Welcome to the United Nations Volunteers Programe

1
Welcome to The United Nations Palestinian
Volunteers Programme
2
Introduction

• Definition of National UN Volunteer
• The Role of National UN Volunteer
• UNV Programme Framework
• The National UN Volunteers Categories
• Identification, selection and recruitment
• Administration and Monitoring
• Benefits and Entitlements
• End of Assignment
• Active UN Volunteers for 2003
• The process of dialogue

3
Definition of UNV

• Volunteer is someone who through service
  contributes to the development and humanitarian
  relief within his/her own society and worldwide,
  without regard to financial gain
• UNV is unsalaried professional who, in return for
  his/her services, receives the entitlement of a
  voluntary living allowance
• UNV is recognized on the basis of outstanding
  personal and professional qualifications and
  these include academic qualifications, commitment
  to supporting the efforts of others, readiness to
  service under difficult living conditions and
  ability to work with people from different
  culture and learn from them.

4
The Role of National Volunteer

• Support partnerships between communities and
  links with technical and financial support
  services.
• Share and interact with others and build on the
  ideas of local counterparts.
• Identify source of funding and mobilize funds for
  community projects
• Adapt, social, cultural, political circumstances
  including modest living conditions, possibly in
  remote areas.
• Promote gender equality in the project to which
  assigned.

5
UNV Programme framework is

• Describes problems and solutions
• Translates policy statements into development
  activities
• Specifies resources, capacities, strategies to
  achieve time- bound goals
• describes institutional frameworks and management
  arrangements

6
NUNV Categories

• NUNV Specialist
• Academic Background, 5 years of relevant work
  experience, minimum 25 years old and good
  communication skills
• NUNV Field Worker
• Basic Education, Technical skills, 2 years
  relevant work experience , minimum 21 years old
  and good communication skills

7

• National UNV specialist usually serves at
  national or provincial levels with UNDP, other UN
  organizations, Government, international/national
  Non Governmental Organisation (NGO)s, Country
  Bureau Office (CBO)s or volunteer-sending
  organizations. Supervisory and or managerial
  responsibilities are normally part of the
  assignment, and specific attention is paid to
  transfer skills to counterparts
• National UNV field workers on the other hand, are
  usually directly attached to Non Governmental
  Organisation (NGOs) or Country Bureau Office
  (CBOs) and assigned to hands on
  implementation tasks at district, village or
  community levels, where they are expected to live
  and work closely with peers and counterparts

8
Identification, selection and recruitment

• Identification
• The UNV PO/focal point and the cooperating
  partners would prepare
• for new NUNVs recruitments as
• Prepare the job description for the established
  post
• Begin identification, screening of candidates by
  setting up an interview panel of UNV PO/focal
  point, UNDP Representative, relevant UN agency,
  Government sector and NGO or CBO concerned
• Candidate interview reports and copy of the
  summary CV( see Annex II) are to be submitted to
  the HQ.

9

• Obtain acceptance from the NUNV on the conditions
  of service, and request the NUNV to fill ( Annex
  I (Designation of beneficiary) Annex II (Summary
  Curriculum Vitae) and to submit his or her
• Health certificate
• Birth certificate or copy of ID
• If applicable, marriage and birth certificates of
  dependants( maximum three dependants)
• Issue and sign NUNV service contracts, a copy of
  signed contract to be sent to HQ.

10
Administration and monitoring

• The UNV PO/focal point along with the cooperating
  partner are
• responsible for the following
• Organize briefings to inform the NUNV about work
  of UNV, role of volunteers, nature of assignment,
  job descriptions, work plan and lines of
  reporting
• Monitor and provide feedback on work of the NUNV
  based on periodic visits, meetings, UNV workshops
  and End-of Assignment Reports
• Organize periodic regional and or workshops with
  the purpose of sharing experiences and best
  practices to produce case studies
• Maintain attendance records and relevant files in
  relation to the administration of the NUNV
• Monitor the presence and absence of each
  volunteer by Monthly Leave Report Form that is
  submitted at the end of each month

11
Entitlements and Benefits

• All entitlements are provided for national
  volunteers by
• UNV through the respective UNDP Country office
• Benefits
• Identity cards
• Settling-in-Grant
• Volunteer Living Allowance ( VLA)
• Living accommodation
• Medical insurance
• Entitlements
• Working hours, official holidays
• Leaves
• Annual Leave
• Sick leave
• Maternity leave
• Health insurance

12
Benefits

• Identity Cards
• An identity card shall be issued for the National
  UN volunteers
• by the UNDP Country Office identifying them as
  National UN
• Volunteers.
• Settling-in-grant
• This one-time grant is given to the NUNV to help
  him or her establishing a new place of residence
  and to purchase certain basic household items.
  The SIG equivalent to a one month VLA is paid to
  the NUNV who is assigned to a duty station
  different from his/her place of recruitment and
  has an initial contract of at least 12 months, a
  pro-rated per months for contracts of shorter
  durations.

13

• Volunteer Living Allowance
• NUNV are not paid a salary for their services.
  Instead, they are
• provided with the VLA ( 870) on monthly basis,
  paid in the local
• currency. UNV undertakes no liability for
  withholding or paying taxes
• on behalf of the NUNV the payment shall be the
  only responsibility.
• Living accommodation
• No living accommodation is provided to the NUNV

14
Entitlements

• Working hours official holidays
• NUNV adhere to the official working hours of the
  beneficiary or their
• hosting agency to which they are assigned, and
  entitled to the official
• holidays of this organization. No overtimes or
  compensations are
• granted for extra working hours.
• Leaves
• Annual leave
• NUNVs are entitled to 2.5 days per completed
  month of service,
• should be taken during their assignment, no
  compensation for
• untaken leaves. An authorization is needed in
  advance of each
• leave.

15

• Sick Leave
• NUNV is entitled to 7 uncertified sick leave for
  a 12-months
• contract. If absence occurred for more than three
  consecutive
• working days a medical certificate is required
  indicating the nature of
• illness. Any absence in excess of a total of 7
  days would be deducted
• from the annual leave.
• Maternity Leave
• Female NUNVs are entitled to 6 weeks of paid
  maternity leave
• before the expected date of delivery and 6 weeks
  after the actual
• delivery date. No annual leave will be taken
  during the maternity
• leave.

16

• Health coverage and insurance
• The UNV Programme has a global insurance policy
  with J. Van
• Breda Co. Antwerp, Belgium, that provides
  health, life and
• permanent disability insurance coverage as
  follows
• Insurance will cover the NUNV, and three
  recognized dependants
• whose names and dates of birth, should be
  submitted to the HQ. The
• three dependants could be either one spouse and
  two un-married
• below 21 children or three un-married below 21
  children. The
• insurance will comprise of life, health and
  permanent disability, and
• only health insurance for the dependants and
  would be effective till
• the end of the service contract.
• The NUNV should pay his/her medical dental
  bills, complete the
• insurance form and submit directly to Van Breda
  for reimbursement.
• Original invoices to be attached to the form
  along with the diagnosis
• and prescription.

17

• In case of injury or illness directly
  attributable to the
• performance of duty the NUNV will be entitled to
• compensation
• In the case of death directly attributable to the
• performance of duty, the beneficiary designated
  in the
• service contract by the NUNV will be entitled to
  the
• compensation established for the NUNV

18
End of Assignment

• At the end of his/her assignment every UNV should
  submit the ID,
• the end of assignment report and sign his/her
  attendance record. Once
• all is done the UNV will be entitled to the
  following
• Certificate of service
• Resettlement Allowance
• Upon satisfactory completion of assignment UNVs
  are entitled
• To receive the RSA, which is accrued at the rate
  of one months
• VLA per 12 month assignment, and pro-rated for
  shorter
• durations.

19
Active International and National UN Volunteers
for 2003
20
The process of dialogue

UNV HQS
National Development priorities
UNDP Res. Rep.
National goals, aspirations
UNV Focal point /Steering Committee
National Programme frameworks
UNVS