{"id":2939,"date":"2017-05-11T03:21:46","date_gmt":"2017-05-11T10:21:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/?p=2939"},"modified":"2018-04-20T11:09:52","modified_gmt":"2018-04-20T18:09:52","slug":"peacecorps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/2017\/05\/peacecorps\/","title":{"rendered":"Short-term deployments with Peace Corps & UNV"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>From February 2001 to February 2005, I worked at the headquarters of United Nations Volunteers<\/a>, in Bonn, Germany. Sometimes, people outside the UN would say, upon learning where I worked, “Oh, you’re just a volunteer<\/strong>?”<\/p>\n

My UNV colleagues would get this comment too, and would visibly bristle at the idea that anyone would think they were a volunteer<\/em>! \u00a0They would quickly assure the person that they were not merely<\/em> a volunteer – they were, in fact, a fully-paid staff person with a UNDP contract!<\/p>\n

By contrast, here’s how I would answer such a comment:<\/p>\n

Oh, no, I’m not a UN Volunteer. I don’t think I’m qualified to be a UN Volunteer. I would probably be turned away if I applied. International UN Volunteers are experts in their professional field, highly skilled and experienced. I’m just<\/strong> an employee at headquarters, and my role is to support UN volunteers out in the field, doing amazing things. <\/em><\/p>\n

A UNV HQ colleague was with me once when I said that, and her eyes became huge when she heard my response. Later, she told me she’d never thought of UN Volunteers the way I had talked about them, and that it had never dawned her that, in fact, maybe she<\/em> wasn’t qualified to be a UN Volunteer either.<\/p>\n

I know of two UNV HQ staff, both my colleagues and dear friends, who decided to apply to become international UN Volunteers<\/a> themselves,\u00a0were accepted into the UNV roster, and were deployed for two years to a developing country. Both of these colleagues worked in ICT. After those in-the-field experiences, they went on to be employees at other UN agencies, and I thought it was a shame UNV hadn’t worked hard to entice them back to HQ, as they would have brought a much-needed perspective to headquarters.<\/p>\n

As I was leaving UNV HQ, where I managed the UN Online Volunteering service<\/a> and helped manage the United Nations Information Technology Services (UNITeS)<\/a>, I decided to apply as an international UNV<\/a> myself. I decided that maybe I had acquired the qualifications at last to be a UNV. I was delighted when I was accepted into the UNV roster – the UNV staff that decided which applications to accept were in Cyprus, I had no personal relationship with them at all, and there was no policy (and still isn’t) on automatically accepting UNDP staff as UN Volunteers. I was available only for six-month assignments, however, and those were, and are, few and far between. I interviewed for two such assignments – and didn’t get either. Which should just go to show you how competitive the process to be a UNV is. I eventually got a six-month UNDP gig in Afghanistan<\/a>, but it was as a consultant, not a UN Volunteer.<\/p>\n

Now, at this time in my life, I can no longer do a full six-month assignment, so I doubt I’ll ever deploy as a UNV. When you read about me going to abroad for a UN gig now, it’s for less than four months – like in Ukraine<\/a> – and, again, it’s as a UNDP contractor (which I love – great colleagues, fascinating work and the pay is\u00a0good).<\/p>\n

But there is this part of me that still really wants to go abroad as a volunteer<\/em>.<\/p>\n

So, for more than two years, I’ve been watching listings at the\u00a0Peace Corps Response web site<\/a>. This is a program by the Peace Corps that places highly-skilled volunteers in short-term assignments abroad, from four to 12 months. It’s open to US citizens. I’ve been looking for an appropriate four-month gig and, at long last, I’ve applied for a position. I think it fits my expertise perfectly. But I also know that this is a highly-competitive program, and I may not even make the interview round. Still, it was fascinating to go through part of the Peace Corps application process. I’ve also been a reference for a friend that applied for the regular Peace Corps, so I’ve seen that part of the online process as well.<\/p>\n

Fingers crossed!<\/p>\n

One last note: the Peace Corps Response program, the entire Peace Corps<\/a> program, and all\u00a0United States Agency for International Development (USAID)<\/a>, are under threat of severe cuts by the current Presidential administration in the USA, as well as by current Congressional leadership. I encourage you to write your US Congressional Representative, your US Senators, national media and your local media, and let them know what you think of these proposed cuts.<\/p>\n

April 20, 2018 update<\/em>: Here is a blog by Jasmin Blessing<\/a>, a UN Volunteer with UN Women in Ecuador. It is a really nice example of what effective<\/em> volunteering abroad looks like.<\/p>\n

Also see:<\/p>\n