UN Volunteer Management Tools

VOLUNTEER TOOLKIT

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YOUR ASSIGNMENT AS A UN VOLUNTEER . 1

How do I fit in?

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Foreword United Nations Volunteers: How do I fit in? is a practical guidance on how to provide support at the beginning, throughout, and at the end of UN Volunteer assignments. It provides an overview of the UNV Programme; What it means to be a UN Volunteer; UNV and the United Nations; Gender and Development; Health & Security. The tool is part of a Volunteer Toolkit, which contains eight (8) volunteer management tools: The Volunteer Toolkit has been developed to support the implementation of UNV Programme Strategy 2011- 2013, more specifically to enhance the effectiveness of volunteer management and the skills of UN Volunteers to become good advocates of Volunteerism for Peace and Development.

The Volunteer Toolkit is to be disseminated and/or made available to UN Volunteers over the course of their volunteer assignment. The objective is to ensure that UN Volunteers (POs, other international UN Volunteers, and national UN Volunteers) can benefit from each tool at the relevant stage of their assignment: Pre-assignment; Support during assignment and End of Assignment.

Front Cover: Sukhbaatar district social workers participate in training at Sukhbaatar Health Center in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (Peter Harris, 2008).

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CONTENTS . 3

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acronyms and Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 04 Using your briefing pack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 05 PART 1 UNV and the United Nations system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 06 An overview of the UNV programme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 06 UNV’s relationships with UNDP and UNDPKO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 UNV and UNDP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 UNV and UNDPKO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 UNV and other UN agencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 What is the difference between serving in peacekeeping and in development? . . . . . . 19 The Bigger Picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Background and context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 UNV and Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Gender and development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Do no harm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Dynamics of being a UN Volunteer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Modalities of UN Volunteer action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Preparing for the assignment: managing expectations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 UN Volunteers as seen by others. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 PART 2 Health and Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Health risks and precautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Security for you and your family. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Security for others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Adjusting to a new environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Cultures and culture shock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 The culture shock cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Your family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Reverse culture shock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Intercultural communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

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4 . UNITED NATIONS VOLUNTEERS: HOW DO I FIT IN?

Acronyms and Abbreviations CCA

UN Common Country Assessment

UNDAF

United Nations Development Assistance Framework

CPAP

Country Programme Action Plan

UNDP

United Nations Development Programme

CPS

Corporate Private Sector

UNDPKO United Nations Department of Peace Keeping Operations

ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States FAO HIV ILO

UNHCR

Food and Agricultural Organization

United Nations Commission of Human Rights

UNICEF

Human Immunodeficiency Virus

United Nations Children’s Fund

UNIFEM

United Nations Development Fund for Women

International Labour Organization

MDGs

Millennium Development Goals

MOU

Memorandum of Understanding

OHCHR

Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights

SEA

Sexual Exploitation andAbuse

SVF TOKTEN

UNOCHA United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs UNFPA

United Nations Population Fund

UNOPS

United Nations Office for Project Services

Special Volunteer Fund

UNV

Transfer of Knowledge through Expatriates Nationals

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme

VRS

Volunteer Reporting System

VSO

Volunteer Sending Organisations

WFP

United Nations World Food Programme

UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

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USING YOUR BRIEFING PACK . 5

Using your briefing pack This document is part of your PreAssignment Briefing Pack. The Briefing Pack will help you orientate yourself for your upcoming UNV assignment. It consists of three documents: 1. Promoting volunteerism for peace and development: a practical guide for UN Volunteers This introduces and reinforces the importance of volunteerism for peace and development, offers suggestions for its promotion, and provides some examples and case studies for your reference; 2. Country Specific Information This gives you a national overview of the UNV programme and details regarding your location, including geographic, economic, cultural, development-related and practical details; 3. How do I fit in? (this document) This explains how you, as a UN Volunteer, fit into the bigger picture – both in terms of within the UNV programme, and on how you fit into development and peace-building processes. This includes what your responsibilities are in this role, how you,

as a UN Volunteer, fit into the UN system, and how you may fit into your assignment.

Before departing for your station you are expected to have read and understood the information contained in the Briefing Pack.

When you arrive, your UNV Field Unit will give you a further induction or briefing and additional documents that you can add to this pack.

Overall, the three documents which make up this Briefing Pack will help you feel a stronger sense of being part of this unique organization and the principles that volunteerism for peace and development embraces. These documents are provided to help with your transition into a new and exciting period of your life.

The cartoons were created by online volunteer Gabriel Gareso, a Brazilian graphic designer mobilized through the UNV Online Volunteering service (onlinevolunteering.org). The Online Volunteering service connects volunteers and development organizations to collaborate online for peace and development.

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6 . UNITED NATIONS VOLUNTEERS: HOW DO I FIT IN?

Part 1 UNV and the United Nations System This section sets out some of the key aspects of the UNV programme and explains the relationship UNV has with other agencies in the wider United Nations (UN)1 system. Two special relationships that UNV has are with UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) and with UNDPKO (United Nations Department of Peace Keeping Operations), and these will be dealt with separately. Within these relationships, the roles and management responsibilities of the UNV Field Units will be discussed.

An overview of the UNV programme 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

1. Please see http://www.un.org for information on the wider UN system

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 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.

The difference UNV makes is by demonstrating peace and development results and impact through volunteerism.

UNV’s comparative advantage is the ability and knowledge to bring about transformational change through volunteerism, community voluntary action and civic engagement through active partnerships with civil society, volunteer involving organizations, UN agencies and Governments. This is inspiration in action.

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UNV AND THE UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM . 7

Since 1970, UNV has collaborated with a variety of partners at different levels to promote volunteer contributions to sustainable human development and peace. Every year around 8,000 skilled individuals from about 160 nationalities serve as UN Volunteers in about 130 countries (Africa, Arab States, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Baltic States and CIS).

Many live and work in challenging conditions. The majority of UN Volunteers are from low and middle income countries.

During 2010, UNV deployed 7,765 UN Volunteers from 158 countries who served in 132 countries. Of these, 40 per cent worked on crisis prevention and recovery, 30 per cent on poverty eradication and MDG achievement and 27 per cent on democratic governance. South-South cooperation continues to be a strong element of UNV engagement, with 80% per cent of UN Volunteers coming from developing countries themselves. Another 10,127 volunteers contributed to development though the UNV Online Volunteering service. About 62 per cent of these online volunteers were from developing countries, and 80 per cent were young people aged 18-35 years2.

2. UNV Annual Report 2010

Volunteerism for peace and development The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme is inspired by the conviction that volunteerism is a powerful means of engaging people in tackling development challenges worldwide. Everyone can contribute their time, skills and knowledge through volunteer action and their combined efforts can be a significant force for achieving peace and development.

Volunteerism fosters empowerment and broad-based ownership, through which even the most disadvantaged groups can contribute to more stable and cohesive communities. Volunteerism is both a manifestation and driver of social capital and civic participation, involving more people in the decisions that affect their lives. In particular, it can help disadvantaged populations move from being passive recipients to becoming engaged actors in their own development.

Evidence shows that people in conflict environments have the will and instinct to respond with resilience and resourcefulness even in intense or prolonged conflicts. In fact, many of the concepts related to peace making and peace building – from conflict prevention and reconciliation, to reintegration and reconstruction – are rooted in volunteerism. Ongoing national and international conflicts continue to weaken

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8 . UNITED NATIONS VOLUNTEERS: HOW DO I FIT IN?

national and individual resilience3.

Nevertheless, emerging from within these conflicts, volunteerism can serve as a key source of reconciliation and reconstruction in divided societies.

As a component of peace or development programmes, particularly at the community level, volunteerism provides a sense of belonging and ownership, putting marginalized communities at the centre of their reconciliation and/or development processes. It is also an important means by which individuals gain the skills necessary to realize their economic potential.

Volunteering has been a valuable partner in a broad spectrum of peace and development activities, having as their overriding goal the eradication of poverty and the betterment of the human condition. It is closely linked to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), where as of today, global progress in achieving MDG targets has been slow. As indicated in UNDP’s MDG Breakthrough Strategy, and specifically the MDG Acceleration Framework4,

3. OECD International Network on Conflict and Fragility. http://www.oecd.org/document/57/0,3343,en_2649_33693550_ 42113657_1_1_1_1,00.html 4. Unlocking progress: MDG acceleration on the road to 2015: Lessons from the MDG Acceleration Framework pilot countries September 2010, http://www.undp.org/mdg/acceleration.shtml

strengthening participatory processes and building partnerships with civil society, which can be enhanced through volunteerism, are vital for achieving these goals. It is also widely recognized that to promote sustainable human development, peace is a prerequisite in that process.

International Year of Volunteers IYV+ 10 In November 1997, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 2001 as the International Year Volunteers (IYV).

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme was designated as the international focal point.

The premise underlying IYV 2001 was that voluntary service makes an essential contribution in addressing problems in areas of social, economic, cultural, humanitarian and peace building. For this to happen, there was a need for greater recognition and facilitation of volunteer work, more vigorous promotion of voluntary service, and networks to facilitate a drawing upon – the “good practice” – of volunteers. The designation of an International Year of Volunteers by the UN General Assembly (GA) provided a valuable framework and established a favorable environment enabling a more strategic use of volunteer contributions.

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UNV AND THE UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM . 9

The year 2011 marks the 10th anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers (IYV). Opportunities exist for activities throughout 2011 that will showcase the diversity, breadth and depth of volunteering worldwide and offer the chance to raise the profile of volunteering and mobilize many more volunteers. Throughout 2011 and beyond, UNV will partner with different stakeholders to exchange and develop ideas and actions for raising awareness about the contribution of volunteerism to peace and development; acknowledging the importance of the work already accomplished by the various stakeholders and identifying areas where greater efforts are needed.

■ Liaise with your host agency and

All leaders in Governments, volunteer involving organizations, civil society, private sector, non-governmental organizations, the United Nations system and from communities are called to recognize and celebrate the achievements of volunteers by actively engaging in the marking of IYV+10.

■ Looking for volunteers to support

There are many ways you can get involved to prepare for and mark IYV+10: ■ Visit World Volunteer Web: The

www.worldvolunteerweb.org is the space where you can find news, background information and useful tools for IYV+10.

others: You may be able to assist with events your organizational network anticipates hosting. Use the IYV+10 promotional materials to brand your own organization’s campaign. You may also wish to contact other organizations within your country to exchange event ideas and collaborate for the upcoming year.

■ Offer online support: If you wish to

volunteer online for IYV+10, you can visit www.onlinevolunteering.org for opportunities to support IYV + 10 activities. Go to “Opportunity Search” and type “IYV +10” in the keyword field.

your IYV +10 activities? You can register your organization on www.onlinevolunteering.org and post IYV+10 related opportunities for volunteers to support your activities over the Internet.

For more information, tools, brochures and resources, visit http://www.worldvolunteerweb.org/iyv10/field

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10 . UNITED NATIONS VOLUNTEERS: HOW DO I FIT IN?

UNV’s Mandate and Programme Framework UNV’s mandate has significantly evolved since its establishment in 1970, when its initial role was to recruit, place and administer the services of qualified volunteers, who provided professional support to UN agencies, funds, programmes and governments in various countries. In 1976, UN GA resolution 31/131 broadened the mandate of UNV to promote the advancement of the role of youth in development. It was further expanded by UN GA resolution 56/38, in 2001, to include the role of UN’s focal point to raise awareness of volunteerism and provide technical cooperation to developing countries to fully exploit the potential of volunteerism as a resource for achieving the MDGs. The gradual evolution of the mandate had a catalyzing effect on UNV, and as IYV 2001 raised the focus on recognition, facilitation, promotion and networking relating to volunteerism in development, corresponding new approaches were formalized. UNDP’s Executive Board (DP/2007) encouraged UNV to increase its focus on assisting programme countries in developing sustainable, national capacities and to mobilize volunteers domestically through national volunteer schemes, volunteer centres and networks (DP/2007/2).

The UNV Corporate Plan 2009-2011 presents high-level corporate outcomes and outputs for both programme and management processes, and captures the wide range of UNV’s work.

The UN reform process to increase development effectiveness is calling on UN organizations to focus and deliver evermore against their comparative advantages to development results. In view of this, and in line with its own corporate objectives, UNV is working to align its interventions with those of UN agencies and other national development partners, so as to increase impact and sustainability by contributing to systemic capacity development at all levels.

The UN Common Country Assessment (CCA) and the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) are key instruments, which together provide a common analysis and frame of reference for programming UN system support. Together with the main tools for planning in transition5, they represent a unique opportunity to raise awareness of the contribution of volunteerism to development and to ensure

5. Post-conflict Needs Assessments (PCNA), Post-disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA), Technical Assessment Missions Reports (TAM), Integrated Strategic Frameworks (ISFs), Consolidated Humanitarian Appeal Processes (CAPs).

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UNV AND THE UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM . 11

more intentional and systematic harnessing of the potential of volunteering within the framework of the UN system assistance.

The General Assembly, in resolution 60/134 adopted on 16 December 2005 reaffirmed its recognition of volunteerism as an important component of any strategy aimed at poverty reduction, and singled out the contribution made by UNV for acknowledgement. It also requested UNV to continue its efforts to raise awareness of volunteerism; increase reference and networking resources available; provide technical cooperation to developing countries in the field of volunteerism; and enhance cooperation among those operating on the ground.

Responding to the Executive Board’s6 recommendation, and using resultsoriented approaches, UNV undertook to appraise and express the distinctive nature of its activities, as follows: In collaboration with partners, UNV works to promote advocacy for volunteerism. To achieve this, UNV will continue to advocate for the recognition of and support for the contribution volunteerism can make to achieve the MDGs and national peace and 6. A 36-member Executive Board composed of both donor and recipient countries approves major programmes and policy decisions of UNV and UNDP

development goals by documenting its impact, promoting partnerships, raising awareness, and obtaining formal recognition for volunteers and volunteerism.

Throughout IYV+10, UNV will reinforce the message of IYV 2001 about enhancing networking, facilitation, promotion and recognition of volunteers and volunteerism efforts worldwide, including supporting IYV+10 national committees.

UNV also advocates for the integration of volunteerism into development policies, strategies and programmes. UNV will make deliberate efforts to integrate volunteerism through early involvement in UN development frameworks, like the Common Country Assessment (CCA), the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), and post-disaster and conflict frameworks, like the Postconflict Needs Assessments (PCNA), Post-disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA), Technical Assessment Missions Reports (TAM), Integrated Strategic Frameworks (ISFs), and Consolidated Humanitarian Appeal Processes (CAPs).

UNV has aligned its’ structure into two programme divisions, Development and Peace, where one predominantly addresses development activity, and the other peace encompassing one

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12 . UNITED NATIONS VOLUNTEERS: HOW DO I FIT IN?

programme strategy to set the vision and focus for UNV to deliver its’ peace and development programme mandate over the next 3-5 years.

This Strategy will focus on five priority areas: delivery of basic services, environment and climate change, crisis prevention and recovery, humanitarian assistance, and operational and capacity building support to UN missions. It is important to note that UNV has no direct mandate in these focus areas, but will complement the efforts of other UN partners in achieving results in these areas through volunteerism.

Mobilizing volunteers to support the peace and development agenda of UNV partners is a priority under this strategy.

This will apply to national volunteerism interventions as well as the proactive mobilization of UN Volunteers and other volunteers through UNV modalities, including national and community volunteers, online volunteers, corporate volunteers, university volunteers and Transfer of Knowledge through Expatriate Nationals (TOKTEN) volunteers.

UNV interventions in the above priority areas will be supported by the three crosscutting themes of youth, gender and marginalised persons, also defined as the

social inclusion pillars. At community and institutional levels the social inclusion pillars will be reflected in the above focus areas through the inclusion of the relevant target groups in all volunteerism and related institutional initiatives. At policy levels, each pillar may be addressed separately in so much as it relates to volunteerism, without a direct link to a specific focus area.7 UNV has a specific mandate on Youth. The UN General Assembly (GA) Resolution 1976 had called on UNV to promote the advancement of the role of youth in Development and to be a major operational unit of the UN for the execution of youth programmes.

UNV organizational structure We have Headquarters in Bonn, Germany, a small office in New York and a small presence in Tokyo. There are approximately 150 staff positions in total with most in Bonn though there are some with different UN peacekeeping and political missions and in New York.

The major organizational groups within UNV are: â– the Office of the Executive Coordinator;

the Evaluation Unit;

7.UNV Programme Strategy 2011-2013

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UNV AND THE UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM . 13

■ the Corporate Planning and Performance

Unit; ■ the Volunteer Programming and

Management Group (Peace Division, Development Division, Volunteer Recruitment Resources Section, Quality Assurance Unit, Volunteer Knowledge and Innovation Section);

services. The Departments of Field Support and Peace Keeping Operations (DFS and DPKO) comprise our largest operational partners with whom we mobilized the large number of UN Volunteers. Our field presence comprises UNV Field Units located with DPKO offices or within UNDP offices and UN Volunteers also work with other UN organizations in each country.

■ the Partnerships and Communications

Division (Partnerships Section and the Communications Section); and ■ the Management Services Division

(Information and Communication Technology Section, Finance Section, Human Resources Section, Administration Unit).

An important part of UNV is our field presence which we refer to as UNV Field Units.

UNV’s relationships with UNDP and UNDPKO At the global level and as an organization UNV is administered by UNDP8 hence our activities are aligned with UNDP’s strategic focus. At the field level, we operate within the administrative and legal framework provided by UNDP or other UN Agencies, funds and programmes which request our 8. As per GA resolution 26/59 from 1970: http://www.unv.org/news-resources/resources/unresolutions.html

UNV and UNDP UNDP is the UN’s global network to help people meet their development needs and build a better life. It is on the ground in 166 countries, working as a trusted partner with Governments, civil society and the private sector to help them build their own solutions to global and national development challenges.

As mentioned above, UNV is administered

by UNDP, and therefore we share a special relationship at the headquarters and field levels- both in terms of programming and for administration. Programmatically, the work of UNV on the ground and the contributions of UN Volunteers are an inspiration to the work of UNDP. In 2010 2,822 UN Volunteers were deployed in various assignments with UNDP and Governments.9 UNV also provides technical advice in the area of volunteerism 9. UNV Annual Report 2010

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14 . UNITED NATIONS VOLUNTEERS: HOW DO I FIT IN?

upon request from national partners for them to raise awareness on the contributions of volunteerism, to mobilize local volunteers and engage citizens in national/local development efforts.

In regular country programmes, UNV works through UNDP Country Offices.

While the overall responsibility for the administration of UN Volunteers rests with UNV Headquarters, at the field level they fall under the administrative authority of UNDP. UNV is represented in country by the UNDP Resident Representative. Many countries have a UNV Programme Officer (PO) and a Country Office Assistant or UNV Focal Point based in the UNDP Country Office. The exact size and composition of your UNV Field Unit will depend on the country of assignment.

The UNV PO is a UN Volunteer like you, serving on the same terms as those within the category of international UN Volunteer.

The PO falls under the responsibility of the UNDP Resident Representative (RR), and manages the overall support of UN Volunteers and programmes at the country level. His/Her tasks can be divided into several main components: volunteer programme development and management, management of UNV

operational issues, and security-related support. The PO is generally supported in achieving these objectives by the UNV Field Unit. In countries where there is no UNV PO or Country Office Assistant, there is usually a Focal Point within UNDP assigned to UNV issues.

Volunteer programme development and management This area involves identifying opportunities to integrate volunteerism in development planning at the field level, through UNDP and other partner agencies. Project proposals and information collection on relevant socio-economic information that might affect the UNV programme are all part of assessing where UN Volunteers and the UNV programme can contribute to development in the country. In addition, UNV POs frequently join the UN Country Team meetings from where they are able to influence the role volunteerism plays in the country’s development agenda. (See text box on volunteerism in the UN system programming framework).

Quality of UN Volunteer Management Under this category there is the preparation of assignments, follow up on UN Volunteer candidatures, briefing and orientation of newly-arrived UN Volunteers, guidance and support to UN Volunteers throughout the duration of their

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UNV AND THE UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM . 15

assignment, management of administrative processes of the assignment, monitoring of the impact of UN Volunteers on volunteering for peace and development, field visits to volunteer duty stations, and discussions with supervisors to follow-up on periodic reports, description of assignment, etc.

Security-related support The UNV PO works closely with the Field Security Officer (FSO) and provides support to the UN Designated Official (DO) in availing detailed understanding among UN Volunteers on global security, coordination, the country-based security plan and management. He/She maintains constant dialogue with DO/FSO and host agencies, and ensures a continuous flow of security updates among the UN Volunteers.

While on field visits, he/she assesses the security situation in the duty station and provides advice to the DO if necessary.

He/She supports the DO and host agency in the orderly evacuation/relocation of the UN Volunteers as authorized by the UN Security Coordinator when necessary and administers payments of relevant entitlements. In countries with no PO, these functions are taken over by the Field Security Officer (FSO) directly.

UNV and UNDPKO Although UNV has no specific mandate in peace keeping, it actively supports the mandates of other UN partners, principally the United Nations Department of Peace Keeping Operations (UNDPKO) and the Special Political Missions and Peace Building Support Offices led by DPA.

Volunteerism in the UN system’s programming framework Recognizing volunteerism as a valuable engine and means for peace and development, UNV strives to integrate volunteerism into UN efforts to attain development objectives. This ranges from integration of volunteerism into national development strategies and budgets - to integration of volunteerism into the UN Common Country Assessment (CCA), the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), Country Programme Action Plan (CPAP) and UN joint programmes. The CCA / UNDAF / CPAP efforts are led by the national government and the UN Country Team, consisting of UN agencies and led by the UN Resident Coordinator in the country. The UN Thematic Working Groups consisting of UN agency colleagues provide work-level support to these joint processes.

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16 . UNITED NATIONS VOLUNTEERS: HOW DO I FIT IN?

UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF): examples of how volunteerism for development is integrated in UNDAFs ■ Burkina Faso UNDAF (2006-2010) defines “participation of citizen volunteers in

national development activities” as one of the Outputs leading to promotion of democratic governance.

■ Bosnia and Herzegovina UNDAF (2005-2008) recognizes UNV’s important work

with youth and includes the “development of database on volunteer needs in region for regional exchanges“ as one activity towards the Output “Methodology developed for integrated local development, web-based, adaptable to specific needs and rights-based assessments integrated into development plans.“ ■ Nepal UNDAF (2008-2010), “existing human resources in education and health

facilities, and community workers and volunteers are trained to provide basic services in selected districts” is one of the Outputs in increasing socially excluded and economically marginalized groups’ access to basic services.

UN Volunteers in 2009 have been deployed to 16 peacekeeping operations. From the initial, and very large, involvement in the Cambodia peacekeeping operation in 1992, UNV’s role in the DPKO context has expanded from electoral support to include many other substantive and mission support areas, ranging from human rights and civil affairs to technical support. Since 1992, nearly 12,000 individual UN Volunteers have served in some 44 peacekeeping and peace building (political) missions.

The contributions UN Volunteers have made to peacekeeping operations have

been reflected in key studies and reports over the years, including the Brahimi Report10 in the late-1990’s, its off shoots, United Nations Advisory Committee on Administrative & Budgetary Questions reports11, and in the joint DPKO-UNV partnership milestones, including a note on guiding principles and MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) signed between DPKO and UNV in November 200312 which outlines the fundamental value, spirit and practical arrangements of our partnership.

10. A/55/305–S/2000/809 (2000) 11. Please see: http://www.un.org/ga/acabq/ 12.Pleasesee:http://www.unv.org/en/whatwedo/countries/united -states/doc/un-department-of-peacekeeping.html

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Management of the UNV programme within UNDPKO The UN Volunteers who are recruited to join a UNDPKO Mission are supported in their country of assignment by a dedicated UNV Field Unit which is comprised of a UNV Programme Manager (PM) and a number of UNV Field Unit staff, depending on the size of the mission. PMs are responsible for the overall coordination, programme management, promotion of volunteerism and welfare of the UN Volunteers within the mission. UN Volunteers serving with DPKO are administered by the same Conditions of Service as all other UN Volunteers.

UNV Field Units are responsible for monitoring the overall budget and volunteer assignment requirements of the Mission. Depending on anticipated or ongoing local developments and/or changes in the Mission’s mandate, the UNV Field Units may recommend to the Mission authorities that the number of UN Volunteer positions be increased or decreased. An example would be to plan for an upcoming election.

Promotion of volunteerism for peace UN Volunteers contribute to the efficient functioning of the humanitarian and peacekeeping operations of key UN

partners. From human rights to civil affairs, communication to technical support, they contribute to building and sustaining peace at the community level.

The duties of a UNV Field Unit in a UNDPKO context go beyond human resources and financial management of the UNV component in such Missions. In post-conflict contexts, the inclusion and empowerment of marginalized segments of the population is essential. UN Volunteers assigned to peacekeeping operations often go beyond the scope of their assignment to support local volunteer organizations in their efforts to promote social reintegration, improve people’s daily lives and strengthen capacities of marginalized groups. One particular effective approach in addressing this issue has been the establishment of dozens of UNV Action Teams in fifteen post-conflict countries.

These teams mobilize hundreds more volunteers, often with Mission support.

Some examples of activities they might undertake are the rehabilitation of schools or orphanages, the digging of water wells and the organization of cleaning campaigns, etc. Volunteer action is also promoted on a long term basis through the creation of projects involving local volunteer groups and communities, often in collaboration with the UNV Field Units

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or with other UN agencies. These projects might include the reintegration of former combatants or the enhancement of living conditions and livelihoods of communities by rehabilitating the local environment.

UNV and other UN agencies An important feature of UNV’s work is its cooperation with UN Agencies such as FAO, ILO, OHCHR, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNOPS, UNOCHA, HABITAT, UNFPA, WFP, WHO and others.13 In order to offer a relevant response to a partner country’s needs, in terms of support to development programmes, technical cooperation, humanitarian assistance and

13. For more information on the United Nations Agencies, please see http://www.un.org/aboutun/chart_en.pdf

peace building, UN Agencies often call on the services of UN Volunteers to provide the skills and experiences they require for the implementation of their mandates.

If your volunteer assignment is with one of these agencies, the preceding information will still be useful for your overall guidance on volunteerism, support to you and the administration of your contract. You will normally have a second induction process with the host agency – this will be planned and coordinated by the team in-country.

Your contributions to these agencies understanding of volunteerism and integration of volunteerism, community mobilization, participation and gendered approaches are fundamental to the objectives of UNV. Examples of how you

Cote d’Ivoire: field example of volunteerism for peace The UNV Action Team supported the 'Tantie Bagages' project initiated by a local volunteer association network that aimed at the social reintegration of young girl victims of the civil unrest into the Ivorian society. The focus of this initiative is the promotion of gender and women empowerment through the provision of basic education to a group of 50 girls aged 8 to 14 belonging to vulnerable groups. The teachers mobilized for the project are volunteers who provide two-hours classes twice a week and cover basic alphabetization courses, sensitization to HIV & AIDS and personal hygiene. The UNV Action Team provided school kits to each young girl with pens, chalk, books, etc. As a result of this project, 7 girls were integrated into the regular education system and the local volunteer network, supported by UNV, is currently preparing an expansion of the project to other major cities.

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can do this may include such things as building self-help group activities into a project document, encouraging the agency to consider unpaid work or community contributions when undertaking studies, etc.

What is the difference between serving in peacekeeping and in development?

In conflict and post-conflict environments, one realises that there is very little difference between striving towards peace or development. The two are interrelated, interdependent, and require a holistic approach and consequently, integrated support. Naturally, there are practical differences in UNV volunteer assignments in post-conflict contexts, such as safety, security, hardship, non-family status and other factors. UN Volunteers serving in

conflict and post-conflict environments may witness Human Rights violations, violence and conflict situations. These types of issues demand strong commitment from an individual and can be highly stressful. It is for this reason that there is a provision for UN Volunteers working in duty stations designated as hazardous to take mandatory recuperation breaks outside of the duty station.

What is most important to remember throughout is that volunteering in peacekeeping development or any other area of the UN’s work, is usually an incredibly positive and life changing experience. Yet, like any major choice in life, it is something for which one needs to prepare oneself carefully.

Indonesia: Promoting volunteerism in Disaster Risks Reduction programmes A Canadian UN Volunteer in Indonesia took part in the Volunteer Leadership Forum to promote and discuss linkages between national UN Volunteers and other volunteers who were deployed in an emergency. As Indonesia is extremely vulnerable to natural disaster, she empathized to her host agency UNOCHA the importance of bringing volunteer organizations together and the crucial ability of volunteers to mobilize and organize an effective response in emergency situations, which reflects the Indonesia spirit of “Gotong Royong- working together�. By engaging over 1,000 men, women and children in the simulation exercise during the forum, the volunteer movement ensured that in times of disaster the community would have the capacity not only to protect their community but also to save lives.

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The Bigger Picture Volunteer service, human development and the promotion of volunteerism for peace and development are central to the identity and purpose of UNV. This section explains how UNV fits into the global picture of human development including the Millennium Development Goals.

development, health, disaster prevention and management, social integration and overcoming social exclusion and discrimination”. And that “volunteering, particularly at the community level, will help to achieve the development goals and objectives set out in the UN Millennium Development Goals15…”

Volunteerism: a concept without frontiers Volunteerism is a fundamental source of community strength and resilience that exists in all societies throughout the world.

Volunteerism is expressed through a wide range of activities, including traditional forms of mutual aid and self-help, formal service delivery, campaigning and advocacy, as well as other forms of civic participation. The UN General Assembly defines volunteerism as undertaken of free well, for the general public good, and where monetary reward is not the principal motivating factor.14

Background and context To remain vibrant and relevant, UNV must adapt to the new realities in development and humanitarian relief, in order to maximize our contributions to emerging opportunities. In the last two decades, increasing development needs coupled with declining resources for development assistance have impacted the content and funding of the operational activities of UNV.

Following the International Year of Volunteers in 2001, the UN General Assembly recognized that “volunteerism is an important component of any strategy aimed at…poverty reduction, sustainable

In the mid 1990s, international assistance for humanitarian emergencies and related needs escalated, particularly through the major involvement of the UN system in complex emergencies, humanitarian assistance and election processes. This impacted on the nature of UNV assignments. Before this time, the vast

14. UN General Assembly A/RES/56/38 Distr. 10 January 2002

15. UN General Assembly A/RES/57/106 December 2002

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majority of UNV assignments were supporting the development activities carried out by UNDP. Now, we see more and more of a focus on supporting humanitarian work and peace-keeping operations, in partnership with UN Departments and specialized bodies.

institutions. While all the MDGs offer distinctive, indicative targets for development programming, UNV places a particular emphasis on the importance of ensuring equal opportunities for both genders, and fully recognising the volunteer contributions of women.

In addition to receiving funding from UN Missions, UNDP and other various UN agencies, UNV also has its own fund, the Special Voluntary Fund (SVF). This fund is made up from voluntary contributions from a wide range of donor countries for pilot and innovative volunteer projects.

Projects funded through SVF include activities supporting disadvantaged and vulnerable groups of society as well as initiatives such as www.onlinevolunteering.org, UNV’s Online Volunteering service.

Finally, the ongoing UN reform efforts and aid effectiveness challenges (such as those offered by the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness16) ensure UNV is part of a results-oriented and efficient organization. UNV fully supports the “Delivering as One (DaO)” pilot initiative, which aims to assist the UN family—with its many and diverse agencies—to deliver more and better for the poorest and most disadvantaged. DaO was recommended by the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on UN System-wide Coherence17, a group of heads of state and policy makers tasked to examine ways to strengthen the UN’s ability to respond to the challenges of the 21st Century. Following the launch of the Panel’s Report in 2006, the Governments of eight countries — Albania, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Pakistan, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uruguay

The adoption of the MDGs during the United Nations General Assembly Session in 2001 had a substantial impact on UNV’s programming and continues to provide the overarching framework for UNV’s action today. The eight MDGs – which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV & AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the 2015 target– form a blueprint for development and are agreed to by all countries and the leading development

16. For more information, please see http://www.aidharmonization.org/secondary-pages/Paris2005 17. For more information, please see http://www.undg.org/index.cfm?P=32&f=General%20Assembly %20resolution%20on%20Systemwide%20coherence%20(A/62/L.51)

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and Vietnam — volunteered to become “One UN” pilots. However, it should be noted that the spirit of the DaO and UN reform agenda is not limited to these pilot countries and that increased inter-agency cooperation across all countries is becoming the norm, with few exceptions.

UNV and Development Focusing on the Human Dimension Human Development is about people centered development goals rather than the accumulation of economic wealth and national income. Economic growth remains a major tool in achieving development objectives but is not an end in itself. Development is focused on enabling people to lead productive, fulfilling and creative lives by holistically building human capabilities through the broader dimensions of education, healthcare, equitable access to resources and sustainable practices.

The human development paradigm shares a common vision with human rights in the pursuit of freedom. A human rights approach realizes that all people have claims to social arrangements that protect them from the worst abuses and deprivations. People must be free to exercise their choices and to participate in decision-making that affects their lives.

Human development and human rights

are thus mutually reinforcing, helping to secure the well-being and dignity of all people, building self-respect and the respect of others.

The Targets The MDGs provide a global framework to measure the world’s progress in human development by the year 2015. It has specific measurable goals and helps keep global attention on the human development commitments of every country.

Achieving each of the eight MDGs cannot happen without strong governments leading pro-poor policies and actions, coupled with the international community’s financial and technical backing. However, government and donor initiatives alone are insufficient and do not represent the true meaning of human development. Civil society plays a crucial role in meeting those targets. A society with strong civic engagement on all levels represents empowerment and a population a population, including those most vulnerable, which is able to exercise a degree of control over policies affecting them.

Countless citizens are involved on a daily basis in expressions of civic engagement, formal and informal, to help achieve the

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MDGs. Their volunteer efforts ensure that the international development agenda always has a human face in a local context and broad social dimensions.

Advocating for the achievement of the MDGs The United Nations Millennium Campaign promotes global action in support of the Millennium Development Goals. On 17 October 2007 over 43.7 million people, in 127 countries literally stood up against poverty and in favour of the MDGs, breaking the Guinness World record.

Across the globe, millions stood up and spoke out to demand a more urgent political response to the growing crisis of global poverty and inequality. They called on their leaders to keep the commitments made in the Millennium Development Goals.

In Albania, UNV and other development partners launched a campaign using the silver screen and a circus to mobilize Albanians in support of the government’s mandate to eradicate extreme poverty, achieve universal primary education and address other targets set out within the MDG framework. In Egypt, awareness is raising campaign involved volunteers sailing down the Nile in eight feluccas, each one bearing a sail with an imprint of a different MDG.

In spreading the MDG message, UN Volunteers play a powerful role in monitoring and reporting on human development targets, thereby increasing pressure on governments to live up to their promises.

Integrating MDGs to the local context An engaged civil society ensures that strategies towards the achievement of the MDGs are tailored to the local context.

Participation from different stakeholders in policies and strategies that aim to achieve the MDGs is paramount. National poverty reduction strategies should respond to peoples’ needs and international development assistance should be demand driven.

Volunteers armed with local knowledge help promote inclusive participation and responsive governance thereby strengthening state capacity to deliver services. Ensuring that all citizens have the ability and the opportunity to participate in development processes is a crucial condition for meeting the MDG targets. An inclusive approach fosters local ownership, thereby ensuring the sustainability of development initiatives.

In addition, volunteerism builds local development capacity through the sharing of knowledge. In Namibia, UNV provided

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24 . UNITED NATIONS VOLUNTEERS: HOW DO I FIT IN?

support to capacity building programmes in the form of partnerships with the private sector. UN Volunteers worked alongside and helped upgrade skills of 1,000 staff members of government institutions in order to help strengthen Namibia’s human and institutional capacities for poverty reduction, decentralization and development management. With local capacity building, dependency on external aid is reduced and an empowered citizenry is able to ensure the integration of their own development priorities with the MDGs. Mobilizing for human development UNV, annually, has close to 8,000 UN Volunteers and 10,000 online volunteers from more than 158 nationalities working to support communities, citizen’s initiatives and governments by providing technical knowledge, hands-on support and training in support of human development through education, health, water and sanitation and urban management initiatives. Harnessing available human resources and expertise through volunteerism is a highly effective means of achieving both the human and economic aspect of development. The 10 million people who volunteered in year 2000 to support the immunization of 550 million children as part of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative largely came from

local communities. The total value of their support was estimated at $10 billion, a figure that would have been impossible to achieve through monetary assistance alone. This is inspiration in action!

Through voluntary activities and civic engagement, it is possible to create social cohesiveness and greater tolerance. The sense of belonging and collective responsibility promoted through the increased interaction and network building enables peace building and conflict mitigation in otherwise volatile environments.

Gender and development In most developing countries, gender inequality is a major obstacle to meeting the MDG targets. In fact, achieving the goals will be impossible without closing the gaps between women and men in terms of capacities, access to resources and opportunities, and vulnerability to violence and conflict.18 Goal number 3 of the MDGs is to promote gender equality and empower women.19 Yet to realize the MDGs, governments and their partners must seriously and systematically ‘engender’ efforts to achieve all the goals.

18. Please see http://www.undp.org/women/mdgs/index.shtml 19. Please see http://www.mdgmonitor.org/goal3.cfm#

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UNV, like all of the UN system, is committed to promoting gender equality and is mainstreaming gender at both policy and operational levels. All UN Volunteers play a role in gender issues many of which are unnoticed or overlooked because of their complexity.

The fundamental point of a ‘gender aware’ approach to development is to recognize that women and men have different needs and the impact of any development intervention will affect men and women differently. Supporting gender mainstreaming in volunteerism goes beyond ensuring equal numbers of men and women, and includes issues of equitable leadership and equitable burden of labour.

Often among those most affected by poverty, conflict and/or disaster, women are the driving force behind peace and development efforts and society’s transformation. Hence the importance of a thorough analysis of local prevailing gender dynamics in peace and development programme design.

Recognizing that women’s rights are a major aspect of the broader gender equity agenda, UNV will engage in further research on gender and volunteerism, and gender mainstreaming will remain a priority for all aspects of UNV programming. In addressing the priority

areas at the community level, UNV will focus on ensuring gender equity of beneficiaries and of volunteers. Where possible and safe to do so, UNV local volunteer schemes will model nonstereotypical volunteer gender roles and leadership. At national and sub-national levels, UNV will support research and policy development in the area of gender and volunteerism. At the global and regional level, UNV programming will advocate for the principles of gender equity in volunteerism with its partner organisations.

There is a great deal of experience and lessons learned in the field of gender and development which can be utilized by you to help you recognize the gender issues you face and assist you on how to plan and programme volunteerism-related initiatives from a gender-perspective.

Whether you have or not a background in gender studies, you can access a wealth of knowledge and tools through the UNDP dedicated website: www.undp.org/women; http://www.undp.org/women/resources.sht ml.20

20. The Gender Training Kit, available at http://www.undp.org/women/resources.shtml, is an excellent module to generate gender awareness and it will teach you the basics on how to conduct a gender analysis prior or during the design of any development initiative and project.

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Also available is the Gender in Development site on capacity building at http://sdnhq.undp.org/gender/capacity/gm resource.html and the publications at http://www.undp.org/women/ publications.shtml The use of TEAMWORKS is also recommended. It is globally available, secure Web 2.0 social networking platform that enables UN organizations and their external partners to leverage the collective knowledge of communities, individuals, programmes and projects. Teamworks was launched in November 2010 as a rich, full-featured platform. By using Teamworks you are joining thousands of colleagues across the globe and across the United Nations family to share knowledge and expertise and collaborate in ways never previously possible.

For questions related to TEAMWORKS, please contact UNV focal points: Romain Desclous romain.desclous@unvolunteers.org (Former Volunteers), or Koye Adeboye aadeboye@unv.org (IYV+10 and External Partners).

The role of UNV in gender and development: gender and volunteerism21 There is a strongly gendered element to volunteerism. The positive effects of volunteerism can be very empowering for women in particular, providing access to social networks, new skills, and an influential role in the community for individuals who may otherwise have few formal routes to education or influence.

One of UNV’s central missions is the attempt to achieve recognition for the voluntary work that men and women are

21. “Extracts from Women and Volunteerism” and Alexandra Norrish’s 2006 analysis:”Mainstreaming Gender in UNV” (both available from UNV HQ’s Research and Development Unit)

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already doing, and which is often disregarded or undervalued. UNV’s projects can often have a positive effect in this regard by channelling and externally validating the voluntary activity that is occurring.

At the same time, dynamics between gender-relations and volunteering can also be negative for women, and issues for consideration include access and control such as: are women and men able to access volunteering opportunity in the same way? Does the volunteering environment facilitate women and men to gain position of leadership in the same way? Does volunteering add an extra burden to women productive and reproductive roles, without a comparable benefit being received? Gender analysis of volunteerism for development is a new field of research, which UNV is currently coordinating, in consultation with UNDP Gender Unit, UN Women, other UN agencies and VIOs, gender experts and academics.

For further information on gender in UNV you can contact your UNV PM or PO, who can liaise with the most appropriate UNDP or UNV Gender Focal Point.

Examples of UNV’s work for the advancement of women 22 UNV continues to advocate the gendered dimension of volunteerism. For example, the joint UNV/UN Women Latin America regional project “Engendering budget: Valuing women’s contributions to national development” demonstrated the role of volunteers at the local level in gender sensitive participatory budgeting.

Subsequently, the municipality of Cochabamba, Bolivia, decided to allocate more resources to address women’s needs. There, and in Villa Salvador, Peru, tools developed for the formulation and monitoring of public expenditure from a gendered-perspective are being used by representatives of women’s groups to analyze municipal government plans. In Rosario, Argentina, and in Cuenca, Ecuador, women elected to community decision-making bodies started new volunteer organizations to tackle violence and other social issues in their communities.

Another example of UNV advocacy for women’s contributions through volunteerism was in ECOWAS countries, specifically Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Niger and Senegal, where a partnership with UN Women, is 22.UN Volunteers Report for the Administrator. 2008

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implementing a regional strategy on strengthening rural women’s economic capacities.

UNV supports corporate volunteering through a number of partnerships with private sector companies. The global trend of increased interest in corporate social responsibility creates opportunities for growth. As part of a gender and poverty eradication programme in Senegal, Burkina Faso and Niger, the UNV Corporate Private Sector (CPS) initiative supported field surveys to identify the most suitable income generating opportunities for women’s groups.

What can you do to ensure your projects are gender-aware?

These are a few ideas and pointers which should enable you to start analyzing your project in gender terms and take necessary action: ■ Be aware of who benefits from (or who

is more broadly affected by) the project you support. This may include women, men, girls, boys, older people, people with disabilities, and so on.

■ Disaggregate all information by gender;

e.g. women, men, girls and boys.

■ Involve women in planning, decision

making training, leadership functions

etc. To ensure this, a gender profiling of the community you are working with might be useful.

■ Plan the meeting at a time where

women can attend, and in a space where they can feel safe. How can their children be taken care of while they attend meetings? Who will make the meals if it is over meal time?

■ Ensure that, for each project activity,

women participate and benefit fully.

■ Be aware of how the project affects the

immediate practical needs of women, men, girls and boys, and the relative status of women and men.

■ Be aware of how the activities of your

project affects the time spent by women and men on their immediate practical needs ■ If the project will promote women’s

participation in the project and benefit women, discuss how to go about this with the project stakeholders, fellow volunteers, and others, to design the project implementation strategy.

■ Remember: in a different cultural

context, your behaviour might become a role model for men and women in your host community. Use this opportunity wisely, for example if you are a man in a community, you can show your

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disagreement on violence against women.

■ Develop your competency on gender.

Ask a colleague with gender skills to review your project documents and coach you. Use available tools on gender to enhance your understanding.

One example is the on-line UNDP training course, “The Gender Journey – Think Outside the Box”, which you will be requested to take upon your arrival at your duty station.

Do no harm Although external assistance interventions seek to be neutral, the impact of this assistance may not, in fact, be neutral.

Through the provision of food, health care, training, shelter, improved water

systems, and the like, humanitarian assistance and development cooperation do have a direct impact on the political, economic, and social development of every country. It is important for you to recognize that this impact should not serve to reinforce existing social divisions, nor should it contribute to instability or violence. Factors such as what resources are provided, how they are distributed, to whom, and when, may all strongly reinforce inter-group competition or affect collaboration in a society.

In the worst case, aid assistance deepens and exacerbates divisions among rival groups, and may escalate existing conflicts. In the best case, it bridges disparities between rival groups and leads to a reduction of tensions. This, in turn, leaves space for ameliorating the situation

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for the population and promoting positive contributions to peace.

In order to achieve this, it is important to use the principles of participation and gender in order to listen to and take stock of people’s concerns and needs. The information you receive is rarely neutral and impartial; one may mislead you for his/her own interest, for the interest of a particular group, or for a question of prestige/ power towards his/her peers.

Therefore, it is important to gather information from as many different sources as possible to construct a balanced point of views.

Being a UN Volunteer also means that it was your personal choice and decision to commit to sharing your time and knowledge. You must be mindful of the fact that, should the situation get too violent or unstable, you will have the possibility of leaving while the people you have engaged with will not have this same option. It is therefore crucial that you do not expose people to risky activities or behaviour.

Useful links to training/reference materials: http://www.cdainc.com/cdawww/project_pr ofile.php?pid=DNH&pname=Do%20No%2 0Harm http://www.cdainc.com/training/docs/histor y_of_the_dnh_project.pdf

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Dynamics of being a UN Volunteer The Code of Conduct for international UN Volunteers As a UN Volunteer you will be represented by the United Nations.

Therefore you are expected to abide by the UNV Code of Conduct. It is intended to serve as an illustrative guide for UN Volunteers making ethical decisions in their professional lives and, at times, in their private lives. These decisions should be consistent with their decision to dedicate part of their lives to working within the United Nations system under volunteer conditions. The Code of Conduct is included in the UNV Conditions of Service Handbook. Please make sure you familiarize yourself with it.

Modalities of UN Volunteer action UNV-supported programmes usually comprise volunteers with different backgrounds, modalities of recruitment and conditions of service. UN Volunteers are recruited as international UN Volunteer or national UN Volunteers. They can serve as Junior Specialists in the fully-funded Internship Programme or as TOKTEN Specialists (Transfer of Knowledge through Expatriate Nationals), a programme that enables professionals living outside their country of origin to

return there for short-term assignments to support building national capacities. Two other volunteer modalities are the university volunteers and the corporate/private sector programme volunteers. As a UN Volunteer you have been recruited as an international or national UN Volunteer or in the frame of the Internship and TOKTEN programme.

Preparing for the assignment: managing expectations Everyone has their own reasons for why they have chosen to become a UN Volunteer. Some do it to give something back to their world, to help others, to

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develop new skills, to meet new people, etc. In fact, you might feel all of the above.

Throughout your mission, you may find yourself asking what it means to be a volunteer. You may confront questions such as ‘Why am I here?’, ‘What kind of impact am I having?’, or ‘Am I doing what I intended to do when I set out to my assignment?’

VRS: The Volunteer Reporting System The Volunteer Reporting System (VRS) is a monitoring online tool designed to capture different perspectives of your assignment. It is important to remember that VRS is not about assessing your performance, but rather to gather information for different audiences and purposes:

In order to prepare your self for this important process or self-reflection, you may want to do the following activity: 1. Take a few index cards or sheets of paper and an envelope.

2. Write down the goals you have for your assignment (i.e. what you hope to achieve).

3. Put your goals into the envelope and seal it.

4. Take the envelope with you to your assignment location and open it once your induction has been completed.

5. Take time to reflect about whether your expectations were realistic. What is going to be different than you expected? What do you still expect to be the same? Are there new goals you would like to work towards or old goals that you want to refocus on?

To you as a UN Volunteer: ■ It provides you an opportunity to voice

your opinion and make a qualitative & quantitative assessment of your assignment ■ To reflect on your role in the promotion

of volunteerism and its added value during your assignment ■ To reflect on the professional and

personal impact of your assignment ■ To raise issues of concern to the

attention of the UNV Field Units To the UNV Field Units: ■ To get information on the

nature/results/impact of the UNV assignments ■ To monitor and address issues of

concern brought up by the UN Volunteers through their VRS reports

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■ To get an overall picture of the UNV

programme contributions in the country of assignment To UNV HQ Bonn: ■ To use VRS as a global source of

detailed information on the contributions of volunteers to peace and development in line with the UNV mandate, strategic plan and corporate plan to document the impact/role of volunteerism through assignments. To document the impact/role of volunteerism through assignments ■ To use it as a source of ‘UNV stories’ by

the Communications Unit for external relations ■ To feed into the organisation’s reports

(e.g. UNV Annual Report, Executive Board Report, etc.)

The VRS reports are accessible online through the link: http://vrs.unv.org <http://vrs.unv.org/>. The completion of the Volunteer Reporting System (VRS) is a mandatory on-line report that all UN Volunteers are kindly requested to periodically fill in, as follows: ■ INITIAL REPORT is intended

particularly for the new arrivals, and also for those who have not completed this report yet. This is due within the first

3 months upon your arrival in the country of assignment ■ ANNUAL REPORT (interim) is intended

for those who have not completed their last Annual Reports following the contract extension.

■ FINAL REPORT when you are leaving

the country of assignment, either you did not extend your contract or you have resigned from your assignment.

However, please note that if there is a final report showing when you open your report, it should be filled out no matter if you are leaving the mission or not.

UN Volunteers as seen by others Appreciation of the service of UN Volunteers has been conveyed by many of those working alongside them, people with whom they lived, as well as directors of programmes, UN mission leaders and heads of countries where UN Volunteers have served. The following message is a prime example of the recognition of the value of UNV service:

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“The dedication United Nations Volunteers demonstrated in their work in South Africa is typical of their commitment in other settings where people yearn for freedom, peace, and democracy. To them and to this world body, I once more say, on behalf of our rainbow nation: thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”

President Nelson Mandela of South Africa, following the 1994 national elections

As a representative of UNV you will often be required to fill many different roles. For example, you may be seen as an expert (perhaps even in areas that you are not experienced in), as a symbol of authority, as the exciting person to invite to a party, etc. For most of you, you will fill different roles depending on the situation and the people you are dealing with. For example, you may be highly regarded as an expert in a number of topics, with many people coming to consult you on a range of topics. These examples highlight the dynamism of the role of a volunteer. How you deal with these requests in some ways will determine your effectiveness as a volunteer. One of the distinctive values of volunteers, in general, is the ability to build one-to-one relationships in order to transfer knowledge in a constructive manner. You may find this role as capacity developer and consultant on all things

rewarding and challenging, stretching the limits of your knowledge and experience and forcing you to continue learning.

It is also worth bearing in mind that not all of the labels you are given as a volunteer are necessarily positive ones. For example, you might not be valued as much as your staff counterparts, or even labelled ‘just a volunteer’. Such labels may be extremely challenging to overcome, but volunteers do overcome them, by building trusting relationships with people in order to create common understandings, by performing to the best of their abilities, and by learning about cultural norms and expectations. The exact solution that you find will be up to you.

In the last years, UNV carried out in-depth analysis of the reasons why UN Volunteers terminate their assignments early. One recurrent reason was related to the lack of recognition. Some volunteers mentioned having been treated as inferiors or ‘cheap labour’ or having been discriminated against because they were volunteers despite same levels of qualification or work load. These feelings of lack of consideration emerged for instance from the Description of Assignments, which sometimes resulted in excessive demand work-wise and sometimes in under-utilization skills-wise,

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or from the working atmosphere and the staff hierarchies.

Even if those are more subjective feelings, the mere existence of such perceptions means that the UN Volunteers have sometimes to go the extra mile to prove the added value they bring to the table as volunteers and the contribution and impact of volunteerism and volunteers to the peace and development agenda. UN Volunteers cannot take for granted that they are recognized always and by all host agencies as equal partner and might need to prove and earn their recognition.

Sometimes, this lack of recognition is also due to the fact that UN agency colleagues simply do not know very well the concept and spirit of volunteerism.

This is why UNV HQ and your UNV Field Unit are undertaking an additional effort in informing and sensitizing host and UN agencies in general about UNV. You can provide your contribution as well through your qualifications, work performance, attitudes and motivation but sometimes simply by explaining what UNV and volunteerism for peace and development is all about, what impact it can have on advancing peace and development, and clearly identifying yourself as a UN Volunteer.

The rewards of volunteerism are not measured in monetary terms or determined by the labour market.

Personal satisfaction may be garnered from contributing to development and peace, making new contacts, learning new skills, imparting your knowledge and completing a successful assignment. In addition, it provides the opportunity to learn about oneself and about others, to challenge oneself in diverse working contexts, to hone oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ability to live in a different environment, to exchange knowledge and know-how with volunteers from different cultural and professional backgrounds.

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36 . UNITED NATIONS VOLUNTEERS: HOW DO I FIT IN?

Part 2 Health and security Health and security are two of the most important concerns for you as a UN Volunteer. This section provides basic advice health preparations before departure and on security issues.

Specific advice for your country of assignment is provided in the PreAssignment Briefing Note and covered in detail during your in-country briefing.

Health risks and precautions As a UN Volunteer, you remain responsible at all times for your own health care and that of your family members. UNV can only advise you to think of your health when preparing for your assignment and when serving at your duty station. The following, therefore, is an invitation to take responsibility for your own health as well as that of your family (if you are serving in a family duty station and are accompanied by your family), to conduct research into areas that are of concern for you, to consult with your doctor for medical advice before you leave your home location, to arrive at the duty-station as prepared as possible, and to take all possible

precautions once you are at the dutystation. This section relies heavily on information gathered and verified by the World Health Organization, and can be accessed at www.who.int.

General considerations pre-departure All people planning to undertake a UN Volunteer assignment should know about the potential hazards of the duty-station to which they are moving and learn how to

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minimize their risk falling to these. Forward planning, appropriate preventive measures and careful precautions can substantially reduce the risks of adverse health consequences. Although consultation with a medical professional and prior research can provide a great deal of help and advice, it is the UN Volunteer’s responsibility to ask for information, to understand the risks involved, and to take the necessary precautions for the journey to and stay at the duty-station.

The duration of your assignment and the behaviour and lifestyle of the UN Volunteer are important in determining the likelihood of exposure to infectious agents and will influence decisions on the need for certain vaccinations or medications.

People’s personal behaviour plays an important role in prevention (for example, going outdoors in the evenings in a malaria-endemic area without taking precautions may result in the traveller becoming infected with malaria).

preventable, either through vaccination, prophylaxis or general caution. It is also worthwhile to read about natural disasters that are common to an area, and plan in advance how you might deal with these occurrences. The World Health Organization has many good resources for people who may be relocating within a developing country.24 Finally, consider traffic safety at the location of assignment.

If you plan on riding a motorcycle or bicycle, consider taking a course on how to drive and be sure to purchase appropriate safety equipment from a certified brand. It is recommended to discuss and read about how you plan to minimize your risks, and to procure any medicines or essential items in advance of the move.

Prior to departure, consider doing the following: ■ Seek medical advice and commence

vaccinations25 ■ Seek advice and decide on malaria

prevention where necessary Before moving to any location, UN Volunteers should be aware of the occurrence of any disease outbreaks and of the diseases that are normally prevalent.23 Many diseases are

23. Please see http://www.who.int/csr/don/en/ - then select your country of assignment

■ Discuss with your medical doctor likely

implications of the assignment, access to medical services, examinations, etc 24. One such document is available at http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2007/9789241580397_5_ eng.pdf.

25. Please see the WHO at http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2007/9789241580397_6_ eng.pdf

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■ Discuss supply of medications ■ Have a dental check. This is advisable

before moving to most assignment locations, as dental facilities may be limited. This is particularly important for people with chronic or recurrent dental problems.

■ Have an eye check, think of spare

glasses, sunglasses and safety glasses, bring a copy of prescription for glasses ■ Read general health notes and country

specific health notes ■ Consider a first aid course ■ Bring your own medical kit and specific

medication, including what you need for your sexual health HIV In a world with HIV, it’s important to be aware of HIV & AIDS, to know one’s own HIV status and to consider how this could affect your UNV volunteer assignment.

Living away from home for a long period of time can leave you isolated or far from appropriate medical facilities, so it is important to have this knowledge before you begin your assignment.

Your knowledge should include: ■ essential facts about HIV & AIDS;

■ how to protect yourself and your family

from an HIV infection; ■ how to live positively (– i.e. with HIV); ■ and finally, how to “let live” by

contributing to a tolerant, equitable and compassionate workplace.

HIV (the human immunodeficiency virus) attacks the immune system and makes the body vulnerable to a number of potentially life-threatening diseases. HIV is infectious, which means that it can be readily transmitted from one person to another. Sexual intercourse is the leading mode of HIV transmission. Male latex condoms and female condoms offer the most effective and accessible means of preventing HIV transmission and it is therefore important to have ready access to condoms.

After potential exposure to HIV, you should immediately initiate the PostExposure Prophylaxis (PEP), which is an emergency medical response that can be used to protect individuals exposed to HIV. The PEP needs to be initiated within 2-24 hours of possible exposure to HIV. Make sure you know whom to contact in order to get a PEP starter kit. Every country office / host agency is equipped with PEP starter kits as well as supplies of condoms – even in remote locations.

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Although an HIV test is not generally included in a regular check-up at the doctor, it is important to know your HIV status before your leave for your assignment. Also during the specific preassignment medical check-up, the doctor is not allowed to test you without your specifically requesting. Obviously, your HIV status does not have any influence on your eligibility for a UNV assignment.

However, one should note that, depending of the kind of assignment and the duty station, the access to treatment and therapy might be limited. Besides, absolute confidentiality of your HIV status and treatment can also be difficult to maintain in certain circumstances, even though there is absolutely no obligation to disclose your status. In especially remote locations, where communities tend to be small, and very closely knit, confidentiality might be more of an issue. Furthermore, you may have difficulty accessing appropriate treatment. (UNV HQ has set up a working group to raise awareness of HIV in remote and emergency locations and to mainstream HIV prevention, awareness and care in UNV volunteer management in addition to UNDP required training on HIV & AIDS).

UNV is committed to fighting against stigma and discrimination in relation to

HIV & AIDS. HIV positive persons may not decide to access care, treatment or counselling for the fear of being ostracized. Stigma and discrimination may also affect HIV negative persons in the ability to protect themselves by discouraging from seeking information, prevention services or HIV testing. Such HIV-related stigma and discrimination violate fundamental human rights. Do help combat the stigma and discrimination associated with HIV & AIDS â&#x20AC;&#x201C; whenever and wherever you can!

More information on HIV & AIDS is available at www.uncares.org.

Medical consultation before the assignment You are required to undergo a medical examination prior to commencing your assignment. This should be conducted by a doctor at your home location, preferably one with experience in tropical medicine.

It is recommended for this to take place as early in advance as possible, in case any of the tests need further follow up or the vaccinations need second doses.

Discuss with the doctor the location and conditions under which you will be serving, as well as any medical concerns you have or medical history that is specific to you. For international UN Volunteers, you will be provided with a one-time lump

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40 . UNITED NATIONS VOLUNTEERS: HOW DO I FIT IN?

sum in pre-departure expenses. This goes towards the cost of your medical examination, immunisations before you arrive in the country, as well as any other pre-departure costs. (National UN Volunteers are not expected to need any new vaccinations for your duty station, so there is no pre-departure payment.

However, you will need to undertake a medical examination, and the cost of this will be paid by the project to which you will be assigned.) HIV tests are not mandatory during the medical examination prior to your assignment. All UN Volunteers are expected to arrive at the duty-station with all vaccinations completed and ready to begin your assignments.

Medical kits International UN Volunteers will receive a standard WHO medical kit upon arrival in the country of assignment. The kit contains commonly used medicines which may be required during the initial stage of the assignment.

Certain types of prescription medicine should be carried together with a medical attestation, signed by a physician, certifying that the traveller requires the medication for personal use. Some countries require not only a physician but also the national health administration to sign this certificate.

Security for you and your family UNV attaches the highest priority to the safety and security of volunteers. The security situation you are likely to encounter depends on the local circumstances in the country of assignment. Prior to travel you are requested the online security course entitled â&#x20AC;&#x153;Basic Security in the Fieldâ&#x20AC;?. For duty stations that are Phase 1 or higher, an Advanced Security in Field course is also mandatory. Links to these courses are provided in your offer of assignment and are available from the UN Field Security Officer or Security Advisor in the country of assignment.26 Once in-country, each UN Volunteer will receive a country specific security briefing.

UN security co-ordination While on assignment, the UN Volunteers and their recognized dependants are subject to the overall direction and guidance of the UN Designated Official with respect to security matters. They are incorporated into all applicable security plans and are required to strictly adhere to the guidelines, security plans and other directives issued by the UN Designated Official. On a day-to-day basis, the focal person for security in county is called the 26. For more information, please see http://www.searo.who.int/LinkFiles/Human_Resource_security_ field.pdf

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Field Security Officer or Security Advisor, and s/he will be the person who provides you with security advice, advisories and training.

Personal security A common-sense approach, caution and vigilance on your part, are of the utmost importance to your personal security. The UNV Field Units will arrange for you to have a security briefing with the Field Security Officer or Security Advisor at your assignment location where you can discuss particular safety and security concerns. If you are concerned about items that you may need to procure in order to be prepared for the security situation at your particular duty station, ask your PM or PO to put you in touch with the Field Security Officer or Security Advisor, who is in the best position to advise you on what to bring.

Basic things to remember for your personal security are: ■ You are encouraged to keep your

personal effects to a minimum.

■ To the extent possible, avoid carrying

valuables which are not essential during your assignment.

Some basic principles of security In general, use your common sense at all times. Try to be aware of your surroundings – look out for the unusual. Be methodical and disciplined in establishing your security procedures. Make sure you and your family members are always contactable. Adhere to plans and agreed procedures, bearing in mind that you may need to exercise initiative in an emergency. Always remember that it’s not worth losing your life for the sake of material possessions.

Ensure that the UNV Field Unit is updated with your contact information and any changes in your location.

Simply put: be sensible, be safe and secure!

Security guidelines specific to women It is recommended particularly for women to always stay alert. Call attention to yourself if you are in danger: scream, shout, blow the horn of your vehicle, etc. At a new duty station, find out about customs, potential threats, areas to avoid and how it is customary to dress and behave. Learn a few phrases in the local language so that you can signal your need for help.

Rehearse what actions you would take if you were confronted by an aggressor, including planning for safe places if need be. Remember to always remain in contact – by carrying a mobile phone or radio, etc.

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42 . PROMOTING VOLUNTEERISM FOR PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT

Security for others As a UN Volunteer you have agreed to uphold the principles of the United Nations, represented by our pledge to care for the most vulnerable in our world.

Towards this aim, it is important to discuss the security of those most vulnerable people- and our obligations towards them.

Sexual harassment and abuse of authority A key challenge in our mandate to care for the most marginalized and vulnerable people in the world is the sexual exploitation and abuse that is perpetrated by persons working for the United Nations and its partners. The United Nations, including UNV, are firmly committed to a policy of zero tolerance. UNV as an organization expects all UN Volunteers to uphold the highest standards of conduct as outlined in the UNV Conditions of Service (page 81), and thus cannot tolerate any behaviour that contravenes these standards. All cases of serious misconduct, including all complaints involving sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment and abuse of authority are investigated and will be fully addressed.

In recent years there have been accusations of sexual exploitation and abuse during their assignment against UN Staff who are working in the field. It was

within this context that the SecretaryGeneral clearly defined sexual exploitation and sexual abuse (SEA) and the standards of conduct expected of all staff to protect local populations from any negative impact from the presence of the United Nations. Sexual exploitation is defined as exchanging money, shelter, food or other goods for sex or sexual favours from someone in a vulnerable position. Sexual abuse is defined as threatening or forcing someone to have sex or provide sexual favours under unequal or forced conditions. The following is specifically prohibited: sexual activity with anyone under the age of 18 is prohibited regardless of consent or age of majority locally. Mistaken belief in the age of a child is not a defence. Purchasing sexual acts with money, employment, goods or services is prohibited.

Exchanging humanitarian assistance e.g. food rations, shelter supplies for sexual acts is prohibited. Any forced, coercive or degrading sexual acts are prohibited.

For additional information please see: http://ochaonline.un.org/HumanitarianIssu es/ProtectionfromSexualExploitationandA buse/tabid/1204/Default.aspx â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sexual Harassment is understood as any unwelcome sexual advance, request for sexual favour, verbal or physical conduct

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HEALTH AND SECURITY . 43

or gesture of a sexual nature, or any other behaviour of a sexual nature (including pornography, sexually-coloured remarks) that has or that might reasonably be expected or be perceived to cause offense or humiliation to another” (Conditions of Service for international UN Volunteers, August 2006). “Sexual harassment may occur when it interferes with work, is made a condition of employment or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive environment. Sexual harassment normally implies a series of incidents. However, a one-time incident could fall within the definition of sexual harassment if it has an unambiguously offensive sexual character. Both male and female staff members can be either the injured party or the offender” (as above).

For further information, see also http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/fpse xualharassment.htm As per the UNDP Policy on Sexual Harassment and Abuse of Authority: “UNDP does not tolerate harassment in any form. Such behaviour or conduct is contrary to the Charter of the United Nations, the Staff Rules and to the Standards of Conduct for the International Civil Service. Staff Rule 101.2 (d) indicates that “any form of discrimination or harassment, including sexual or gender harassment, as well as physical or verbal

abuse at the workplace or in connection with work, is prohibited.” Staff members and non-staff personnel exhibiting such behaviour or conduct may be subject to appropriate administrative or disciplinary measures” (on the UNDP intranet see http://content.undp.org/go/userguide/hr/du ties-andobligations/harrasment/harassment-and-a buse-of-authority.en).

In each country, there is a focal point on sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) within each organization of the UN system, who could provide further information, including training events and materials, how to report allegations of wrongdoing, and the UN policies on protection against retaliation. You can also find information in the UNV condition of service about who to refer to and what to do in case of sexual harassment.

Staff Counsellors/Stress Management In case that a UN Volunteer would like to consult with a Stress/Staff Counselor they can find contact details from their UNV Programme Officer/Programme Manager or UNV Focal Point in their country of assignment.

In most DPKO missions, UN Volunteers can avail the services of staff counsellors

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44 . UNITED NATIONS VOLUNTEERS: HOW DO I FIT IN?

who are assigned to these missions (eg.

DRC, AFG, Sudan, etc.). In DPKO missions where there is no staff counsellor available on location, and in the event of an incident requiring such expertise, missions do request UN HQ to send a counsellor. Such counsellors are also available to UN Volunteers.

UN Agencies such as UNHCR do have roving Stress/Staff Counsellors covering geographical areas (e.g. Western Africa, Horn of Africa). They travel to different countries/locations upon demand for

counselling sessions and to conduct training on stress counselling/stress management.

Staff Counsellors not only assist in case of incidents but they can also be relied upon to provide continuous psychological assistance where needed (eg. personal problems, family issues, mental illnesses, addictions, problems of adjustment/hardship, etc.). In some cases the Staff Counsellor may be a UN Volunteer.

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ADJUSTING TO A NEW ENVIRONMENT . 45

Adjusting to a new environment As a UN Volunteer you will most likely be working in a different environment to what you are used to. As UN Volunteers, you need to be able to adapt to a new social and organizational cultures, different climates and food habits in order to accomplish your assignment objectives and integrate successfully into the assignment location.

UN Volunteers embody the core values of UNV like inclusion, solidarity and empathy. These values are embodied by a receptive attitude to differences in values, worldviews and lifestyles.

Effective peace-building and development interventions require an understanding of how our values and worldview impact on the work we do and the people amongst whom we live. Intercultural sensitivity requires that we respect othersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; cultural, ethnic, religious and sexual identities and preferences.

UN Volunteers have been recruited not only for their professional skills, but also for their perceived capacity to work effectively across cultures. Being mindful and showing cultural humility is the key to successful intercultural interactions. While

UN Volunteers are encouraged to hold their own values, they should also demonstrate sensitivity to local customs and values.

Throughout the process of your learning and adaptation, the people with whom you interact also face the challenge of adapting to you: namely your perceptions, opinions, and style of working, living and interacting. We often inadvertently demand great flexibility from our host societies when going about the tasks included in our assignments. It is important to be aware of this. In order to be more effective in our planning and implementation, we need to be well grounded, connected with local people and cultivate passion for multicultural settings. This can be difficult, so this section provides practical advice on helping you overcome intercultural challenges.27 At its best, intercultural awareness can help us learn to use our awareness to uncover and nurture the commonalities

27. The UNV buddy programme is designed to allow new UN Volunteers to address these kinds of issues, among others, between peers in a confidential environment.

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that bind us within a single human family.

The Xhosa in South Africa call this ubuntu: ‘Ubuntu has to do with being human, showing humanity and humanness. It is very closely related to another famous Xhosa phrase: “Umtu ungumtu ngabantu” - a person is a person through other persons”.28 Cultures and culture shock Culture can be defined as the inherited patterns of shared meanings and common understandings. Culture is man-made and can gradually change over the time. It influences how people manage their lives, and provides the lens through which they interpret their society. Cultures affect how people think and act; but they do not produce uniformity of thought or behaviour29. Culture is undeniable but it can also be invisible. It’s sometimes referred to as the “software of the mind”.

This means that cultural issues and challenges are not clear or easy to understand, and they will arise from intercultural meetings.

When you move to a new location, there may be a radical change from the perspective and way of life you are used to. This can lead to feelings of disorientation. This feeling is commonly referred to as ‘culture shock’. ‘Culture’ is the new way of life to which you are being exposed and ‘shock’ is your physical and emotional response to the differences When you move to a new location, there may be a radical change from the perspective and way of life you are used to. This can lead to feelings of disorientation. This feeling is commonly referred to as ‘culture shock’. ‘Culture’ is the new way of life to which you are being exposed and ‘shock’ is your physical and emotional response to the differences.

Everybody experiences some form of culture shock, including members of your family accompanying you. The difference is in the degree of shock. For some it is a matter of a few weeks before the feeling of disorientation disappears, while others may never get over what can be a painful and difficult experience. At this stage, two things are important to keep in mind: ■ You are a UN Volunteer and have a

28. Veronique Schoeffel & Phyllis Thompson, “Intercultural Communication in Contexts of Humanitarian Aid”, Collection of Case Studies, cinfo – Switzerland 29. From the From the UNFPA State of World Population Report 2008

mission to be completed, a pledge to the society you are working in, and a concrete task to accomplish, which is the main reason for you to be there.

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CASE STUDY: I have been at the duty station for one month and was working in an office where I was the first foreigner to be based there. From the very beginning I had difficulties to understand, work and interact with one of my senior colleagues, Tamara, who was used to working independently.

Once she came to see me and I guessed from her behaviour that she felt uncomfortable. She began to raise questions on a number of issues and new policies that were put in place since my arrival and underlining the importance of status and rank in her culture. The entire meeting was going on in a very friendly but still quite tense atmosphere, despite the fact that she was smiling and being very nice and polite. When the meeting was finished she clearly looked dissatisfied with our discussion but did not raise any further points. I ended the conversation with the hope that we might find common ground during the year we were to work together.

After a few days she returned and told me that she needed to speak to Rene next time he was passing by. Rene being the Head of Section located in the capital city and also my supervisor. Next time Rene came to the office, I told him that he should go down to see Tamara as she requested to see him. Later on in the day, Tamara came to my office fuming. She immediately told me I made her lose face. I could not understand what she meant. She told me that I had sent Rene down to see her and that it was an outrageous thing for me to do.

I was completely taken aback – did she not ask me she needed to see Rene?! I was left puzzled and bewildered about what happened and the fallout in our working relationship lasted until the end of my assignment.

I was used to a communication style, where meaning is conveyed through explicit statements made directly to the people involved. I did not realize that the indirect communication style of the host culture conveyed meaning by suggestion, implication and metaphors and this style allowed one to avoid confronting another person or cause them to lose face. “I want to see Rene” was just another expression for “I have a problem with you that we need to solve”.

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48 . UNITED NATIONS VOLUNTEERS: HOW DO I FIT IN?

■ The price you and your family members

will pay for adapting to different smells, climate, language, traffic conditions, levels of wealth or poverty and other possible signs of cultural differences, is incomparably lower than the personal gains this process will give you.

Demonstrating cultural humility is vital to intercultural interaction. It is one way that we may become more conscious of our behaviour, as opposed to operating on “auto-pilot” when interacting with people.

It necessitates new ways of thinking: openness to new information, a rejection of existing stereotypes, and an awareness of perspectives other than our own.

Empathy helps you to be more aware of how others would like to be treated, from their own perspectives, and act accordingly: “do unto others as they

themselves would have done unto them” (Milton Bennett, Basic Concepts of Intercultural Communication).

It is possible to achieve intercultural effectiveness. Practicing patience, self awareness, humility, humour, demonstrating a readiness to learn to unlearn, questioning your existing behaviour patterns, coping with uncertainties and searching for commonalities between different perceptions are all a part of this process.

The culture shock cycle The adjustment cycle illustrates the highs and lows UN Volunteers can experience when travelling from one culture to another.

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ADJUSTING TO A NEW ENVIRONMENT . 49

Full adjustment to a new environment is often progressive and may involve, to various degrees, the following four stages: Step 1: Honeymoon stage You have just arrived. Everything is new, looks charming, exotic. Many things which you had expected to be different or not to be present look similar to your home country. Your fears prior to your departure seem small. Your accommodation provides a protective cocoon. You meet people who speak your language. Cuisine to suit your taste is available. The UNV Field Unit or fellow UN Volunteers may welcome you and offer their help to introduce you to this new environment.

Step 2: Dissatisfaction stage The novelty wears off. The people taking time to help you at the beginning have resumed their own lives and expect you to get on with yours. The shipment of your personal items is delayed.

Things do not work and you cannot explain to anyone what you need done.

You feel like a child yourself, learning the local language and trying to speak again.

Language skills donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t seem to progress, the setting is unfamiliar, you try hard to understand the rules, attempting to make local friends but it does not turn to be the kind of relationship that you had hoped for. If you find yourself lashing out in anger, especially at your spouse or children, you know you have hit the crisis stage. This can lead to depression, unhappiness, resentment and longing for your own support system that you were used to when you were back home.

In this stage you may experience difficulties adjusting, yet it is fundamentally important to recognize the signs as early as possible. These signs will be visible on two levels: on your mental and emotional state and on your body itself. If normally you are a calm person and suddenly often find yourself losing patience, or if you are experiencing small health problems (e.g. headache,

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stomach-ache, etc) that you never endured before, these can be telling signs of that you might be experiencing difficulties in integrating into the new context.

Some of the common signs of adjustment difficulties are as follows: ■ You are constantly feeling down. You

don’t want to socialize with your colleagues;

Step 3: Crisis stage and ways to adjust So what do you do now? Hand in your resignation and leave the assignment?

Running away or returning home may seem like a viable option, even if not physically. You may attempt to forget entirely that you are abroad by immersing yourself in day-dreams and isolating yourself from the community. The last thing you want to do is go out and get involved, or meet new people.

■ You become impatient. Delays and little

things irritate you; ■ You lack appetite and can’t sleep; ■ You complain often about climate, local

people, customs, etc; ■ Even when the work is light and you are

not fully engaged, you feel tired and worn out and have only low energy; ■ You do not seem to enjoy your work, but

can’t explain why; ■ You feel homesick and have an all-

consuming desire for news from home and feelings of excessive anxiety, ■ You develop excessive worries about

security and hygiene conditions.

Monitoring your actual state of health and well-being, by knowing yourself and your body, can be a big first step towards improving your own condition.

At this time, it is important to remember that culture shock is a normal, healthy psychological reaction. It signals that you are learning something new about the local culture and, presumably, that is what you want to do. Culture shock can be a period of self-assessment and cultural learning. Moving beyond culture shock puts you on the path to becoming “interculturally fluent”, or at ease in the new culture. Because culture shock is a sign that you are beginning to let go of your home environment and engage with a new culture, the appropriate response is not to get rid of culture shock but rather to know how to manage the stress and the consequences it causes.

Engage In Physical and Mental Activities Rather Than ‘Running Away’ It depends on the individual but regular activities like physical exercise, meditation

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ADJUSTING TO A NEW ENVIRONMENT . 51

or relaxation techniques, or keeping a journal can you help get through this tough phase. See the Reflection Toolkit for more ideas once you are in-country.

Once you have settled into your accommodation, you may want to engage in new activities or start a new hobby (in accordance with security and local context). Renew subscriptions to professional journals and other periodicals that interest you or read books. This will keep your mind and body occupied and will help overcome boredom.

meeting compatriots, listening to music or watching a movie in your native language, eating familiar food, etc. One idea is to bridging your home with the local culture: prepare a traditional dish from your region and invite locals to share it or mark an important festivity or celebration in your home region with your local office colleagues. Generally it is not recommended to deny yourself small home comforts that you find in the new country (such as particular kind of food, drink or other commodities).

Seek Support Rather Than Closing Yourself Off From Others Find out about various groups, which share your interests, your ideals or your religious faith. Get involved in their activities. This will act as an entry point to knowing people who share your values and will provide much-needed support.

Establish New Support Systems Rather Than Pining for Old Friends Feelings of isolation can be intense when you are far from friends and family.

Having someone to talk to, someone you feel you can call in an emergency situation or a baby-sitter with whom you can leave your children may ease your feeling of isolation. Do not be afraid of getting to know someone who belongs to your culture, who is of similar age, or who has similar interests and try to establish a good relationship with him/her. In doing so, do not lock yourself into this relationship and do not spend all your time complaining about cultural differences. The relationship will also open your mind further to cultural adaptation and increasing involvement in the environment.

Create Stability Zones to Bridge Home and Local Culture If you spend most of your time totally immersed in your new culture you may briefly want to retreat into what can be called a ‘stability zone’, or an environment that closely resembles home.27 These physical or mental zones might include

30. Nancy J. Adler, “International Dimensions of Organisational Behaviour”, 2002

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52 . UNITED NATIONS VOLUNTEERS: HOW DO I FIT IN?

Appreciate Cultural Differences Rather Than Stopping Exploring You are in a new environment and in a different culture so don’t shut it out. This is a golden opportunity for you to experience another culture. Not many people get this rare opportunity. So make the most of this opportunity to enrich your life. The key here is to appreciate the differences and learn to empathize. Everyone has a different way of doing things, even within your own neighbourhood at home.

Step 4: Period of adjustment You manage to relax and life resumes a pattern similar to what you experienced at home, albeit with a different backdrop.

You wake up feeling fresh and positive.

You plan your day and look forward to your work. You have made new friends and started socializing with them. You are able to find your way about because you are familiar with the streets and able to converse in the local language. You are accustomed to the sights and smells of your duty station. You start feeling at home. It is the phase in which you re-start enjoying your life, your assignment, your choices and of course your new location.

It’s a state that you will most probably miss once you get back home!

Integration challenges awaiting your UNV assignment There are many challenges that one may have to face and overcome for successful integration and cultural adaptation during the volunteer assignment. Taking the time to reflect on these challenges, to think about how you would like to overcome them and what you expect to learn from them can help to smooth your transition and ensure that integration expectations are realistic. Some of the topics that you may want to consider are: ■ Integration into the host community ■ Creating new social groups and

structures ■ Maintaining contacts with home and

family ■ The context: hostile, welcoming,

accommodating ■ Leaving familiar surroundings and

comfort zones ■ Language and cultural

misunderstandings ■ Caring for family ■ Isolation ■ Always being different ■ Missing our own events at home

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■ Making friends ■ Exhaustion, stress and health ■ Career development and professional

resources ■ Security and stability ■ Concept of time ■ Weather ■ Material conditions ■ Gender role ■ How you are perceived ■ Religion ■ Uncertainty

Your family You have been selected for a UNV assignment and you have been told whether the duty station is one to which you may or may not bring your family. If you are assigned to a non-family duty station, you are, as you already know, not allowed to bring your family. If you are assigned to a duty station where you can bring your family, you may decide to settle down first and have your family join you later (always strongly recommended by the UNV programme), or you may choose to have your family accompany you from the outset (UNV Conditions of Service in Part 2).

Often UN Volunteers are required to work in remote areas, where the presence of a family may be of great help in overcoming ‘settling- in’ difficulties. Unfortunately, it is precisely these areas where bringing your family may be inappropriate. The challenge here is to find appropriate ways to stay connected.

If your family is coming with you, don’t forget that they will also be faced with specific challenges, indeed, perhaps even more than you are, as they go about the day-to-day activities of setting up a house, getting food, searching for schools, etc.

Their need for the local language or dialect may be greater than yours, particularly if you are working in an office environment that functions in an official UN language. Your spouse and children will cope with the effects of culture shock, just as you will. It is important to remember that you are responsible for ensuring that your family has integrated into the assignment location, and that they are aware of the health and security situation and procedures in the country.

Please take the time to brief them fully on these issues.

If you, your spouse and children arrive at the duty station with the desire to integrate, you can expect an experience that will inspire you as individuals and as

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54 . UNITED NATIONS VOLUNTEERS: HOW DO I FIT IN?

a family. On the whole, the families of UN Volunteers have made positive contributions wherever they have integrated and become part of the local community.

Reverse culture shock Something that you might not expect but which can affect you upon your return home is called “reverse culture shock”.

Reverse culture shock is defined as “reactions which occur as a result of readapting to our home culture. Often called ‘reverse culture shock’, the re-entry process has some things in common with culture shock but also has the added factor of surprise: we don’t expect our home culture to be so unreceptive to us, and to be so difficult to come back to”.31 This shock is connected to the new attitudes, values, perceptions and customs that you have acquired while at your assignment location. Reverse culture shock can be an important problem, especially if the culture shock upon initial arrival was successfully managed. You may have adjusted to a new kind of life, perhaps materially poorer and more basic, but at the same time more satisfying and fuller. You might have endorsed some

31. Milton J. Bennett, Basic Concepts of Intercultural Communication, 1998

tradition, unconsciously modified and adapted your perceptions and re-adjusted your world. Your surprise at finding your home culture to be so unreceptive and different to what you left or what you imagined it as being makes you go through the same stages as the initial culture shock.

It’s important to bear in mind and prepare yourself for the notion of reverse culture shock when preparing to depart for your assignment.

Intercultural communication New Language If you are in a location where you do not know the local language, it is a sign of respect and cultural awareness to learn at least a basic level of the local language.

These sentences can be the introductory and final salutations, a sentence that apologizes for your inability to speak the language and the correct way to say “thank you”. Do not be afraid of trying to communicate. Even if you make mistakes, the local population will appreciate the effort and this will help you in establishing trust and in establishing an entry point into the new culture and context.

Communication Styles The style of communication varies across cultures and influences the way you are

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understood. In oral and written communications, being aware of how you are communicating and how other people react to you increases the likelihood of more accurate communication. Establish active listening skills, remain open to new information and acknowledge that there is more than one perspective to any transfer of information. Communication styles are often described using two opposing adjectives. Discussions might be conducted in a linear way, with the connections among stated points explicitly made before arriving at a conclusion.

Alternatively, they may be circular, using stories and references to provide the context and allude to the main point.

Direct communication styles use explicit statements, with little reliance on contextual factors such as situation and timing while indirect communication uses suggestions, implications, non-verbal behaviour and other contextual clues to

pass a message. This may even be done via a third person in order to avoid directly implicating an individual and causing them to ‘lose face’.

Stumbling Blocks to Effective Communication There are many obstacles that can hinder or prevent accurate communication: ■ Our preconceptions or assumptions.

These occur because of lack of or incomplete information or limited understanding of the situation.

■ The way you see things is not

necessarily the way someone else may see it. This can be due to cultural differences, differences of opinions, political influences, etc.

■ Not being open to non-verbal

communication.

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56 . UNITED NATIONS VOLUNTEERS: HOW DO I FIT IN?

When working towards a common understanding, try to avoid making judgments. Hasty judgements soon shut down communication channels and prevent you from openly considering other peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s opinions.

Body Language As with oral and written communication, the UN Volunteer should be also very aware of his/her body language. This term refers to all the gestures and movements of the body that form part of our communication patterns. Non-verbal communication is a fundamental part of intercultural interactions. It can include all those things that people can see (i.e. facial expressions), hear (i.e. snapping fingers or clicking a pen), smell (i.e. cologne, breath), and touch (i.e. hand shakes, etc). Non-verbal behaviour often has ambiguous meanings and these meanings can vary across cultures.

Beware of your own non-verbal communications and be particularly attentive and aware of othersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; behaviour and how this might affect you.

Conclusion Throughout this document, many issues have been discussed- ranging from how you fit in on a personal level and what some of your personal responsibilities are as a UN Volunteer, to how you fit in to your new duty station. We hope that we have covered some of the questions and topics that you may have been thinking about in your pre-departure days. Most certainly, you will have more questions on arrival or as your preparations go on.

Save these so that they can be addressed later, either by other documents you read or briefings that you have.

Now, it is important to take the time to say goodbye and spend time with the people, places, and activities that are important to you, and that you will temporarily leave behind while you are on your exciting upcoming experience as a UN Volunteer.

This is a living document that will change as your needs change. If you have comments and additions that you feel can make it more useful, please send your feedback to volunteer_tools@unv.org.t is hoped that the exercises and topics discussed will help to make your transition a successful one. We look forward to hearing from you in the future.

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NOTES

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NOTES

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UNV is administered by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)