When I worked at UN Volunteers HQ in Bonn, Germany, directing the United Nations Online Volunteering service and co-managing the UNITeS initiative, I would regularly recommend to any employee within earshot that UNV needed to start an online community for former and/or currently-serving UN Volunteers. I said it would be great for UN Volunteers to share their experiences, and we could use their positive feedback in a whole range of communications products. I said it might help us identify problems we were overlooking. And I warned that, if UNV didn’t start such a group, officially, that someone would start one that was unofficial, and over which UNV would have no control.
UNV never took action, and so unofficial online communities for UN Volunteers popped up on LinkedIn, Reddit, and probably some other places as well, though none ever enjoyed much popularity.
I’m pleased to note that the UNV subreddit, which was abandoned some years ago, has been revived – by me. It is not an official UNV outlet and has no formal affiliation with UNV. But like the Peace Corps subreddit and the Court-Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) subreddit or the Girl Scouts of the USA subreddit, because it’s not official, members can speak more freely. Note that I am enforcing confidentiality and privacy rules.
If you are a current or former UNV, I hope you will join. I would really like to see more current and former UNVs post and comment than all the How do I become a UNV posts, which can kill an online community.
Until more people start posting, I’ll be trying to post at least once a week with something on-topic.
Also see my other blogs regarding UNV:
Resources from my time at United Nations Volunteers
Prepare now to leverage International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development 2026 (2025)
History & Evaluation of UNV’s Early Years
UN Volunteer requirements – but with no guidance? (2023)
Misconceptions re: VSO, UNV & Peace Corps
United Nations Volunteers says, when it comes to onsite & online, “They are ALL volunteers”
20 years ago, when everything changed for me (2020)
Thoughts on new UN paper re: Volunteering Practices in the 21st Century (2020)
United Nations site for people with disabilities is inaccessible (2019)
United Nations scales back online volunteering program (2019)
NetAid: 20 years later (2019)
Frank description of what it’s like to work in communications in the UN (2017)
UNV announces Online Volunteering Award 2015
I’m thrilled with UNV’s 2015 State of the World’s Volunteerism Report – Transforming Governance
Initial feedback on UNV plan to integrate volunteerism in development (2014)