a number of assignments that
support and strengthen the delivery of basic services
with a view to stabilizing local governance and civilsociety in the long term. Social inclusion plays a vital rolein all aspects of the volunteer assignments, with youth,
women and marginalized groups proactively included inpeace and development initiatives at the community
level.

In accordance with the UNV
Programme Strategy, The HRD
Programme focuses on harnessing
volunteerism as a strategic asset
and a powerful contributor to peaceand development. Volunteerism
benefits society at large and theindividual volunteer bystrengthening solidarity andreciprocity among citizens. It cantransform the pace and nature ofdevelopment and peace initiatives.

Promoting volunteerism is a key aspect of the sustainable
contribution that HRD Volunteers make under the
Programme. The chance to volunteer is a chance to movefrom being a passive recipient to becoming engaged inpeace, reconciliation and development processes.
Interventions that genuinely involve beneficiaries –
especially those on the margins of society – are known tohave a more lasting impact. HRD Volunteers areencouraged to promote volunteerism and community
engagement, and often they become role models andinspire the people they work with.

HRD Programme
objectives

Enhancing knowledge and skills throughuniversity training with international
institutes

Hosted by the Hiroshima Peacebuilders Centre (HPC) at
Hiroshima University, the HRD Programme has beenrunning since 2007. The Centre delivers six weeks ofclassroom-based training in collaboration with Canadian,
Swedish and other international institutes. Participants
work through problem-solving exercises, discussions andlectures before taking up their assignments as HRD
Volunteers.
Building practical experience with theUnited Nations

United Nations Volunteers (UNV) is responsible for thevolunteer management component of the HRD
Programme. Following an extensive matching process,
HRD Volunteers are assigned with UN agencies andtypically work directly with vulnerable groups such as
refugees, women, children and others affected byconflict. Their roles often involve bringing excluded
groups into peace and development processes,
protecting and supporting those at risk, andstrengthening the skills and capacity of authorities sothat the basic needs of vulnerable people can be met.

‘Being a volunteer means giving andreceiving. While you put yourprofessional skills at the service ofothers, in return you learn fromthem, you build and strengthen
knowledge. Promoting volunteer
engagement among counterparts,
beneficiaries and colleagues issomething HRD Volunteers are bestplaced to do.’

HRD Volunteers often find themselves living and working
in challenging conditions. They deal with long hours,
limited infrastructure and volatile security situations.
Despite this, many say they get as much from theexperience as they give. They develop new skills and gain
confidence in their abilities. They are also able to makesignificant contributions towards improving the lives ofpeople affected by crises.
Assisting people affected by war anddisaster and those excluded fromdevelopment opportunities

By the end of 2012, a total of 98 HRD Volunteers from 15
Asian countries had completed their UNV assignments
since the HRD Programme began. Overall, they havesupported more than 14 UN agencies and partnerorganizations in providing humanitarian assistance andimproving basic services for vulnerable people. In someof the world’s most troubled places, they have assisted incrisis prevention and recovery efforts and served with UN
missions to boost their operational capacity and build
the skills of their national counterparts. Across thebreadth of circumstances in which HRD Volunteers have
served, they have focused particularly on empowering
women, young people and marginalized groups, and indoing so they have contributed to building trust, capacity
and resilience among ordinary people involved in someof the world’s most fragile peace processes.

‘The fields of conflict resolution,
peace enforcement, post-conflictreconstruction and even confidencebuilding measures in politicallytense environments require ‘readyto-work’ professionals with criticalthinking. These are the peacebuilders
this programme aims to train.’Kenji Isezaki, President, Hiroshima Peacebuilders Centre

For more information, visit: www.peacebuilderscenter.jp

3Delivery of basic services
UNV’s commitment to activities related to gendersensitive primary health care, non-formal education andeffective local governance is based on the principle thatstrengthening the delivery of basic services can impact
upon many priority areas at the same time, withmultiplier effects on the achievement of the Millennium
Development Goals.
In 2012, the HRD Programme supported five UNV
assignments that had the delivery of basic services attheir core, including: capacity-building of local
government accounting staff in the management ofpublic funds in Liberia; promoting girls’ education toyear 9 and expanding access to preschool programmes

Yuki Yoshida visits an IDP camp in Port-au-Prince, Haiti

4

in Tajikistan; and extending primary health care to
remote crisis-affected populations with a proposal for‘nomadic clinics’ in Kenya.
Two assignments featured the highly successful
mobilization of community health volunteers – ‘cholera
brigadiers’ in Haiti and ‘hygiene promoters’ in Somalia –to promote safe water and hygiene practices andcombat the spread of cholera in camp situations. In bothcases, the HRD Volunteers assisted to build that local
capacity, leveraging their positions as professionals
working in a voluntary capacity to encourage theformation of sustainable volunteer networks to respondto public health needs at the household level.

Delivery of basic services

Capacity of the formal
education sector enhanced
at the community level

KazumiHomma

UNV Education Monitoring & Evaluation Specialist
Served in Tajikistan to support UNICEF’s Basic Education and
Gender Equality programmeWith more than eight years’ experience as an educational professional andprogramme management specialist, Kazumi brought much knowledge andprofessionalism to her UNV assignment with UNICEF’s Basic Education and
Gender Equality (BEGE) programme in Tajikistan. She also took away a much
deeper understanding of what it means for a population to be subjected to acontrolled democracy: ‘The restricted freedom of expression, coupled withwidespread corruption in Tajikistan, might be the major reason that thecountry remains as vulnerable as the poorest African countries,’ she noted.
The objectives of the BEGE programme over the timeframe 2010–2015 are toincrease the completion of girls’ education to year 9 to more than 90 per centand expand access to preschool education. In 2012 UNICEF conducted its
mid-term review of the programme, and Kazumi made a major contribution toevidence-based education planning and programming by conducting
rigorous performance monitoring in UNICEF’s priority districts.
With the benefit of mentoring during Kazumi’s assignment, UNICEF’s
education officers, programme assistants, and field monitors were able tostrengthen their relationships with other stakeholders and initiate steps
towards improve existing monitoring mechanisms. ‘The biggest challenge ofpromoting girls’ education in Tajikistan is that all decisions are being madewith no concrete evidence. I contributed to evidencebased education
planning and programming by enhancing UNICEF’s monitoring andevaluation capacity. For example, I produced five trend analysis reports on
education and employment in Tajikistan based on the 2010 population andhousing census,’ said Kazumi.

A monitoring & evaluation officer of Gharm
District Education Department.
(Photo: Kazumi Homma)?

WHO BENEFITED

Schoolchildren• 
aged 3–18 in 12 UNICEF
priority districts

Government
officials• 	of education administrative
bodies at national, regionaland district levels‘The biggest challengeof promoting girls’
education in Tajikistan
is that all decisions arebeing made with noconcrete evidence’5Delivery of basic services

Community’s capacity toplan, implement and monitor
MDG progress through local
development strategies
enhanced

Atsushi

Iijima?

WHO BENEFITED

3 pilot counties•,
	then all 15 counties in Liberia

Staff

• 
at the Ministry ofInternal Affairs and theGovernance Commission‘I’ve gained lots ofexperience and manyskills through myactivities in Liberia, andit has brought changes
in my perspective ofworking in aninternational
environment in a postconflict country’Atsushi with the project’s staff andimplementing partners (Ministry of Internal
Affairs and the Governance Commission).
(Photo: Samuel Nyakron)

6

UNV Programme Officer
Served with UNDP to assist the Liberia Decentralizationand Local Development programme

The UNV Programme Strategy notes that ‘strong local governance enhances
the delivery of basic services’, and it was with this guiding principle in mind
that Atsushi approached his role with the Liberia Decentralization and Local
Development (LDLD) programme, a national-owned programme ofinnovations for supporting local government established with the assistanceof the UN Capital Development Fund and UNDP.
Atsushi was primarily involved in building the capacity of the LDLD
programme’s implementing partners, particularly in the area of public
expenditure management at county, district and sub-district levels. This wasachieved through both on-the-job training and workshops. Atsushi’s aim wasto engender professionalism among his counterparts through leading by
example, demonstrating the proper management of public funds andencouraging ‘learning by doing’. He also provided administrative support toprocurement, asset management and public relations activities.
Keen to use his position as a UN Volunteer to advocate for the role ofvolunteerism, Atsushi was able to highlight the concept of volunteerism in the
programme’s newsletter with a story about one of his counterparts in the
Ministry of Internal Affairs who was working on community-based income
generation activities.
On a personal level, Atsushi was positive about all that he had learnt during
his assignment: ‘I’ve gained lots of experience and many skills through myactivities in Liberia, and it has brought changes in my perspective of working
in an international environment in a post-conflict country. I have come tounderstand the culture of an international work environment, in particular theway of working in Africa, and I have understood the necessity of adjusting
myself to it.’

Delivery of basic services

Access to primary healthcare services at community
levels improved

WataruKashinoUNV Migration Health Physician
Worked with IOM on improving access to health care amongcrisis-affected populations in Kenya

Coordinated initial rapid needs assessment
training, Eldoret.

As a UNV migration health physician, Wataru was involved in two major
projects led by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Kenya,
also covering the Horn of Africa. With three years’ experience in theemergency department of a tertiary care hospital in Japan, he provided
project development and technical assistance to a proposal for ‘nomadic
clinics’ to expand primary health care services to crisisaffected populations innorthern Kenya. The target group for this project totals approximately 250,000
people, and it is envisaged that after one year IOM would be able to hand over
operation of the clinics to the Ministry of Health.
The second project was in direct response to inter-community fighting in theborder town of Moyale in July 2012, leading to some 8000 Ethiopians withurgent humanitarian needs taking refuge on the Kenyan side of the border.
IOM worked together with the Government of Kenya to establish shelter,boost livelihoods and promote peace among those who had been displaced.
Wataru acted as one of the investigators for IOM’s rapid needs assessment,
and for its project implementation he provided valuable technical assistance.

?

WHO BENEFITED• Emergency response:8184

displaced
Ethiopians and hostcommunity members• Nomadic clinics proposal:

250,000

people in 2 counties

Wataru also contributed his significant expertise to the temporary emergency
response by undertaking an analysis of the overall situation of health andprevalent diseases among the displaced population, with special attention
paid to water, sanitation and hygiene. Thanks to this needs assessment
highlighting the extremely limited water resources and total reliance on the
Government of Kenya and Kenya Red Cross for food, international NGOs had
accurate information about how much water and food to deliver to thedisplaced communities.

7Delivery of basic services

UN volunteers, community
volunteers and communities
engaged in local capacitybuilding activities as part ofhumanitarian response

Yuki

YoshidaUNV Health Project Officer
Served with IOM’s Health Unit assisting IDPs in Haiti?

WHO BENEFITED

141,264•
IDPs living	in 31 camps in the Port-auPrince metropolitan area,	
particularly

children, pregnant
women andlactating mothers,
the elderly anddisabled, and people
with chronic
diseases

As of mid 2012, approximately 369,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs)
remained in 541 camps in Haiti following the devastating earthquake of 2010.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) continues to provide
assistance to those IDPs, and IOM’s Health Unit, to which Yuki was assigned asa UN Volunteer, works to address critical gaps in public health while
supporting vulnerable individuals in camps.
During her assignment, Yuki – a trained midwife with a master’s degree in publichealth and prior experience working with UNICEF – was primarily responsible
for epidemiological data analysis and reporting on IOM’s cholera response
project in camps in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area. With her proactive
attitude and initiative, she was also quickly engaged in a range of management
and coordination activities, including during the emergency responses toHurricanes Isaac and Sandy. Yuki’s supervisor praised her work: ‘Yuki has shown
exemplary work in supporting the activities of the IOM Health Unit to reach its
target goals. She was able to share her experience and contribute to thesuccessful implementation of humanitarian assistance programmes.’

Yuki visits the general hospital’s pediatricward, Port-au-Prince.

‘As the Health Unit
trains and supports
community healthvolunteers for theprevention andtreatment of cholera,
HIV/AIDS and othercommunicable diseases,
my position as a UN
Volunteer added
positive value and led
to effective
communication with thecommunity leaders andlocal volunteers in the
IDP camps’
8

Being a volunteer and bringing the spirit of volunteerism to the cholera
project’s training of community health volunteers, known as ‘cholera
brigadiers’, was a noticeable advantage to Yuki: ‘As the Health Unit trains andsupports community health volunteers for the prevention and treatment ofcholera, HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases, my position as a UN
Volunteer added positive value and led to effective communication with thecommunity leaders and local volunteers in the IDP camps.’

Delivery of basic services

Local humanitarian
response coordination andmanagement capacity
strengthened

Koji

Kumamaru

UNV Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Specialist
Served with IOM on a safe water and cholera prevention project in Somalia

As a water, sanitation and hygiene specialist, Koji had much to contribute to
the International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) ongoing safe water andcholera prevention project in Somalia. He provided technical advice to theproject’s seven implementing partners (local NGOs) on water treatment
facilities, hygiene promotion and baseline/post-intervention assessment, andhe supervised and monitored assessment activities, including 450 household
surveys and over 200 water quality samples and tests in the field.
Koji also supported training for the project’s implementing partners and morethan 250 ‘hygiene promoters’ in order to develop their skills in conducting
household surveys and water quality sampling. Throughout this training, IOM
emphasized the importance of the beneficiaries themselves taking ownershipof the process and empowering communities to work towards eliminatingwater-borne and sanitation-related diseases. As Koji reported, ‘My role was totransfer skills and knowledge in water quality analysis and water treatment,
while considering gender equality’, and during his assignment over 80,000
IDPs and host communities benefited from house-to-house visits andcommunity dialogues conducted by the trained hygiene promoters.
Building on his prior experience in the water, sanitation and hygiene sector in
the development context, Koji noted that the main area in which he gained
new knowledge was how to apply his professional background to ahumanitarian emergency, whether man-made or natural.

Koji carefully examines a water sample in
Burco, Somaliland. (Photo: Ali Eid)?

WHO BENEFITED

50,787
9,328,000 litres of• 
beneficiaries
provided withclean, safe water per monththrough 13 water treatment
facilities

250

hygiene promoters• trained80,000

IDPs and host• communities benefited fromhouse-to-house visits andcommunity dialogues byhygiene promoters

9Environment andclimate change
Two primary motivators underpin the involvement of
the HRD Programme in the priority area of environmentand climate change: a global recognition ofvolunteerism’s role in environmental protection, and the
UNDP executive board’s call for UNV to contribute to theglobal environment and climate change agenda. UNV
has been mandated to contribute to projects that
support access to energy and climate change mitigation
techniques; promote sustainable livelihoods, foodsecurity and climate change adaptation; and focus on
natural resource management and biodiversity
conservation.

In light of this directive, one of the 2012 HRD
Programme assignments was with UNDP in Timor-Lestedeveloping national capacity to manage and reduce
disaster risk, particularly among communities vulnerable
to natural disasters and climate change. Working with
the National Disaster Operations Centre, the HRD
Volunteer contributed to improvements in interinstitutional coordination of disaster risk management
programming and the availability of information oncommunity-level planning for natural disasters.

Tree planting campaign on International environment day in Haiti. Photo: UNV Jose Rendee Torres

10Environment and climate change

Vulnerability to foodinsecurity and climatechange reduced throughcommunity-based adaptation
mechanisms

Aimkorita

SakumaUNV Monitoring & Evaluation Officer
Served with UNDP in Timor-Leste in support of the National
Disaster Operations Centre

Around 80 per cent of Timor-Leste’s population has experienced the effects ofa natural disaster, and every year there are localized weather events that
require some kind of disaster response. Aimkorita served as a UNV monitoringand evaluation officer for a joint UNDP/government project designed tostrengthen disaster risk management at the national and district levels,
particularly focusing on communities vulnerable to natural disasters andclimate change.
Preparing hazard maps and DVDs for display in support of a national event on
disaster risk reduction was one of the practical ways in which Aimkorita wasable to share her expertise with her counterparts in the Ministry of Social
Solidarity. The theme of the 2012 event was ‘Women and girls becoming more
resilient to natural disasters’, so schoolchildren, teachers and aid agency staff
were briefed on reducing risk in natural disasters from a gender-sensitive
point of view.

?

WHO BENEFITED• More than

50
500

	

government staff• 
community
members (men, women andchildren)‘I gained experiences
working withmultinational staff andlearned the different
ways of work styles,
communication styles
and values’

UNV’s preparation for the national event on
disaster risk reduction.

In another community-level approach to environmental awareness, Aimkorita
participated in a UN-coordinated activity that aimed to educate children
about reducing their impact on the environment, such as separating organicand nonorganic garbage to reduce landfill. ‘Since environment and natural
disaster risk reduction are correlated, what I contributed during the weekend
for children should benefit them directly,’ Aimkorita said.
Personally, Aimkorita experienced both hardship and fulfillment,
accumulating many valuable experiences and the kind of practical knowledge
that cannot be learnt from books or study: ‘I gained experiences working withmultinational staff and learned the different ways of work styles,
communication styles and values.’

11

Crisis prevention andrecovery
Many communities around the world continue to suffer
the after-effects of violent conflict, from the physicalproblem of landmines in Laos to ongoing social
fragmentation in the Solomon Islands. Common to all of
the crisis prevention and recovery projects that the
HRD Volunteers of 2012 supported was a will to
involve community members in their own conflict
prevention and recovery efforts. The types of activities
undertaken in this priority area focused on building
trust, social cohesion, peaceful coexistence and mutual
support – all essential ingredients of reconciliation andpeace consolidation.

UNDP’s interventions in the post-conflict situations ofLaos, South Sudan and the Solomon Islands were ablyand enthusiastically supported by HRD Volunteers, whoworked towards stabilizing community security at thegrassroots level in the case of South Sudan; improving
communications among UNDP’s partners in eradicating
unexploded ordnance in Laos; and empowering
ex-combatants in the Solomon Islands to lift themselves
out of poverty by providing income-generation
opportunities and facilitating human security.

In Burundi, after years of civil war, UNV is supporting the implementation of an innovative UNDP project to ensure the durable socio-economic
reintegration of people affected by the crisis. Beneficiaries are encouraged to form association with other ex-combatants and community members
to start income generating activities. (Photo: Aude Rossignol/UNV, 2012)12

Crisis prevention and recovery

Inclusive local crisis
prevention strategies andmechanisms strengthened

Yoshinori

Ikeda

UNV Peace and Community Security Officer
Served in South Sudan with UNDP’s Community Security
and Arms Control project

UNDP’s Community Security and Arms Control (CSAC) project supports theSouth Sudan Peace and Reconciliation Commission (SSPRC), other relevant
government agencies and local communities to identify the key drivers ofviolent conflict and develop interventions to mitigate them. The aim is tostabilize community security at the grassroots level by implementing
infrastructure projects such as boreholes, police posts, mechanized farming
and the renovation of county administration buildings and community
centres – a ‘bricks and mortar’ approach to conflict mitigation and extending
the rule of law. The project also assists traditional authorities to build theirconflict transformation skills and establish mid to long-term conflict resolution
mechanisms.

?

WHO BENEFITED• Conflict transformation
training:

	780 traditional

13

authorities fromcounties, and theircommunities

Yoshinori’s contribution to the CSAC project focused on improving
coordination with the SSPRC and monitoring the progress of conflicttransformation training. This training was intended to create locally based
agents of change to identify potential sources of conflict and come up with‘homegrown’ solutions to allow the peaceful coexistence of all members of thecommunity. Notably, most of the traditional authorities who participated in
the conflict transformation training (approximately 780 individuals, including
traditional chiefs, youth leaders and women) did so on a voluntary basis,
meaning that the intervention was more likely to be sustainable because it
empowered government counterparts and community members.
In a two-way exchange that typifies the volunteering experience, Yoshinori
grew professionally, honing his conflict analysis and project management
skills even in the face of the kinds of challenges common to many complex
postconflict situations – low capacity of government staff, lack of basic social/physical infrastructure at both national and local levels, and low literacy andeducation standards.

Conflict transformation training for
traditional authorities in Upper Nile States,
South Sudan. (Photo: UNDP South Sudan)

13

Crisis prevention and recovery

Gender-differentiated UNV
recovery programming
strengthened

YumikoHorie?

WHO BENEFITED

People• 
incontaminated areas‘Initially I was planningto create the roadmap
for a better website.
However, if I had taken
the lead it would not
develop mycounterpart’s capacity.
So I decided to let themwork anyway andassist little by little.
This would take sometime but be a better way
for their capacity
development’

UNVs donated blood to the Red Cross on
International Volunteer Day.

14

UNV Programme Officer
Served in Lao PDR with UNDP on a UXO clearance,risk education and victim assistance project

Since 1996, UNDP has run a project to assist the national UXO (unexploded
ordnance) clearance agency in Lao PDR to eradicate UXO and, by doing so, tocontribute to the reduction of poverty in Lao PDR. The project focuses onproviding policy advice, aid coordination support and technical support to
UXO Lao. Specifically, UNDP technical advisors support UXO Lao’s operations
as well as its programme and financial management, and this in turn provides
learning opportunities for UXO Lao staff at national and provincial levels.
With a background in communications, Yumiko was proactive instrengthening UNDP’s communications strategy, particularly contributing to
the renewal of the UXO project’s website and ensuring that it communicatesappropriate perceptions of UNDP’s involvement in the joint UXO project
among its government and NGO partners.
Noting the fine balance between providing assistance/capacity-building andproject ownership of national staff, Yumiko explained: ‘Initially I was planningto create the roadmap for a better website. However, if I had taken the lead it
would not develop my counterpart’s capacity. So I decided to let them work
anyway and assist little by little. This would take some time but be a betterway for their capacity development.’
Yumiko also saw the need to collect gender-disaggregated data on thebeneficiaries of UNDP’s support to UXO clearance activities, and she plannedand began a research project to bring gender mainstreaming into theproject’s forward planning for 2013–16.

Crisis prevention and recovery

Inclusive local crisis
recovery strategies andmechanisms developed andstrengthened

Junko

KawataUNV Programme Specialist (Recovery and Reintegration)
Served in the Solomon Islands in support of a joint
UNDP/ILO/UNICEF post-conflict recovery initiative

Junko with officials from the Ministry of
National Unity, Reconciliation and Peace.

In 2012, UNDP, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and UNICEF
commenced a joint initiative in the Solomon Islands to, firstly, empower
ex-combatants and communities affected by ethnic tensions throughimproving local governance and community participation and, secondly,
promote successful post-conflict recovery by ensuring human security andthe peaceful coexistence of ethnically diverse populations.
With a masters degree in public administration, Junko was recruited as a UN
Volunteer to coordinate the project activities for the UNDP component of thejoint initiative and to represent UNDP in the broader national community ofpractice on recovery and reintegration. Taking on the additional role of Project
Coordinator, she had many practicalities to attend to, from setting up the
project management office to recruiting project assistants and UN Volunteers
for the partner UN agencies. She then set about indentifying targetedcommunities that were hosting ex-combatants: ‘To prevent duplication of
supports from other organizations, I held two mapping workshops to collectinformation on which communities had already been supported bystakeholders such as the government or other NGOs’. After the target
beneficiaries had been identified, Junko participated in UNDP’s activities in
the field, including conflict analysis training for government officials andpeacebuilding workshops for women.
One of the greatest challenges Junko faced was how to be fair and impartial indetermining target beneficiaries and then managing their expectations about
the benefits of the project for them: ‘The budget for this project was small
compared to the number of ex-combatants in this country, and of course
everyone wanted to be beneficiaries of the project’. She found that clear
communication about the project and its expected benefits to theparticipants and the wider community were key to a smooth start to theproject’s implementation phase.

?

WHO BENEFITED

Ex-combatants• 
intwo provinces and Honiara•

People in communities

affected by ethnic conflict• Counterparts in	government andpartner NGOs

‘The budget for thisproject was small
compared to thenumber of excombatants in thiscountry, and of course
everyone wanted to bebeneficiaries of the
project’15

Humanitarian assistance
The two main UN host agencies for HRD Programmeassignments within the UNV priority area of
humanitarian assistance were IOM and UNHCR, with all
five assignments dealing with displaced populations:
asylum-seekers, refugees, returnees and internallydisplaced persons, including rural-to-urban migrants.
The urgent humanitarian needs of the beneficiaries
ranged from the most basic of assistance – the provisionof clothes, other non-food items and shelter – toensuring access to safe water, preventing disease
outbreaks and developing capacity of local authorities
to provide appropriate legal protection for refugees andreturnees.

The added value of the HRD Programme in thesecontexts was the particular focus of the volunteers on
the inclusion of marginalized groups, the promotion of
local ownership of UN interventions and thesustainability of the humanitarian response wherever
possible. As one of the HRD Volunteers noted, ‘Many
volunteers operate in emergency contexts, including
local, national and international volunteers. It is
important that you explain to people that you arevolunteering as you can really inspire people and show
them through your example and commitment thatanyone can volunteer to make people’s lives better.’

Triza Awino, a community volunteer is assessing the needs of Michael Egadwa who lost his home to a fire in Kibera Slum, Nairobi, Kenya.
(Photo: Harald Franzen)

16Humanitarian assistance

Volunteer contributions tohumanitarian assistancestrengthened andrecognized

Junko

NomuraUNV Associate Reintegration Officer
Served with UNHCR in Rwanda on a programme to ensure thesustainable return and reintegration of Rwandan returnees

Refugee children wearing donatedsecondhand clothes, Kigeme refugee camp.

In November 2012, the Government of Rwanda and One UN Rwanda
commenced a two-year joint programme to ensure sustainable return andreintegration opportunities for Rwandan returnees, with returnee numbers
expected to peak in 2013 and continue on through 2014. Junko was assigned
to coordinate UNHCR’s component of the programme, including planning andpreparations for an event to mark its launch. With a positive attitude and aproactive approach, Junko met budget challenges head-on by writing
proposals and preparing UNHCR’s inputs carefully.
An influx of refugees fleeing insecurity in eastern Democratic Republic ofCongo (DRC) during 2012 saw the return and reintegration programme’s startdate delayed, but Junko’s flexibility and responsiveness meant she quickly
involved herself in responding to the urgent humanitarian needs for new
arrivals. She organized the donation of secondhand clothes for refugees who
found themselves living in refugee camps in Rwanda without basic
belongings, and in October 2012 more than 93,000 pieces of clothing were
distributed in camps and transit centres. She also wrote proposals for the
emergency response to new refugees and the registration of new arrivals
from DRC.

?

WHO BENEFITED

15,000• 
refugees in atransit centre and newly
established camp

10,000

Rwandan• returnees‘As long as I am avolunteer, I think I canwork flexibly andcreatively and bringnew ideas to an
institution’‘As a volunteer, any new ideas can be introduced for beneficiaries…As long as
I am a volunteer, I think I can work flexibly and creatively and bring new ideas
to an institution,’ reflected Junko. Improved communication skills, a better
understanding of refugee protection and an overview of the budget planningand fundraising activities of different UN agencies were among theprofessional insights that Junko took away from her time as a UN Volunteer
in Rwanda.

17

Humanitarian assistance

Local humanitarian andearly recovery response
coordination andmanagement capacity
strengthened

NaofumiIkeda?

WHO BENEFITED

5000 urban refugees• 12,000 returnees at•

temporary returnee site

20,000refugees in• 
Jamam refugee camp

UNV Associate Protection Officer
Served with UNHCR in South Sudan to provide
protection for refugees, returnees and IDPs

Naofumi’s role as UNV associate protection officer with UNHCR centredaround providing effective and timely protection for refugees, returnees,internally displaced persons (IDPs) – including urban refugees – and statelesspeople. He served as UNHCR protection focal point at a temporary returnee
site, and supported and improved rapid protection needs assessments
conducted by the protection cluster in the field.
Naofumi’s experience of volunteerism in South Sudan was extremely positive,
with the spirit of community engagement well integrated into thehumanitarian response to the needs of displaced populations: ‘UNHCR isalways mobilizing refugees, returnees and local people as volunteers. We
encourage those volunteers to work for their own community and promote
their mutual understanding among refugees, returnees and hostcommunities. I mobilized and trained about 10 young South Sudanesevolunteers to conduct vulnerability assessments for all the households at thereturnee site. They were very hardworking, conducting the interviews witheach household and supporting data entry to create a vulnerability database.’
Naofumi was grateful for the number of field missions he was able toparticipate in. So positive was Naofumi’s experience as a UN Volunteer with
UNHCR South Sudan that he happily reported: ‘I extended my contract here
for another year!’

Naofumi with the returnees’ chiefs at thetemporary returnee site.

18‘As I am now in charge of the urban refugee programme, I am working very
closely with urban refugee leaders who are working for their own community
on a volunteer basis. I listen to the community’s needs as identified by themand then we work together for the community.’Humanitarian assistance

Local humanitarian andearly recovery response
coordination andmanagement capacity
strengthened

Takanobu

Nakahara

UNV Non-Food Items and Emergency Shelter Field Officer
Served with IOM in South Sudan assisting communities displacedby natural disasters and conflict

Distributing NFIs for flood-affected people inBor, Jonglei. (Photo: South Sudan Red Cross)‘I believe that better
coordination
mechanisms which I
helped to establish
during my tenure willkeep ensuring better
NFI response in the
country’
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) leads the shelter andnon-food items (NFIs) cluster in South Sudan, which is tasked with ensuringthat internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in emergency shelter haveaccess to basic living requirements such as plastic sheets, sleeping mats,blankets, mosquito nets, cooking sets and soap.
Takanobu hit the ground running, involving himself in the immediate task at
hand – distributing NFIs and shelter from Juba to locations throughout South
Sudan. He also participated in data collection, needs assessments, registrationof beneficiaries and post-distribution monitoring, all of which contributed
towards improved coordination of the humanitarian response among
partners on the ground.

?

WHO BENEFITED

250,000• 	indirect beneficiaries,
including returnees and
IDPs

With such immediate humanitarian needs and so many returnees and IDPs
requiring assistance, coordination takes on critical, life-saving importance.
Takanobu reflected: ‘I see more and more organizations are now working
under the cluster mechanism, which is very promising. I believe that better
coordination mechanisms which I helped to establish during my tenure willkeep ensuring better NFI response in the country.’
On a personal level, Takanobu recognized that he had learnt a great manythings, including what the cluster system is, how to coordinate humanitarian
action on the ground, challenges for fieldwork and the importance of datacollection. He said, ‘I am much more confident in my coordination skills, which
I consider one of my strengths and would like to hone as my lifetime specialty’.

19Humanitarian assistance

Local humanitarian
response coordination andmanagement capacity
strengthened

Hidefumi

Okawa?

WHO BENEFITED

Asylum-seekers in• 
KosovoStaffof implementing• 
partner NGOs

‘If we can introduce
European Union and
UNHCR standards
through this project,
the Kosovan
authorities andimplementing partners
can improve theirskills’UNVs and local NGO staff perform afriendship dance.

20

UNV Associate Protection Officer
Served with UNHCR in Kosovo on capacity-building
around refugee status determination

Since 2010, forced returns of Kosovan refugees from Western Europe havegreatly outnumbered voluntary returns to Kosovo. This trend is likely tocontinue in 2013, raising major concerns about practical protection issues aswell as Kosovo’s capacity to facilitate the successful reintegration of returnees.
UNHCR works with the authorities and other partners to support legal reformin the areas of asylum, civil status and civil registration and to develop a law
and policy framework for returns and reintegration in Kosovo. There is aparticular need to increase the capacity of the authorities involved in refugee
status determination (RSD), which is the main area in which Hidefumi, as UNV
Associate Protection Officer, worked during his assignment with UNHCR.
With five years’ experience as a refugee protection lawyer in Japan, Hidefumi
added much professional value to the hosting of workshops, training sessions
and study tours for police officers, border officials and lawyers in order toincrease their capacity in RSD and their understanding of international
refugee protection laws and standards. He explained: ‘If we can introduce
European Union and UNHCR standards through this project, the Kosovan
authorities and implementing partners can improve their skills, andimprovements in RSD are crucial for Kosovo to be able to join the European
Union and the UN.’In one particular refugee case that Hidefumi devoted himself to working on incollaboration with a local NGO, the status of ‘subsidiary protection’ was
granted to an asylum-seeker: ‘It was the very first subsidiary protection status
granted among 550 applications since the Kosovo government began RSD in2009,’ Hidefumi was proud to report.

Humanitarian assistance

Local humanitarian andearly recovery response
coordination andmanagement capacity
strengthened

Mujahid

Hussain

UNV Emergency/Post-Crisis Officer
Served with IOM in Kenya on broad-based programmes
to assist displaced populations

Mujahid and the children of Naka IDP camp.
(Photo: Babu Shah)Kenya currently hosts approximately 600,000 refugees, the majority of whom
have fled violent conflict in Somalia. Within its own borders, Kenya faces rapid
urbanization, and cities such as Nairobi and Mombasa attract many young
rural migrants who are seeking education and livelihood opportunities but forwhom the first point of entry into an urban area is most likely a slum withharsh living conditions.
As one of only two non-Japanese HRD Volunteers in 2012, Mujahid’s role with
the International Organization for Migration (IOM) centred around supporting
IOM’s programmes to address the challenges of irregular migration andmitigate the impact of natural disasters and other crises on internallydisplaced persons, host communities and returnees. This involved
contributing to strategy documents, information management, supporting
project staff in programme planning and implementation, and preparing
rapid needs assessment guidelines.
One particular project to which Mujahid contributed was election
contingency planning for Kenya’s presidential election of March 2013. To thisend, he produced humanitarian hub management guidelines for the Eldoret
hub and established a county-level general coordination structure toencourage all humanitarian partners to be part of the hub. With the support of
ACAPS (Assessment Capacities Project) and OCHA (Office for Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs), he also organized training on coordinated joint needs
assessment processes and tools for all relevant government and humanitarian
partners.

?

WHO BENEFITED• Partners in government,
humanitarian agencies andNGOs assisted withpreparedness, needs
assessment andcoordination• Preparedness andcoordination for
Eldoret hub covered a
population of

5 million	‘I improved my skills incoordinated needs
assessment processes,
and I had theopportunity to lead ahumanitarian
coordination project at
hub level’‘I improved my skills in coordinated needs assessment processes, and I had
the opportunity to lead a humanitarian coordination project at hub level,’
Mujahid said of his broad achievements during his assignment with IOM
Kenya.

21

Youth, women andmarginalized groups
All aspects of the work in which the HRD Volunteers
were engaged during their 2012 assignments featured
the important social inclusion pillars of youth, womenand marginalized groups. These cross-cutting issues
informed UNV’s choice of assignments for thevolunteers, the priorities of the programming withwhich they were involved and the focus of theindividuals’ interactions during their field work.
At both the community and institutional levels,
articulating these target groups as priorities for social
inclusion is intended to ensure that sustainableassistance reaches those traditionally less likely to be thebeneficiaries of all that volunteerism has to offer.
Through specific projects engaging the voluntary
participation of marginalized groups in Nepal, Rwanda
and South Sudan – whether they be refugees, returnees
or ex-combatants reintegrating into civil society, withequal access for women and youth actively promoted –the HRD Programme continued to demonstrate how
volunteerism can be a driving force behind social
inclusion for peace and development.

Participants in a community reintegration project for women associated with armed forces, South Sudan. (Photo: Women Union)

22Youth, women and marginalized groups

Embed participation andempowerment ofmarginalized groups in all
UNV initiatives

Asel

Myrzabekova
UNV Project Development, Monitoring & Evaluation Officer
Served with IOM in Rwanda assisting the resettlement of Rwandan returnees

A Rwandan returnee is given a goat as part ofa livestock assistance project, Gicumbi
District. (Photo: Berthine Gakire)‘The fact that I was
involved in activities
with other UN
Volunteers fromdifferent host agencies
provided good
networking
opportunities’

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Rwanda is currently
running a comprehensive four-phase reintegration programme for returnees
and other vulnerable groups, including unemployed youth, which provides
assistance such as vocational training, small business start-up funding,livestock and shelter.
Asel, one of the two non-Japanese HRD Volunteers in 2012, put her expertisein monitoring and evaluation to use in developing IOM-specific progress
monitoring tools for new projects, including results frameworks andmonitoring and evaluation plans. Having worked for the UN before, herfamiliarity with these tools helped her hit the ground running at IOM. Asel also
found much to do as part of IOM’s resource mobilization strategy: ‘I worked on
the improvement of public information from IOM Rwanda, developed
information packages and promotional materials, wrote articles for
newsletters and produced the first IOM Rwanda newsletter’.

?

WHO BENEFITED• Reintegration programme:

5000

Rwandan returnees	and other vulnerable
groups

25,000indirect• 
beneficiaries (families ofbeneficiaries and hostcommunities)

In Rwanda there is a word for community volunteerism – umuganda – and in
all of the proposals that Asel worked on, the mobilization of local volunteers
formed a core element, whether the provision of shelter or disaster mitigation.
Being a UN Volunteer in Rwanda also had its advantages for Asel’s professional
endeavours: ‘The fact that I was involved in activities with other UN Volunteers
from different host agencies provided good networking opportunities.’ Aselwas in a unique position to exchange information with and engage UN
Volunteers from partner agencies such as OHCHR and UNDP in joint project
efforts.

23

Youth, women and marginalized groups

Embed participation andempowerment ofmarginalized groups in all
UNV initiatives

SuzukaKobayakawa?

WHO BENEFITED

2231

• 
VMLRs enrolled intraining

1758

VMLRs graduated• from training

38%of training• 
graduates are women70%of training• 
graduates are employed or
running a business‘Now, thanks to theprogramme, I feel I am
prepared to work in
any internationalorganization in any
country’

Suzuka interviewing beneficiary of thesocio-economic rehabilitation into civilian
life programme under the United Nations
Interagency Programme (UNIRP)

24

UNV Reporting Officer
Served with UNDP in Nepal on reintegration and capacity-buildingof ­ex-combatants

To facilitate the rehabilitation and reintegration into civilian life of discharged
Maoist combatants in Nepal following the signing of the Comprehensive
Peace Accord (CPA) in 2006, the UN Interagency Programme was launched by
UNDP, UNICEF, ILO and UNFPA in close collaboration with the government of
Nepal. The programme’s target group is VMLRs, or Verified Minors and Late
Recruits (those who were recruited after the CPA).
As UNV reporting officer, Suzuka’s responsibilities focused on strengthening
the programme’s reporting system, including enhancing interagency
communication and collaboration, drafting newsletters, reports, successstories, lessons learned and other documents, and cross-checking data on the
progress of the programme. As at March 2013, 90 per cent of the 3040 VMLRs
in Nepal had contacted the programme, with 81 per cent subsequently
signing up for rehabilitation packages. Over 2300 VMLRs had enrolled intraining or education, and among 1758 training graduates around 70 per centwere employed or self-employed.
Suzuka’s status as a UN Volunteer put her in a good position to advocate forthe concept of volunteerism in UNDP’s programme, and indeed thepeacebuilding activities of the programme engaged the voluntary
participation of local community members, particularly youth.
‘Before I joined the HRD Programme, I had no experience or practicalknowledge of the UN as I am from the business field in the private sector inJapan. Now, thanks to the programme, I feel I am prepared to work in any
international organization in any country,’ said Suzuka at the conclusion of her
successful assignment with UNDP.

Youth, women and marginalized groups

Embed participation andempowerment ofmarginalized groups in all
UNV initiatives

Ayumi

Nakamori

UNV Gender Specialist – Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration
Served in South Sudan as UNDP’s representative to the Gender Unit of theSouth Sudan DDR Commission?

WHO BENEFITED

100,000• 	women associated with thearmed forces

Ayumi travels by road to evaluate
the situation of women affected by
war in Wau, Western Bahr el Ghazal.
(Photo: UNDP South Sudan)

As a UNV gender specialist, Ayumi represented UNDP in the Gender Unit of
the South Sudan DDR (disarmament, demobilization and reintegration)
Commission, and was responsible for reviewing the three-year phase of the
DDR programme from 2009–2012 and planning for a reintegration
programme specifically for women associated with the armed forces (WAAF),
scheduled to begin in 2013.

On a personal note of muchhappiness, Ayumi Nakamori and
Yoshinori Ikeda, who both served
as UN Volunteers in South Sudan
in 2012, got married during theirassignments!

Ayumi noted: ‘In the DDR programme phase that ended in December 2012,
promoting equal access to the DDR process for men and women was one of
the main concerns, and in fact about 51 per cent of the targeted caseload was
female excombatants and WAAF.’ The Gender Unit initiated a number of pilot
projects for community-based WAAF reintegration, and this community-based
approach will be applied to all beneficiaries of the next DDR programmephase, set to specifically target 100,000 WAAF.

‘We have gained massive
experiences and learned from thepeople of South Sudan, and weare truly proud of serving as UN
Volunteers for UNDP in thenewest country in the world
through the HRD Programme led
by our government.

Ayumi reflected that her prior work experience meant that professionally she
was on an equal footing with her colleagues, reinforcing the added value ofthe HRD Programme by contributing professional capacity to UN activities:‘The deployment of a gender specialist had quite an impact on the monitoringof activities and raising awareness of gender sensitivity and mainstreaming
among the Commission and UNDP.’ She was also very positive about all shelearned during her time in South Sudan, saying, ‘The assignment is exactly
where I would like to work and contribute my professional skills. I felt I waspart of the team by contributing my knowledge and I also had a lot ofopportunities to improve my knowledge and experience.’

We are also grateful to the HRD
Programme for providing theopportunity for both of us tocome to a decision to spend therest of our lives together.’25

HRD Volunteers’
REFLECTIONS
Integrating volunteerism into peace anddevelopment initiatives

Insight into the work of United Nations
agencies in the field

In 2012, many of the HRD Volunteers produced
tangible outcomes in terms of promoting the spirit ofvolunteerism in their peacebuilding work at thecommunity level. They particularly focused oncommunity mobilization through voluntary action
and strengthening local capacity and engagement.

In 2012, HRD Volunteers were deployed in equal
numbers to UNDP and IOM. The other two UN
agencies to which HRD Volunteers were assigned
were UNICEF and UNHCR, reflecting the nature of thepeacebuilding efforts in which they were involved:
post-conflict/crisis environments and situations
featuring significant displaced populations. While
UNV fulfils its mandate to mobilize appropriate
civilian expertise to support UN agencies in the fieldon both substantive and technical matters, thevolunteers themselves stand to gain unparalleledinsight into how such agencies operate on thefrontline.

‘We encouraged refugee leadership and community focal
points to work for their community voluntarily, and we also
provided some self-reliance projects through our
implementing partners.’
Naofumi Ikeda, UNV Associate Protection Officer, South Sudan‘It is important to explain to people that you arevolunteering as you can really inspire people and show
them through your example and commitment that anyone
can volunteer to make people’s lives better…I am certainthat among IDPs and our counterparts such values caninspire them to engage themselves and become
empowered.’
Wataru Kashino, UNV Migration Health Physician, Kenya‘I have a better understanding of the
refugee protection activities of
UNHCR and a better understanding offundraising and budgeting of UN
agencies.’
Junko Nomura, UNV Associate Reintegration Officer, Rwanda

Junko Nomura distributes secondhand clothes for refugee mothers and children, Kigeme refugee camp, Rwanda.

26

Naka IDP camp, Kenya. (Photo: Mujahid Hussain)‘I gained a deeper understanding ofpeacebuilding and rehabilitation
contexts and political issues. Also,
through interaction andcommunication with UN agencies(UNICEF, UNFPA, ILO) and othercommunications divisions in UNDP, I
have a clearer knowledge of eachorganization’s character andorganizational decision-making
processes.’
Suzuka Kobayakawa, UNV Reporting Officer, Nepal

Contributing to gender equality

All 2012 HRD Volunteers were cognisant of the needto mainstream gender sensitivity into all aspects ofthe programming in which they were involved.
Women were actively encouraged to take part incommunity-level capacity-building and assistanceinitiatives and, where possible, gender disaggregatedprogress data was collected for an accurate picture of
how gender mainstreaming in programming was
unfolding on the ground.

‘We always encouraged female representatives to joinmeetings and activities, and we listened to their specificconcerns. I facilitated protection monitoring, vulnerability
assessments and protection needs assessments, including
focus groups for women.’
Naofumi Ikeda, UNV Associate Protection Officer, South Sudan‘Staff were sensitized on taking an inclusive approach, andwomen were provided an opportunity to be part of the
management structure of each intervention andcommunity project. Also, the project focused on women’s
livelihoods improvement projects to facilitate and improvetheir capacity to earn.’
Mujahid Hussain, UNV Emergency/Post-Crisis Officer, Kenya‘I conducted a survey to find out if male government staff
and female government staff received equal opportunities
for training (abroad and in-country) from the government
as well as international agencies.’
Aimkorita Sakuma, UNV Monitoring & Evaluation Officer, ­Timor-Leste

27

Opportunities to work in the field

Across the board, the HRD Volunteers of 2012
reported that the opportunity to work in the field wasa highlight of their assignments, providing
experiences and insights that can only come frombeing present on the frontline itself and seeing
firsthand the challenges and rewards that such workentails.

‘These rich field experiences havetruly developed my professional
skills as a humanitarian worker andgiven me a real understanding andsense of what is really happening
and the challenges in the field.’
Naofumi Ikeda, UNV Peace and Community Security Officer,
South Sudan‘I enhanced my knowledge and skills in public health project
management, emergency disaster response, supervision ofnational staff and interpersonal skills as well as developing
an understanding of the reality of the extremely difficult
living conditions faced by the IDPs.’
Yuki Yoshida, UNV Health Project Officer, Haiti‘The Somalia context enabled me to learn how we deal withdire humanitarian situations – both human and natural
disasters.’
Koji Kumamaru, UNV Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Specialist, Somalia‘Working closely with returnees and IDPs made me think of
how difficult and important it is to make sure we do notraise expectations unnecessarily.’
Takanobu Nakahara, UNV NFI and Emergency Shelter Field Officer,
South Sudan

Exposure to international working
environments

Cross-cultural awareness and a deeper appreciationof qualities such as tolerance and respect for diversity
in the workplace were also commonly noted as the
major benefits of the HRD Volunteers’ assignments
in-country.
‘I’ve gained lots of experience and skills through myactivities for six months in Liberia, and it has broughtchanges in my perspective of working in an international
environment and in a post-conflict country.’
Atsushi IIjima, UNV Programme Officer, Liberia‘I had the opportunity to lead humanitarian coordinationand to improve my skills in coordinated needs assessment
processes.’
Mujahid Hussain, UNV Emergency/Post-Crisis Officer, Kenya

Challenges

Often the challenges were of the most practicalnature – setting up an office without access to
up-to-date technology and support, lack of staff,
logistical movement of NFIs and shelter, limited
budgets and so on – but in the face of such problems
there was always an opportunity for the HRD
Volunteers to demonstrate initiative, ingenuity andcommitment to the task at hand.
‘This was a joint project of UNDP, UNICEF and ILO; however,it took more than 10 months for all three agencies to arrivein the field to implement the project. In addition, it took
more than 10 months to recruit the Project Coordinator.
Thus, I needed to play the role of both Project Coordinatorand Programme Specialist at the same time for 10 months.’
Junko Kawata, UNV Programme Specialist (Recovery andReintegration), Solomon Islands‘Since one of the challenges was a difficulty in spreading
information and communicating with urban refugees as
they were scattered through the city, I contributed to launch
the new SMS communication service programme. I tested theservice in the last registration exercise and officially started itfrom March – now it covers nearly 90 per cent of households.’
UN Volunteer Naofumi Ikeda on a 5-weeks field mission in Jamam
refugee camp with national staff colleagues (1)28Naofumi Ikeda, UNV Peace and Community Security Officer,
South Sudan

Faced with an initial lack of understanding ofvolunteerism among her national counterparts, one
HRD Volunteer noted:‘I observed difficulties obtaining accurate data, difficulties inseeing long-term impact on the country’s healthdevelopment and limitations due to lack of funding.’
Yuki Yoshida, UNV Health Project Officer, Haiti‘The international UN Volunteers in Tajikistan have madetheir voice heard through hard work, professionalism andsincerity’.
Kazumi Homma, UNV Education Monitoring & Evaluation Specialist,
Tajikistan

At times some HRD Volunteers experienced the
all-too-real sense of frustration and feeling of being
overwhelmed by the enormity of the task at hand inassisting communities to achieve sustainable andlong-lasting peace and development.

Security was also an ever-present hindrance togetting on with the job of assisting those in need – a
problem that goes hand-in-hand with working in
post-conflict or politically unstable environments. It
is also a problem which, as future humanitarian
professionals, the volunteers of 2012 needed to cometo terms with and find ways to work within the
security guidelines prescribed.
‘Security was the most difficult challenge to tackle – this isinevitable in Somalia, especially Mogadishu.’
Koji Komamaru, UNV Emergency/Post-Crisis Officer, Somalia

Supervisor testimonials
Skills and flexibility‘Taka was central to a massive emergency operation inwhich our team provided shelter to 12,000 Kosti returnees
who were rapidly flowing into Juba in May 2012, whichbegan on the day of his arrival. Taka supported distribution,
managed teams of labourers and took minutes for campcoordination meetings.

and successfully implementing its programmes fordisplaced populations.
She was able to gain experience in understanding thecomplexity of transitioning from emergency humanitarianassistance to development.’
Yuki Yoshida’s supervisor, IOM, Haiti

Takanobu Nakahara’s supervisor, IOM, South Sudan

New knowledge and practical experience
Improving the performance of key
programmes‘The project had achieved some results, but not all, as it was
just starting up when Junko arrived. Junko was instrumental
in initiating the project. She coordinated the delivery of
project activities in close consultation and collaboration
with government counterparts and project beneficiaries andstakeholders.
She gained a lot of experience as a UNV because it enabled
her to work in a least developed country with very minimal
services and many challenges in terms of logistics. Also she
was able to experience another culture apart from her own,
which is a great benefit of being a UNV.’
Junko Kawata’s supervisor, UNDP, Solomon Islands‘Yuki’s involvement in the mission was invaluable to IOM.
She greatly contributed to the project reaching its objectives‘Naofumi was able to get involved in diverse activities in theInternational Protection Unit with the complex South Sudan
operations – from the protection cluster to individual casemanagement, registration, protection and assistance tourban refugees. He enhanced his knowledge of the practicalaspects of implementing refugee protection in emergency
and urban situations.’
Naofumi Ikeda’s supervisor, UNHCR, South Sudan‘Taka was such a great contributor.
We applied again to the HRD
Programme this year…We would bevery willing to participate again.’
Takanobu Nakahara’s supervisor, IOM, South Sudan

29

Volunteering globally
DEPLOYMENT OF HRD VOLUNTEERS 2007-2013

2

Haiti
Cape Verde

1

Sierra Leone30

1 Guinea-Bissau
1

2 Liberia

81

Kosovo2Montenegro

1 Azerbaijan
3 Lebanon

1
1

CyprusUzbekistan

1 Tajikistan

2 Jordan

Nepal

6

State of Palestine
Sudan

Lao PDR

6
6
South Sudan

Myanmar

1 Ethiopia

Dem. Rep. of the Congo
2 Uganda

1

Rwanda4

1

Thailand3

3 Cambodia
2

Sri Lanka

Philippines

6

8 Kenya2
Indonesia

1 United Republic of Tanzania

4
Timor-Leste

14

1
Solomon Islands

31

GENDER OF HRD VOLUNTEERS 2007-2013

42%
58%
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
POST-ASSIGNMENT CAREER PATHS OF THE 2012–13 HRD VOLUNTEERS

NGO 2

UN agency (including UNV) 4

Research institute 2

Government 1

Foundation 1

Other 532

NATIONALITIES OF HRD VOLUNTEERS 2007-2013
Japan 74

Republic of Korea 3

Sri Lanka 2

Kyrgyzstan 1

Malaysia 3

Lao PDR 2

Pakistan 1

Philippines 3

Cambodia 1

Afghanistan 1

India 2China 1Thailand 1

Nepal 2

Timor Leste 1

33

DEPLOYMENT BY UN AGENCY 2007-2013

UNDP 34
UNHCR 19

IOM 13
WHO 1
UNFPA 1
UNICEF 12

OUNF&P 1
UNODC 1

WFP 6

NGO 1
UNMAS 1

UNDPKO 5
UNESCO 2

FAO 1Main Thematic Area of UNV assignments 2007-2013
43% Delivery of basic services

37% Humanitarian assistance
18% Crisis prevention and recovery
1% Support to UN missions
1% Environment and climate change

60% of HRD Volunteer assignments have addressed the cross-cuttingsocial inclusion pillars of youth, women and marginalized groups.

34

The 2012/13

HRD Volunteers

This photograph of the 2012 HRD Volunteers features: Kazumi Homma, Yumiko Horie, Mujahid Hussain, Atsushi Iijima,
Naofumi Ikeda, Yoshinori Ikeda, Nomura Junko, Junko Kawata, Suzuka Kobayakawa, Koji Kumamaru, Asel Myrzabekova,
Takanobu Nakahara, Ayumi Nakamori, Hidefumi Okawa, Aimkorita Sakuma, Kashino Wataru and Yukiko Yoshida.

United Nations Volunteers
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 tacklingdevelopment challenges, and it can transform the pace and nature ofdevelopment. 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 recognition of volunteers,
working with partners to integrate volunteerism into development
programming, and mobilizing an increasing number and diversity ofvolunteers, 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.

Photo front cover: UN Volunteer Naofumi Ikeda
interviewing chief of the host community thatreceives returnees.
Photo back cover: Conflict Transformation Training
for traditional authorities in Upper Nile States,
South Sudan (Photo: UNDP South Sudan)
Content development, editing and design:
Phoenix Design Aid, Denmark

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

35