On the 19th February 2009 the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Libya hosted a meeting for all United Nations Volunteers (UNV) and Junior Programme Officers (JPO) in Libya, held at UN house.  The event provided an opportunity for UNVs and JPOS to share experiences on their work throughout the UN system here in Libya.

The UNV programme is a UN organisation set up to contribute to peace and development through promoting volunteerism worldwide.  In the last year, the UNDP in Libya has greatly increased the number of national and international volunteers working for its various agencies.  There are currently UNVs providing valuable support to the UN, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the Environment General Authority (EGA) and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN HABITAT).

UN and UNDP Libya seek to actively encourage volunteerism as a powerful means of engaging people in tackling development challenges. Whilst the majority of volunteers work for humanitarian agencies, volunteers can provide expertise and fresh perspectives that can completely transform the pace and the nature of development.