1. The Foreign Ministry is recruiting 26 young nationals of the Republic of Korea who will be dispatched overseas in the first half of the year 2017 to join the UN Volunteer (UNV) programme. The Ministry has been doing so to offer young Koreans opportunities to experience working at the UN and other international organizations.

※ The UNV is an affiliate of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) established in December 1970 pursuant to a UN General Assembly resolution and with the aim to contribute to sustainable development and peace-keeping across the world. To that end, it deploys volunteer workers to field offices of various international organizations, where they take part in development assistance and humanitarian relief operations.

- Currently, a combined 6,796 volunteers from 153 countries are deployed in 122 countries.

2. The Foreign Ministry is recruiting as Specialist Volunteers eleven professionals aged over 25 with more than two years of work experience in relevant areas, and 15 Youth Volunteers aged between 23 and 29. The application deadline is June 18.

° More details are available at http://UNrecruit.mofa.go.kr.

3. The recruited UNV participants will be sent to field offices of ten international organizations -- the UN Secretariat (Department of Political Affairs, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs), the UNDP, the UNV, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) -- where they will undertake work in various areas, including peace-building and dispute prevention; climate change and disaster management; and human rights and development.

° In 2017, the ROK will send twice as many volunteers as in 2016 to offer more Korean youth an opportunity to take part in UNV activities and thereby build international capacity and presence in international organizations.

※ The ROK has dispatched a combined 200-odd Koreans overseas for the UNV programme since 1986 -- 15 in 2013 after it started in the year to conduct cooperation projects with the UNV Secretariat in a systematic manner; an annual 25 from 2014 through 2016; and a combined 50-odd Koreans in the first and second halves of 2017 (10 Specialists Volunteers and 15 Youth Volunteers to be recruited in the second half of 2017)

4. In efforts to help ROK nationals expand presence in international organizations, the Foreign Ministry has not only dispatched young Koreans overseas for the UNV programme but also had them join the Junior Professional Officer (JPO) Programme; held job fairs for career opportunities in the UN system; posted on http://UNrecruit.mofa.go.kr notices regarding vacancies at international organizations; and provided one-on-one mentoring services.

° Going forward, the Foreign Ministry will continue providing systematic assistance as well as information and other services in a way that befits the needs of those interested. By doing so, it will contribute actively to ROK nationals’ efforts to seek employment at international organizations, to find jobs overseas and to reduce youth unemployment.


* unofficial translation