1. The Foreign Ministry is recruiting in the second half of the year 2017 25 young nationals of the Republic of Korea who will be dispatched to various parts of the world to join the UN Volunteer (UNV) programme. The Ministry has been doing so to offer young Koreans opportunities to experience working overseas at the UN and other international organizations.

※ The UNV, an international organization affiliated with the UN Development Programme (UNDP), was 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.

- As of 2016, a combined 6,590 volunteers from 150 countries were deployed in 126 countries.

2. The Foreign Ministry is recruiting as Specialist Volunteers ten professionals aged 25 or over with more than two years of work experience in their specialty areas, and 15 Youth Volunteers aged between 22 and 29, who will gain work experience at international organizations. Applications should be filed on the UNV Volunteer Management page at http://vmam.unv.org by October 8.

° More details are available at the website of the International Organizations Recruitment Center 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 UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN-Habitat, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the UNV and the World Food Programme (WFP) -- to work in various areas, including peace-building and dispute prevention; climate change and disaster management; and human rights and development.

° The 25 UNV participants recruited in the first half of the year will work at ten international organizations -- the UN Secretariat (DPA, OCHA), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the UNDP, UNEP, the UNFPA, UNICEF, the UNV and the WFP -- for 1-2 years starting from the second half of the year.

4. The Foreign Ministry has doubled the number of Korean participants in the UNV programme from that in the year 2016 in a bid to offer more young Koreans opportunities to gain work experiences at international organizations. Going forward, it will provide more systematic assistance as well as information and other services in a way that befits the needs of those interested. By doing so, it will support Korean nationals’ bids to build presence at international organizations, contributing to efforts to seek overseas jobs and to reduce youth unemployment.

° In addition to dispatching young Koreans overseas for the UNV programme, the Foreign Ministry has helped them join the Junior Professional Officer (JPO) Programme; held job fairs for career opportunities in the UN system; posted on the website of the International Organizations Recruitment Center at http://UNrecruit.mofa.go.kr notices regarding vacancies at international organizations; and provided one-on-one mentoring services.

※ The ROK has dispatched a combined 200-odd Koreans overseas for the UNV programme since 1986 -- an annual 25 in 2014 and on, after it started in 2013 to conduct cooperation projects with the UNV Secretariat in a systematic manner.


* unofficial translation