Progress in implementation of the approach

The years 1992 to 1994 witnessed a rapid expansion in UNV's humanitarian relief volunteers. The efforts of the UNV's Humanitarian Relief Unit (HRU), established towards the end of 1991, are paying off the initially intensive process innovation, advocacy and advertising, inter-agency networking, and fund-raising. There is an increasing involvement in new activities in support of UN-coordinated programmes, especially for complex protracted emergencies. Working closely with the UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs (DHA), UNV has become recognised as a prime source for readily available experienced field relief workers and technical managers, who can accelerate the transition to UNDP-supported sustainable human development.

The use of experienced field relief workers and managers as UNV specialists, offering their services as unsalaried professionals, provides the UN system and the international community with an opportunity to deliver vital humanitarian services with dedication and selflessness, and to achieve greater impact with limited resources.

Presently, some 500 UNV Specialists are serving in humanitarian assistance programmes. This figure does not include approximately 200-500 Eritrean UNVs being planned under a new programme, nor many others under discussion. Those serving in humanitarian programmes are in the following countries:

Angola
Benin
Botswana
Burundi
Cambodia
Djibouti
Ethiopia
Ghana
Georgia
Guatemala
Guinea
Iran
Iraq
Ivory Coast
Kenya
Laos
Lesotho
Liberia
Malawi
Mozambique
Namibia
Nicaragua
Pakistan
Sierra Leone
Somalia
Sudan
Swaziland
Tanzania
Rwanda
Yemen
Ex-Yugoslavia
Zambia
Zimbabwe

Additional countries for which UNVs are currently being recruited include Azerbaidjan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Donor country support has been crucial and in the past two years UNV has mobilised contributions or pledges totalling US $ 20 million from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the USA. When added to other UN System funds, the currently approved humanitarian assistance portfolio in UNV exceeds US$30 million in funding. Even so, UNV still needs a further several million US dollars to meet pipeline needs for its own projects, and for UNV assignments with UN Agencies for which they have not themselves, or yet, obtained funding.