UNV Yemen: Tailored UNV talent solutions in Yemen: UNV enables project implementation in Taiz and Lahj despite operational challenges

As part of the diverse talent solutions offered by UNV to UN partners, UNV Field Unit in Yemen is introducing the Remote UN Community Volunteer category, which has been recently used by UNDP Yemen to circumvent operational challenges in deploying UN personnel in certain districts of the country.

In August 2024, UNV received a request to recruit four district-based part time UN Community Volunteers to act as District Coordinators with local authorities and local communities for a water resources management project, which aims to enhance resilience of agriculture and food security.

One operational challenge facing UNDP in the implementation of this project was that some districts where implementation was planned were not cleared by UNDSS, namely Al-Mawaset and Al-Selw districts in Taiz and Al-Mosaymer and Tuban in Lahj.

The solution offered by UNV Yemen came through approved Special Program Initiative (SPI) which allows UN partners to benefit from Volunteer talents by recruiting UN Community Volunteers, without the need to be physically present in UNDP offices. This offered community volunteers the opportunity to volunteer inside their home districts (the project site) without these districts being cleared by UNDSS.

On the process, it entailed the direct recruitment of the Community UN Volunteers on part-time contracts for the duration of six months. The volunteers will be receiving a monthly living allowance of $400. They will also be released from any government jobs for one year without pay. All these steps will be documented in the UNV’s Unified Volunteer Platform (UVP) for transparency and to ensure proper record keeping.

As for challenges faced during the process, these were limited to difficulties on the side of two volunteers in registering in the UVP system properly. Both volunteers were contacted for a walk-through to ensure proper registration was completed on time. By March 2025, all the four UN Community Volunteers have started their duties. The same project is considering recruiting more community volunteers for other districts.

While UNDP is the first UN agency in Yemen to benefit from a UNV SPI for supporting project activities at district level, there are about 65 Special Program Initiatives used by many UN agencies globally.

If you would like to benefit from this SPI or any other UNV talent solutions, or if you have any inquiries, please get in touch with us through the below email:
Abdullah Al Duraibi
UNV Yemen Country Coordinator
abdullah.al.duraibi@unv.org.