July 2017

In this issue:

• UNVs in the Pacific

• UNVs Talk on Volunteering

• UNV Stories

• Who are UN Volunteers?

• Find UN Volunteers

We are

UNV NEWSLETTER Voices of UN Volunteers in the Pacific

Pacific

The UNV Field Unit in Fiji, which is integrated into

the UNDP Pacific Multi-country Office in Fiji,

promotes and advocates for the recognition of

volunteerism, and manages UN Volunteer

assignments in 14 Pacific Island Countries

(PICs): Cook Is, Federated States of Micronesia

(FSM), Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Is, Nauru, Niue, Palau,

Samoa, Solomon Is., Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and

Vanuatu.

UNV duty stations managed by UNV Field Unit in

Fiji (UNV Field Unit in Fiji, 2017)

Currently 24 UN Volunteers are serving in the

region across various UN agencies – 7 with UNDP

in Fiji, 3 with UNOCHA in Fiji, 2 with UNICEF in Fiji,

1 with UN Women in Fiji, 5 with UNDP in Samoa, 4

with UNDP in Solomon Is., 1 with UNDP in Vanuatu

and 1 with UNDP in FSM .

As PICs emerge as key partners to tackle

Sustainable Development Goals, the increase in

presence and contribution of UN Volunteers is

considered critical to tackle development problems

in the region.

TOKELAU

KIRIBATI

Pacific

Sevuloni Ratu, UNV Humanitarian Affairs Officer

“Being on the front line of the humanitarian response in the region gives me opportunities

to work with a diverse range of culture and people putting into practice humanitarian values

and principles. #Humanity is what drives my action”

Volunteerism What skills would you bring to your volunteer role?

Joeli Uluinayau, UNV Design Graphic Officer

"I believe my graphic design skills that I developed from extensive experiences in

multimedia, marketing and printing will contribute to the Access to Justice, Rule of Law

and Human Rights Effective Governance Team in the UNDP. Currently, I am designing

knowledge materials, for example brochures and leaflets, with my team in order to raise

public awareness and understanding of our project. When I collaborate with my team or

engage with the local people, I believe my interpersonal and communication skills will

help to bring successful outcomes.

What do you most want to learn as a UN Volunteer?

What inspired you to be a UN Volunteer?

Ria Sen, UNV Reporting and Communications Specialist

"Working in development has driven me to seek new challenges and explore new

frontiers. I am looking to understand how development translates into practice and

targeted actions, and how we as UN Volunteers, can work together towards making the

world a more inclusive place. A number of pressing development challenges exist in the

Pacific, as in other regions of the world. Having previously worked in climate change

adaptation, disaster risk reduction and innovation, I joined UNDP Pacific team in Suva,

Fiji with the intent to acquire on-the-ground project implementation experience. I look

forward to the learning, and value the opportunity to be here in Suva working on matters

close to my heart."

Aman Narayan, UNV Communications and Outreach Specialist

“I don’t believe that having an ideal role comes to mind when you think Volunteer, it’s not

WHAT the volunteering effort is that matters, it’s THAT we get behind something more

than ourselves; it simply comes down to passion and drive. For me, being a part of the

UNV Field Unit is an opportunity to share my passion and experience while learning how

to better serve humanitarian and environmental causes."

What would you consider the ideal UN Volunteer role?

I have been fortunate enough to have met some truly

inspirational UNVs in the recent past; some of whom I

am lucky to call colleagues, mentors and friends in

different corners of the globe. The one thing which

struck me, and inspired me in the same breath, was

their dedication to development work and for

exploring new frontiers with boundless energy and

passion. I thought to myself that I would be privileged

to be a part of such a vibrant community. Today, as a

serving UNV with the UNDP’s Pacific Office, I am

grateful that strove to join the other UNVs that

inspired me.

I have been engaged with volunteerism as a pursuit

over and above my professional engagements these

past few years. Particularly, my experiences have

been in providing academic and career-related

counselling to prospective students, and most

recently, directly mentoring a talented young

university aspirant from South Asia. Through these

gratifying experiences, I have come to understand

that volunteerism is a give-and-take exchange, and it

is one of the most rewarding pursuits. I can say

without hesitation that my present work has reaffirmed

that belief.

Working as a UNV Reporting and Communications

Specialist was the ticket that brought me to serene

Suva, Fiji, as a new addition to the Effective

Governance Team at UNDP Pacific. From the get-go,

I was warmly welcomed and hit the ground running

with assignments on preparing some key project

reports and contributing to the production of

communications materials for key events. My first few

months have been action-packed, with some exciting

field missions to remote Divisions throughout the

Fijian Islands.

Prior to undertaking this assignment, my only wish

was to acquire a deeper understanding of the Pacific

region and to be able to see development work being

effectively translated into practice. I am engaged with

the Rights, Empowerment and Cohesion for Rural

and Urban Fijians (REACH) and Fiji Access to Justice

projects that are funded by the Government of Japan

and the European Union respectively. Their key areas

of work cover access to important social services and

improving service delivery in conjunction with

strengthening key justice institutions. Ultimately, the

aspiration is that with these robust institutions in

place, peace-building, cohesion and inclusiveness

can be furthered in Fiji for the benefit of the people.

There’s a long journey to go for me, and I’m still on

the learning curve, but I can tell that I will be able to

develop critical skills – both professionally and

personally – to be a more dedicated and passionate

development professional with domain expertise. I’m

looking forward to the road ahead; it promises to be a

journey of a lifetime!

Volunteerism

Stories

UNV Reporting and Communications Specialist with the UNDP Pacific Multi-country Office

Ria (far right) takes feedback from the participants at the launch of REACH Bus (Ria Sen, 2017)

International development cooperation, which was

my undergraduate major, has a strong tie with

volunteerism. Many fields of international

development need volunteerism to achieve their

global goals. Under the framework of the UN these

goals are encompassed by the Sustainable

Development Goals (SDGs), and cannot be

accomplished without a global effort. During my

undergraduate study, I was inspired by my major to

volunteer in various positions including: translation;

writing and editing; and teaching and event

organization. Those volunteer experiences let me

develop my communication skills by allowing me to

engage with a variety of people and important

organisations. My motivation for becoming a

volunteer in international development grew with

time and led me to become a UN Volunteer.

Working as a UN Volunteer in Communications

enabled me to engage in important challenges from

the local to the government level and also provided

me with chances to hear voices from various social

actors. I participated in many local, governmental

and international events held in Fiji and they were

good opportunities for me to hear the opinions of

key thinkers and movers in important areas. They

also allowed me to experience how different people

unite together to work on given assignments. For

example, in Parliament Speaker’s Debate held on

March 27th, 2017 there were vigorous discussions

between many different of stakeholders engaged in

the field of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD).

Additionally, the launch of REACH buses took

place to provide access to social, economic and

legal services for the remote residents of Fiji.

This too was a great chance for me to see how

domestic and international organisations are

harmoniously cooperating on single projects.

Currently, the UNV Pacific Field Unit is reaching out

to the users of two social mediums - Twitter and

Facebook. Through those information hubs, users

of different backgrounds are connected and are

provided a space for information sharing. The most

fulfilling experience for me, as a UN Volunteer in

Communications, was initiating our #MeetOurUNV

project on Facebook in order to motivate future

volunteers. The project aims to mobilise volunteers

and promote volunteerism by sharing the stories of

UN Volunteers. When the first UN Volunteer story

drew a lot of attention from the followers and

brought about positive responses, I felt very

privileged to be able to be one of the world’s UN

Volunteers that is supporting and promoting the act

of volunteerism.

My assignment as a UN Volunteer in the Pacific

has helped me stay open-minded and positive

through engagements with multi-cultural people.

The UNDP Multi-country Office in Suva is a multi-

cultural workplace where international staff

members from all over the world work equally with

regional leaders from the Pacific Islands. I was

fortunate to be given a chance to understand and

learn about various cultures by being exposed to

such a multi-cultural environment. I believe that

what I have learned as a UN Volunteer will be a

valuable asset for improving my communication

skills and strengthening my other personal

capacities.

Stories

UNV in Communications with the UNDP Pacific Multi-country Office

Volunteerism

The most important lesson that I learned while

seeking the value of volunteerism is that

volunteering is in our daily life. Any field can be an

area of volunteering. Anyone can be a volunteer at

any time. When we put our volunteerism and skills

into practice in our life, the world becomes more

sustainable and inclusive. In this regard, we are all

volunteers who are inspiration in action. The world

needs more enthusiastic volunteers to leave no one

behind and I believe UN Volunteers are spreading

and leading volunteerism. I am looking forward to

further mobilizing future UN Volunteers for the

remainder of my assignment.

For me, volunteering means an avenue where we

can put our own skills, abilities and qualities to use

for people in need. While seeking further value in

volunteering, I was given a chance to volunteer with

prisoners and homeless people in America. It was a

great opportunity to hear their stories and the

struggles that they go through every day. The most

interesting part of that volunteering was to hear

what other volunteers contributed to improve in

people’s lives. Their stories were inspirational and

motivated me to pave a path towards work as a UN

Volunteer.

The most interesting part of UN volunteering is that

you can engage with enthusiastic people in their

field and learn a lot from their professionalism. For

example, I am currently working with the Samoa

Faafafine Association (SFA), which is a Samoan

local organization supporting LGBTQI+. The

members of SFA are passionate in their activities

and programmes. I am very grateful that as a UN

Volunteer I am working with those inspirational

people who open up new aspects of my life.

In moving forward to the future, there is still a need

for me to start a rehab programme in collaboration

with the Prisons authority in Samoa. This would be

a good way to employ some volunteers that can get

some people the help they need. I am looking

forward to continuing to be a part of the

volunteering community to make positive changes

in other’s lives.

Ri (left) interviews a Nadi market vendor, who is

participating in the Markets for Change (M4C)

project implemented by UN Women and co-

sponsored by the UNDP (Ri Ryoo, 2017)

Gerard (far right, second row) in attendance at the media consultation follow-up with the Samoa Faafafine Association (UNDP Samoa, 2017)

Stories

UNV SFA Project Coordinator with the UNDP Samoa

Volunteering

Volunteerism to me, is giving your time and energy

towards a cause you feel strongly about, and for

me that has always been around food and the

environment. Growing up, I was always interested

in global news. There would always be a story of

volunteers working in Africa or some part of Asia

helping sick children and communities get access

to food, clean water and medicine, assisting in

building schools and hospitals. It was sad to see

how bad the situations were in those countries. It

was from that moment that I’ve had this drive to do

work like those volunteers and help those in need.

I took up Agriculture as my field of study which

brought me to UNV/UNDP. I work as the project

assistant with the Markets for Change Project

(M4C), which focuses on improving agricultural

productivity and income for market vendor farmers.

We conduct agricultural training and our main aim

is to get these farmers to look at farming as a

business, and not just a way of life. We are trying to

get them to see that with their improved

productivity, not only will benefits come to them but

to the community as well.

One of the interesting experiences I’ve had as a

UNV was when I joined the M4C team. A month

after I joined, Fiji was hit by Tropical Cyclone

Winston, one of the biggest to hit Fiji and the

second largest in the world. As part of the relief

efforts, the M4C team began scoping and

assessing the damage sustained by the farms of

the vendor farmers. This was to assist us in better

determining the urgent

needs for farmers and what we could provide to

them to help them rebuild their livelihoods. On the

way to Rakiraki, which was one of the towns that

was severely damaged, all that could be seen were

dead and uprooted trees. You couldn’t help but feel

overwhelming sadness for the people and all they

had lost.

Despite all this, there were still people at the market

selling whatever they could salvage and picking

themselves up, not waiting for handouts or

assistance from anyone. People were helping each

other to rebuild their homes, even though they were

badly damaged. It was very encouraging to meet

people who had already gotten their farms up and

running with whatever little they had. It taught me a

lot about hard work, and helping yourself.

I expected in my assignment there would be a lot of

field work, going out on missions and “getting your

hands dirty”, literally, in my case as we deal with

farming. It has been an interesting and great

learning experience, and I have still a lot to learn.

Catherine (right) assists training facilitator from Ministry of Agriculture with setting up multimedia for training on Soil care and Plant nutrients for Nausori Highland Village participants. (Catherine Heritage, 2017)

Stories

UNV M4C Project Assistant with the UNDP Pacific Multi-country Office

Volunteering

In 2002, while serving for the Computer Wing of the

Income Tax Department under the Federal Board

of Revenue in Pakistan, I got the opportunity to visit

Japan for a training course. On return, the

exposure abroad had brought a sense of panic

inside of me and mysteriously raised my interest in

poverty alleviation and rural development issues. I

realized that having witnessed the tremendous

progress of the Japanese people particularly in the

context of the post-World War II era, I was inspired

to observe their local governance system where a

“Mayor” is considered to be a “Manager” of the

common citizen and public servants work in

collaboration with the local people giving room for

participatory development.

I said good bye to my job as civil servant and

started working for the Japan International

Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Punjab, Pakistan. In

a rural set-up, working close to community on their

development issues and serving them in real terms

gave a lot of satisfaction to me. It was a turning

point in my life, engaging people in tackling

development challenges was something I used to

dream about yet, it became a reality.

In essence, the true spirit of volunteerism was

inculcated in me at that juncture of my life. I never

looked back, from JICA to the United Nations Office

on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and then to the

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

in Pakistan, I carried on that torch, to serve my

country and the people. Lately, I wanted to break

geographical barriers and contribute to peace and

development outside of my country too. The dream

yet again came true when I got this opportunity to

become a UNV for a procurement related

assignment in Pacific Region. Recently, I have

been part of the team which has successfully

authorized commencement of a National Survey on

Peacebuilding in the Solomon Islands. That survey

will measure peoples’ perceptions on important

social and economic conditions. The valuable

information obtained through this survey will help

the Solomon Islands Government, UN agencies,

international and national NGOs, donors and other

development actors in framing appropriate policies

that will result in the promotion of peace and

stability in the region.

What I have learned from volunteerism is to ask

what are you doing for others? If we start by asking

this question to ourselves and do a little bit of good

for others, no matter whom and where we are, we

will bring joy and peace to them and to our own

lives.

Volunteering:

Imran (back) guides his colleague in procurement unit of UNDP Solomon Is. (Imran Moin, 2017)

Stories

UNV Procurement Associate with the UNDP Solomon Islands

Samoa is exposed to tropical cyclones, floods,

earthquakes, tsunamis and droughts which are

being exacerbated by climate change. Therefore

efforts are needed now to turn the threat from

climate change to Samoa into action, especially in

a Pacific SID context where people’s culture and

livelihoods rely directly and indirectly on the natural

environment. I always knew that after completing

my Master’s degree in Environmental Management

I wanted to work in supporting local development

and climate action projects. I was fortunate that an

assignment was available in Apia at the UNDP

which allowed me to work on Samoa’s climate

change issues and help to develop a more resilient

nation.

The Government of Samoa and the UNDP have

already had many years of successful

implementation of climate change projects. My

work in Apia has involved supporting the

development and implementation of the new Green

Climate Fund projects for Niue and Samoa. The

Green Climate Fund mobilises funding to invest in

low emission and climate resilient development for

nations. By being a part of the scoping missions,

both in country and in Niue, I worked with local

stakeholders and government officials to determine

how best the funds could be tailored into projects

that meet the needs of the societies that are most

vulnerable to the effects of climate change. After

the project scoping in Niue, my primary

responsibilities included writing up proposals for the

Energy Efficiency project. In Apia I have been

involved in each stage of project development and

am now facilitating the implementation of Samoa’s

Climate Proofing project.

Volunteering with the UNDP has given me the

opportunity to really experience life in Samoa not

only through working alongside Samoa’s national

staff but also through direct experiences of the

culture. Designing my own hand printed “Elei” work

clothes using the colours and patterns of the Pacific

has been a unique and creative way to engage with

“Fa’a Samoa” (The Samoan way).

One of my favourite parts of volunteering is that I

have the opportunity to learn something new every

day and this volunteer experience has reminded

me that volunteering can take many forms and

shouldn’t be limited to office hours. I will strive to

continue with the volunteerism mandate of

“inspiration in action” as I am very proud to be a

volunteer working in Samoa. I feel confident that

the work that the UNDP does in the Pacific is

providing the assistance required to achieve its

mandate of sustainable human development.

Volunteering

Stories

UNV in Climate Change with UNDP in Samoa

Prudence (centre) conducts a stakeholder consultation with the Government of Niue and MFAT (Prudence Raine, 2017)

I am working with UN Women as the Violence

Against Women (VAW) Response & Service

Specialist within the Ending Violence Against

Women team. The UN Women Multi-country

Office’s (MCO) Ending Violence Against Women

and Girls programme aims to enable women and

girls to live lives free from violence, and is one of

four focus areas for the UN Women MCO in Fiji. It

has been designed around international and Pacific

standards that can improve the policy environment

to meet the immediate needs of women who are

experiencing violence, and to prevent future

violence from occurring.

The work that I am now doing with UN Women has,

for so long, been a professional dream of mine. The

UN Volunteer Programme has not only allowed me

to fulfil this dream but it has also changed my life,

perspectives and views in the process. I have been

an International UNV for 1 year and through this

short time I have accomplished many things and

been inspired beyond my expectations.

As the Response & Service Specialist at UN

Women I am responsible for providing technical

assistance, training and mentoring to UN Women’s

Pacific Fund grantees in regards to how to deliver

better service and care to survivors of gender-

based violence. In this capacity, I work with many

fierce civil society organizations, feminist activists,

social workers, leaders, faith groups, service

providers, governments, and regional and

international stakeholders in Fiji and around the

Pacific. These are women, young girls and male

advocates who are tirelessly working to further

women’s rights and empowerment in the Pacific

and who are a true force to be reckoned with

worldwide if you ask me. To date, my collaboration

has included the designing and implementation of

gender-based violence (GBV) response capacity

enhancing modules and tools, the delivery of

training, as well as some mentoring and high level

GBV technical assistance provision to governments

and civil society organizations across 3 Pacific

Island countries (Fiji, Kiribati and Tonga). At the

UNW Fiji MCO office, where I am based, I have

been working with the Fiji Ministry of Women to

develop a soon to be launched Fiji Service Delivery

Protocol for the uniformization of GBV response

across Fiji.

For the past year, UN Women has provided

technical and financial assistance to the Ministry of

Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation

(MWCPA) under the EVAW Taskforce that works

towards the development of the Fiji National

Service Delivery Protocol for Responding to Cases

of Gender Based Violence through Social services,

Police, Health and Legal/Justice providers. I have

been representing UNW in this endeavour through

the provision of my technical expertise in VAW

service delivery and response, and co-facilitating

numerous divisional and national consultations

across Fiji with Divisional heads and service

providers. Lastly, I have represented UNW through

my work on co-drafting the Service Delivery

Volunteering

Stories

UNV VAW Response and Service Specialist with UN Women Pacific

Protocol with my supervisor, EVAW Programme

Specialist, Abigail Erikson.

Following a year of hard work from all partners

involved, UNW sponsored a MWCPA workshop at

Warwick in Fiji, May 15-17, 2017. This two-day

workshop validated and agreed on the contents of

the draft Fiji National Service Delivery Protocol for

Responding to Cases of Gender Based Violence -

Standard Operating Procedures for Interagency

Response Among Social Services, Police, Health

and Legal/Justice Providers. It was officially opened

by the Assistant Minister for Women, Children and

Poverty Alleviation, Hon Veena Bhatnagar, who

highlighted the “extensive level of consultation that

had occurred over past months at both the

divisional level and now at the national level with

this validation workshop.”

Among the 40 participants who attended this

validation workshop were high level decision

makers from the MWCPA, Department of Social

Welfare, Fiji Police Force, Legal Aid Commission,

Ministry of iTaukei Affairs, Ministry of Health, Fiji

Women’s Crisis Centre, Medical Services Pacific

and many other social service agencies. During this

historic event, the Protocol was widely validated

and endorsed by all participants. Once again, I co-

organized and co-facilitated this validation

workshop which was praised by all government

service providers and UNW partners. Ms. Shamima

Ali, Coordinator of the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre,

said “this is going to help women, girls and child

abuse survivors to better access services. This is

an historic milestone in the work on eliminating

violence against women and girls”.

Plans are underway for the Service Delivery

Protocol to be endorsed by cabinet in upcoming

months. Subsequently, there will be a massive

rollout implementation of the protocol by which

every single service provider in Fiji belonging to the

mandated GBV service providing sectors will be

rigorously trained in effective best practices and

coordinated for interagency response to GBV

cases.

These are just a few of the key achievements I

have managed to reach this early on into my first

UNV post. I know there are many more to come

and this is both exciting and humbling for me. I am

very grateful for the opportunity to share my

expertise and knowledge so broadly and to gain

more knowledge and experience as well. Thank

you UNV!

Sandrine (far right) makes a presentation in Development of Minimum Safety and Ethical Shelter Standards Meeting (Sandrine Tonoukouin, 2016)

We are

Who are we?

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme

is the UN organization that contributes to peace

and development through volunteerism worldwide.

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 UN 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.

What field do we work?

UN Volunteers have supported development efforts

of UN agencies, the governments and civil society

actors in the Pacific since 1973. They have

provided technical assistance in the following fields:

• Education • Reconciliation

• Health • Social inclusion

• Environment • Youth engagement

• Human rights • Economic development

• Peace • Other

Based in Bonn, Germany, UNV is active in around

130 countries every year. UNV with Field Units in

86 countries is represented worldwide through the

offices of UNDP and reports to the UNDP

Executive Board.

Who are

Modality of UN Volunteers

UNVs Dual Mission

UNV champions environments in which

volunteerism can flourish. We push for the ability

and right of people to participate in their own

development. Furthermore, we mobilize volunteers

to serve in UN agencies, both in development

programmes and peacekeeping operations.

(UNV Official Website, 2017)

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme

has evolved greatly over the past 42 years in terms

of the size and spread of its mandate, results and

activities, driven by the changing external

environment for peace, development and the

eradication of poverty, by the wider

acknowledgment of the role of volunteerism

globally and by intergovernmental legislation.

Where can we find UNVs in the Pacific?

In order to promote volunteerism and mobilize

future volunteers, UNVs actively engage with the

public and open communications channel. Our

presence and traces in the region can be found at

any space. Recently UN Volunteer Field Unit in Fiji

participated in 2017 National Women’s Expo to

deliver our stories and the importance of

volunteering to future volunteers.

Find UN Volunteers in international, national and

regional events in Fiji, for example International

Volunteer Day (IVD) and USP Seminar. UN

Volunteers wants to meet future volunteers and

discuss how we can contribute to the society

together.

UN Volunteers are reachable even in a cyber

space. Currently UNV Field Unit in Fiji is running

two social medium: Twitter and Facebook.

Various global issues, further UNV stories and

upcoming UNV recruitment are updated on above

websites. Communication channel for nourishing

volunteerism is always open for the public. UN

Volunteers value your enthusiasm in volunteering

and contribution to development and peace. Tell us

your stories of volunteering. Put your skills,

knowledge and experience into practice for the

people who are in need. Be the next UN Volunteer

who is a catalyst of change in the world.

UN Volunteer in 2017 National Women’s Expo

(Ri Ryoo, 2017)

(

Find

http://www.twitter.com/UNV_Pacific

www.facebook.com/UNVPacific

Promote volunteerism Mobilize volunteers

OUR DUAL MISSION

UNV NEWSLETTER Voices of UN Volunteers in the Pacific

Contact us Address: UN Volunteer, Level 8, Kadavu House,

414 Victoria Parade, Suva, Fiji

Email : registry.fj@undp.org unv.pacific@gmail.com

Tel : +679 331 2500

Fax : +679 330 1718

Web : www.unv.org www.facebook.com/UNVPacific www.twitter.com/UNV_Pacific www.youtube.com/unv

We are

July 2017

Pacific

This publication was edited by Ricky Bushaway, UNV Online Volunteer