In an interview with TASS, the Executive Coordinator of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) program Olivier Adam explains who can become a volunteer, reviews a new program for cooperation with the Russian Foreign Ministry and shares opinions of the volunteer movement in Russia.

 

 

- What are your impressions of the volunteer movement in Russia?

Yesterday I went to Vladimir, to the Territory of Meanings on the Klyazma, a big event that has been organized for 5,000 youths in some kind of summer camps there. It was a remarkable experience, because many of them are interested in volunteering. About 40% of the youths I met there yesterday are involved in the medical field. They were very interested to know what type of work UN volunteers do in the medical field, because Russia has been traditionally involved in this realm of activity.

- On July 26 you and Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko concluded an agreement on cooperation between the UNV program and the Russian Foreign Ministry. A few words about the details, please.

Our cooperation is basically to fund volunteers - Russian nationals – who will be working within the UN system to support the work of the UN family for sustainable development goals. Creating opportunities for youths is one of these goals. Out of the 19 Russian volunteers whom the Russian government has decided to fund and who will work for the UN family, 15 are just at the beginning of their carrier or are starting their studies to gain experience within the UN system, while four others have more professional experience. The idea is not only to support the work of the UN family, but to give an opportunity to gain expertise at the UN agencies where thwy will be serving and also to eventually increase the number of Russian volunteers working for the UN system. On the average around a quarter of international volunteers who are funded by their national governments and work for the UN eventually stay in the UN system on the long term basis. This will let the government of Russia have eventually more Russian nationals in the UN. 

- Please correct me if I am wrong: Is the aim to draw as many young Russians as possible into the UN system?

The aims are to promote the UN, UN Volunteers, and the value of volunteerism by bringing Russian expertise and exposing especially young people to the work of the UN for the sake of their own growth and eventually to have more Russians in the UN. It’s a combination of things.

- You’ve mentioned Russian specialists. What types of activity are Russian volunteers particularly good at and what makes them valuable for the UN?

Well, Russians are good at everything, I mean the level of education in Russia and the type of expertise that they have in: engineering, climate, agriculture and new technology. You have been traditionally leading in terms of universities and institutions. We maintain partnership with MGIMO and HSE. Russia has also a very strong medical core. We see Russian staff all over. Russia is very important in peacekeeping. The idea is to identify areas where UN lacks expertise, where we can bring new expertise to the UN agencies.

- You say the volunteer movement in Russia is on the rise. What are the statistics? And the reasons behind this growth?

In Russian history a lot of volunteerism has happened. I believe that the people-to-people aspect in Russia is really important. We made some studies to realize that on average each Russian citizen devotes nine hours of one’s time per month to volunteering activities, which is quite a lot. True, some people spend much more on volunteering, while others do not volunteer at all, but on average it is a significant manifestation of people-to-people solidarity. It is very clear that the work we are doing in the UN - if we really want to achieve sustainable development goals -  cannot be done just with the government alone. You have to do it with the people. Every year around 1 billion people volunteer worldwide. The number is really enormous. You should also bear in mind how many of them volunteer while having full-time jobs.  The contribution of volunteerism has not been acknowledged properly yet. It is now very clear that governments, such the Russian government, continue to support this volunteerism because it is a way to support the implementation of the SDGs. As you know, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared 2018 the Year of Volunteers and put the focus on celebrating the 5th of the December as International Volunteer Day, which we created in the UN. Also we support a number of institutions or groups as our partners, such as the Association of Volunteer Centers of the Russian Federation, which is expanding its activities. The association supported the Sochi Olympics and the fabulous success of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. You could never have this kind of support for all this tourism that came here without those volunteers who helped hold it in such a marvelous way. I think that the power of a big event, such as Sochi or the FIFA Cup demonstrate the value of volunteerism.

- What are the criteria being used in selecting UN volunteers? How many Russians a year offer their services as volunteers and eventually qualify for the position?

We have different modalities of volunteerism in the UN. We have three basic groups of volunteers. All volunteers are to have higher education and in the process of their studies to display interest in international relations and UN activities. Participation in volunteer programs and fluent English are highly welcome. You can see volunteers who still at the university and in the middle of their studies do an assignment for the UN organization for up to six months as kind of an internship within the UN. We have a Russian government-funded program for young people up to 25 years old. These are at the beginning of their career. And then we have volunteer specialists. In all cases and the vast majority of our volunteers are specialist volunteers. For this we require two UN languages – Spanish, English or French is very useful. One of the big languages, because we have many priorities being given to the developing countries. We also have volunteers that we call 'silver volunteers', with no age of retirement, in other words, people who have worked all their life as a doctor, dentist or engineer, and who decided to contribute back to the society by giving one year of their time to become a volunteer. The UNV comes with certain benefits. We offer free airfare, insurance, and monthly stipend that enables a volunteer to pay for meals and accommodation. We can attract all types of people.

- You’ve mentioned 'silver volunteers'. Are there many senior volunteers from Russia?

We had a few. Now we are targeting young volunteers, because this is what has been prioritized by the government of Russia - to expose youth to this international arena. In the Central African Republic very recently I saw an entire crew that managed helicopters - all former Russian military personnel, pilots etc. During their retirement they go and work for peace-keeping missions. Some are volunteers piloting helicopters or planes. We have all kind of volunteers. 

As for the numbers, every year we have 2,551 candidates, of whom 62% are female volunteers. Traditionally volunteer assignments are more favored by female than male applicants. But it is traditional in Russia. In 2018 we selected 14 Russian nationals. We are hoping that through this new cooperation arrangement with the government we will get not only the 19 new volunteers that are being funded by the Russian government will also see greater interest and be able to place more Russian volunteers in our operations.

- Are volunteers free to choose the country they wish to go to?

Yes. Normally we put a description of the assignment, a job description of what a volunteer assignment will be. We name the country and the type of activity. You are never forced to go anywhere, it’s always your free will. When the volunteers are funded by the government directly, we have 19 positions, the vacancies have not yet been filled. We have more than 1,500 candidates for these positions. So it’s about 60-65 candidates per vacancy.  

- And what personal qualities are most essential for a UN volunteer?

For me, we need people who are motivated by the value, who really want to contribute to development and change this world, who are prepared to take risks outside your margin of comfort, to go outside your country. You learn a lot, but you also learn a lot about yourself. We need people who are curious, open-minded and want to work in a diverse environment.