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Transcript of UN Volunteer Management Tools
YOUR ASSIGNMENT AS A UN VOLUNTEER . 1
VO
LU
NT
EE
R T
OO
LK
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End-of-Assignment
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Foreword
End–of–Assignment hand book: is a practical guidance on how to cope
with transition; remaining engaged after completing your assignments.
The tool is part of a Volunteer Toolkit, which contains eight (8) volunteer
management tools: The Volunteer Toolkit has been developed to support
the implementation of UNV Programme Strategy 2011- 2013, more
specifically to enhance the effectiveness of volunteer management and
the skills of UN Volunteers to become good advocates of Volunteerism for
Peace and Development.
The Volunteer Toolkit is to be disseminated and/or made available to UN
Volunteers over the course of their volunteer assignment. The objective is
to ensure that UN Volunteers (POs, other international UN Volunteers,
and national UN Volunteers) can benefit from each tool at the relevant
stage of their assignment: Pre-assignment; Support during assignment
and End of Assignment.
Front Cover: Two national UN Volunteers support local sustainable livelihoods in remote areas.Referred to as Yanapiris (‘people who help others’) in the local languages (mainly Aymara andQuechua), indigenous UN Volunteers work to advance the MDGs in the Department of Oruro,Bolivia. With a deep knowledge of the region’s sociopolitical context, they are able to adapt MDGmessaging to the indigenous philosophy and culture. (Nicolas Josserand, 2010)
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CONTENTS . 3
3. What to expect post assignment ...19
3.1 Reverse Culture Shock:
what is reverse culture shock? .........19
3.2 Common Challenges and
strategies .........................................22
3.3 Stress and Medical
Considerations..................................25
3.4 Employment ..................................27
3.5 How to Conduct a Job Search ......27
3.6 Employment Considerations for
Spouses and Partners ......................29
3.7 Further education..........................30
3.8 Sabbatical or Time Off...................31
4. How to stay involved.......................32
4.1 Continue to Advocate for
Volunteerism for Peace and
Development.....................................32
4.2 Seek another UNV Assignment.....34
4.3 Continue to Volunteer....................34
4.4 Mobilize Volunteers .......................36
4.5 UNV Contact Information ..............37
5. References .......................................38
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Preparing for the end of your
assignment ........................................04
2. Preparing for departure ..................05
2.1 Timeline of the Process.................05
2.2 Self-reflection through the
Volunteer Reflection Toolkit ...............08
2.3 Performance Evaluation................08
2.4 Competency Based Letter of
Reference .........................................09
2.5 Certificate of Service.....................10
2.6 Final Reports-the Volunteer
Reporting System (VRS) ..................10
2.7 Administrative Issues .....................11
2.8 Documentation..............................12
2.9 Exit Debriefing With UNV
Field Units.........................................13
2.10 Planning Your Goodbye...............13
2.11 Handover Note Guidelines ..........14
2.12 Special Considerations for
Spouses and Partners ......................15
2.13 Repatriation with Children...........17
2.14 Senior Volunteers........................18
2.15 Preparing for what Comes Next ..18
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2 . END-OF-ASSIGNMENT HANDBOOK
Preparing for the end of an assignment is
a monumental task that every volunteer
will need to undertake. Managing the
return to an old environment after
experiencing so much transformation and
learning can be a challenge. Some of you
may be unsure about what to do at the
end of your service.
Planning the transition at the end-of-
assignment is important for many
reasons. It presents a clear opportunity to
value your role as a volunteer, and the
commitment and contribution you have
made during your volunteer assignment. It
is an opportunity to reflect on what your
plans may be for the future and to map
out ways in which you can continue to
contribute to the peace and development
process. It also ensures that you take the
time to prepare for upcoming changes or
the experience of reverse culture shock.
This manual has been designed to help
you facilitate your way through this
process, allowing you to forecast the
upcoming changes to the greatest extent
possible. It has been created with the
personal needs of a diverse range of UN
Volunteers in mind. Because of this, not
all sections may be relevant to you.
Please feel free to read only those that
you find useful.
1. Preparing for the end of your assignment
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PREPARING FOR DEPARTURE . 5
2.1 Timeline of the Process
The following is an approximate timeline
of the process that you are about to
undertake. How rigidly you follow this
programme, as well as what other items
you will need to take care of, will depend
largely on your personal situation. In the
process of leaving, many things need to
be done at the host organization, in the
community, socially and within your family.
When preparing an action plan, it is
recommended to plan all foreseeable
activities well in advance. A plan can help
to keep the levels of stress within
acceptable limits. You may find it useful to
do this by creating lists, an action matrix,
or mapping the activities out on a
calendar. Following, on pages 4 and 5, is
a proposed timeline:
2. Preparing for departure
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6 . END-OF-ASSIGNMENT HANDBOOK
The UNV Field Unit will send you an
email or letter alerting you of your end
of contract (exact departure date will
depend on your leave balance). They
will also send you a copy of this
handbook.
Undertake final self-reflection on plans
and goals (see Volunteer Reflection
Toolkit).
Generate plan for exit timeline.
Register for job sites, collect research
for your options after assignment, etc.
Start to collect stories, souvenirs and
photos, and plan your goodbye.
If relevant, discuss extension with host
agency.
Prepare for competency based letter of
reference.
Prepare for final performance appraisal
(only if applicable).
6 weeks before departure
Continue the process for Competency
Based Reference Letter.
Begin the Checklist/check-out form for
UNV Field Unit.
Account if applicable for UN assets
(especially multi-user equipment) that
are in the volunteer’s name.
Prepare the document hand-over and
start selecting appropriate documents.
If you are supported by a funding
agency for your assignment, check
with them for any end-of-contract
support or services they may provide
or reporting they require.
Do the final report for UNV (VRS). Open
from 2 months before end-of-contract.
Consider how to remain involved with
volunteerism.
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PREPARING FOR DEPARTURE . 7
1 week after departure
Sit for exit debriefing
with UNV Field Unit
Final coordination for
flights, payments, etc.
Hand in your End-of-
assignment
Checklist/check-out form
and other documents for
check-out purposes.
Depending on country
context, attend End-of-
assignment Workshop
Hand in handover notes.
Prepare text and email
addresses for your last
day ‘goodbye’ email.
Reserve your last day for
saying goodbyes.
Reintegration stress or
‘reverse culture shock’
may have begun to set
in.
Consider undertaking a
medical examination.
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8 . END-OF-ASSIGNMENT HANDBOOK
2.2 Self-reflection through the
Volunteer Reflection Toolkit
As outlined in the Volunteer Reflection
Toolkit, coming to the end of a volunteer
assignment is an appropriate time to
reflect. The end-of-assignment presents a
chance to take an inventory of what you
have learned and achieved, how you have
changed over the duration of the
assignment, and in what areas you could
improve in the future. Since this is a
significant period of change reflection
offers you a chance to get to know
yourself better, and can help give your
ideas that can inform the many decisions
and actions that will dominate your life in
the coming months.
How to reflect, along with suggested
methods and examples, is covered in
detail in the Volunteer Reflection Toolkit.
Questions that you may be better able to
answer after a self-reflection process
include:
■ What do I plan to do after the volunteer
assignment?
■ Do I plan on going home?
■ How would I like to relate to my family
or home community upon reintegration?
■ Will I need to ask my friends and family
for support during this time?
■ Based on my assumptions, are my
expectations of arriving home realistic?
■ After reintegrating, how will I stay
connected with UNV, volunteerism and
development cooperation?
Most volunteers who reflect on their
volunteer assignment feel that they are
better prepared for the end-of-contract
transition, and can approach it in a
constructive and organized way. The
steps for this process are to recognize
and examine your feelings, to accept that
there will be feelings of loss upon leaving
the volunteer assignment and prepare for
these, to take stock of the experiences
that you have lived through, and finally to
prepare yourself for the reverse culture
shock that you may feel upon
reintegration to your home community.
Reverse culture shock is discussed
further in chapter 3.
2.3 Performance Evaluation
UN Volunteers are encouraged to take
part in an evaluation of their performance
through the evaluation methodology of
their host organization. If your host
organization is not conducting
performance evaluations, the following
points may still be useful to prepare for a
final meeting with your supervisor.
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PREPARING FOR DEPARTURE . 9
■ It is difficult to conduct a good
evaluation of your performance if you
do not have clear Description of
Assignment (DoA). If you have realized
that your DoA is unclear, find a way
together with your supervisor to
acknowledge the problem and to
carefully list what did you do and get
feedback on the real assignment and
what was achieved by the end of your
volunteer assignment.
■ Take this opportunity to look at your DoA
and reflect on what you have achieved
during your assignment in terms of
volunteer contribution, self-development,
national capacity development and in
other areas. If there have been
challenges in your assignment, reflect
on what can be done in the future to
help overcome these. Try to be realistic
about things that are out of your control
as this will allow you to put your
achievements into perspective.
■ Propose changes and suggestions in
the DoA if the assignment is going to be
re-filled.
■ Ideally, a performance evaluation is a
two-way meeting. It is your chance to
talk about your contribution, as well as
your manager’s opportunity to give
praise and suggestions for
improvement.
■ A performance evaluation can be a
good tool to prepare you for the
considerations of what is next. For
example, you may want to reflect on
what strengths you developed over the
course of your volunteer assignment or
whether you may need the support of
your manager in the future in terms of
providing a reference or in a mentoring
role.
■ It is recommended to make notes of the
discussions and outcomes of this
process so that you are prepared when
meeting with your manager, and when
the time comes to update your CV or
roster information with the
competencies that you have developed
during your volunteer assignment.
2.4 Competency Based Letter of
Reference
The reference process is an important
opportunity for the supervisor and the
volunteer to have a constructive dialogue
about the tasks and achievements of the
volunteer. UNV is in the process of
developing a standard Competency
Based Reference letter to be completed
and signed by your host agency and your
UNV Field Unit you will have an
opportunity to provide any comments and
add any relevant information on your
achievements and performance. The
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10 . END-OF-ASSIGNMENT HANDBOOK
dedicated to volunteering with UNV. It will
indicate how long you served and in which
country, and it will be signed by the
Executive Coordinator of UNV.
2.6 Final Reports-the Volunteer
Reporting System (VRS)
An important obligation of the UN
Volunteer is to prepare and submit to the
UNV programme periodic reports, called
the VRS. These reports serve as an
opportunity for the UN Volunteer, the
supervisor and others to discuss and take
stock of the progress made towards
meeting stated development objectives. It
can also help to identify any follow-up
actions required. The volunteer reports
ensure a learning environment in which
the contribution of UN Volunteers can be
better known and understood, and
experiences shared with others inside and
outside the country.
The multiple-choice format of this report is
designed to account for the ‘Volunteerism
for Peace and Development’ dimension of
your assignment and can be found at
http://vrs.unv.org. The report will be open
for you to complete from 2 months before
your end-of-assignment. If there are items
that are not covered within the report that
you feel are important to pass along to the
UNV Field Unit or headquarters, note
these down and bring the issues with you
letter will include the title and period of
your assignment and a general rating of
your skills and abilities. Note that if you
are thinking of re-applying to UNV in
future, you will need a reference from your
UNV Field Unit therefore you will be
requested to share a copy of the letter
with your UNV Field Unit.
Please note that this is an open process
that has been standardized across UNV,
so if you require a confidential reference
or a reference letter that is in a different
format you will need to make separate
arrangements with your host agency if in
agreement that are specific to your needs.
Make sure that you take a hard copy of
the final signed reference letter with you
when you finish your volunteer
assignment, as it is not the responsibility
of the UNV Field Unit to follow up with
supervisors for agreement or signatures
or corrections before and after you have
departed. It is your responsibility to
ensure that this letter is completed and
signed by both parties prior to your
departure.
2.5 Certificate of Service
At the end of your contract, you will
receive from either UNV Field Unit or UNV
HQ a certificate of service. This certificate
stands as a token of appreciation of the
time, energy and skills that you have
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PREPARING FOR DEPARTURE . 11
to the exit debriefing. Note that the
settlement of the end-of-assignment
entitlements is contingent upon the
submission of the end-of-assignment
report.
2.7 Administrative Issues
Following is a list of some administrative
issues you may need to take care of
before you finish your assignment. This is
not exhaustive, and may need to be
tailored to meet your personal needs,
particularly if you are moving locally or
internationally. Your UNV Field Unit has a
Checklist/check-out form that is required
and complements this list (refer to
Appendix XIV of the Conditions of
Service). Please discuss with your UNV
Field Unit any special arrangements or
needs you can foresee when you pick up
the checklist. Some items covered may
include:
■ Submit the online End-of-Assignment
report (see 2.6 above)
■ Hand in UNV identity cards
■ Hand in national identity cards (for
international UN Volunteers)
■ Provide your permanent address and
telephone number so you can be
contacted
■ Change your address/email address
with your host, the UNV Field Unit and
any other relevant contacts. Particularly
ensure that you give an email address
that will be valid after your work account
is closed
■ Provide adequate notice as required to
close agreements for rental, utility,
phone, etc..
■ Prepare financially for the departure:
close bank accounts, transfer money,
do final medical claims, submit
outstanding travel claims, pay monies
owed to your host organization, receive
End-of-Service payments, plan for the
first few months at home. Make clear
how you wish to receive your
repatriation entitlements. Also make
sure official telephone bills are settled
■ Account if applicable for UN assets
(especially multi-user equipment) that
are in the volunteer’s name. Start early
the process of identifying and locating
those items.
■ Make sure your banking details are
correct
■ Pay rent and utilities
■ Consider whether you will need any
statement from UNV for income tax or
social services purposes
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12 . END-OF-ASSIGNMENT HANDBOOK
■ Complete a Travel Authorization for
homeward travel
■ Re-apply for inclusion in the UNV roster,
if appropriate
■ Complete your VRS (final report)
■ Return items signed out to you by the
office
■ Return confidential documents to the
office
■ Prepare handover notes and back up
your files
■ Put an away message on your
professional email account
■ Collect the contact details and names of
those people you may need to contact
again
■ Collect the documents that you may
need in the future (see section 2.8
below)
■ Book flights
■ Arrange visas if necessary
■ Plan for health insurance coverage
■ Plan how you will discard of unwanted
items- selling, donating items, etc
■ Buy gifts and plan how you will pack
gifts that you receive at the last minute
■ Plan your shipping and packing
■ Sign a discharge letter for UNV if you
wish to stay in your country of service
■ Plan where you will live or stay at home
or in your next destination
2.8 Documentation
The documents you need from your
volunteer assignment will depend on what
you are planning to do next. It is easiest to
collect any documents you may need
before you leave your site. Some ideas:
■ Competency Based Reference Letter
■ Certificate of Service
■ Copies of annual performance reviews
(if applicable)
■ Description of Assignment
■ Copies of any substantive documents
that you have produced over the course
of your volunteer assignment. Examples
could be project documents, annual
reports, or advocacy tools. (These will
normally have to be approved by your
supervisor, but can act as excellent
portfolio examples)
■ A criminal record check from the
appropriate authorities in the location of
volunteer assignment, if you think that it
will be required by your future
employers (e.g. if you are working with
children or in certain government
ministries).
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PREPARING FOR DEPARTURE . 13
■ Volunteers who have supervised staff
themselves or who have otherwise
worked with local people (e.g. national
UN staff, Government counterparts,
local NGO staff, even personal
household help) should, as a matter of
courtesy and in line with their capacity-
building role, give due consideration to
provide recommendation/reference
letters and/or performance appraisals to
such persons, as appropriate.
2.9 Debriefing with UNV Field Unit
A debriefing is an excellent opportunity to
discuss the outcomes of a volunteer
assignment, talk over the competency
based reference letter, help to clarify what
you plan to do next, and brainstorm ways
that you can continue to engage with
volunteerism. The debriefing should not
deal with just operational issues, but focus
on your achievements, challenges and
your learning process as a volunteer.
The information collected in a debriefing
interview will be fed back into UNV
headquarters discussions so that the
organization can improve its procedures
and report on the achievements of its
volunteers. UNV is a learning
organization, so we rely on your
constructive feedback in order to improve
and grow. If you have anything that you
wish to be discussed confidentially,
please make this clear in advance.
Come to the debriefing prepared,
particularly in terms of self-reflection, book
the appointment for this debriefing well in
advance, so that the UNV Field Unit can
be ready for the meeting.
Where the distance between your duty
station and UNV Field Unit is too large, the
debriefing may take place by telephone.
2.10 Planning Your Goodbye
One of the most neglected aspects of
completing a volunteer assignment is the
way in which one goes about taking leave.
Nobody likes to say goodbye; 72% of
former UN Volunteers surveyed felt that
saying goodbye was a major challenge in
their departure process. Many people put
off the process until it is either too late or
very rushed.
Grieving or a sense of loss is a normal part
of the repatriation or completion process.
These feelings are often complicated by
the fact that you may be busy and also
excited and anxious about what is coming
up next. Any feelings of loss will be felt
two-ways: both by you and by those that
you leave behind. Therefore, the
opportunity to say goodbye is important not
simply for you but also for your colleagues
and those in the community with whom you
have interacted.
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14 . END-OF-ASSIGNMENT HANDBOOK
As well, there may be cultural traditions
that are important to follow in order to
show respect to the community and to
your colleagues. It is useful to ask a local
friend or mentor about how to plan a
culturally appropriate goodbye party or
ceremony. Planning this well in advance is
an excellent way to take the stress or
anxiety out of the situation.
During the exit period, you may also want
to take the time to say goodbye to special
places that you have visited or that had
meaning for you. Many people find that it
is important to take some final
photographs, make a video, buy a
traditional handicraft, learn how to cook a
favorite food or learn how to perform a
specific cultural or religious ritual before
they depart.
On the last day, you may want to reserve
the day for saying goodbye to colleagues
and counterparts. It is recommended to
prepare an email and email addresses in
advance so that you can send it out upon
exit. Ensure that your tasks or projects are
properly handed over to colleagues,
another volunteer or a manager. If there is
no one to take on your tasks, leave a
detailed handover note for the person who
later pick up where you left off.
2.11 Handover Note Guidelines
A handover note is intended to ensure
continuity of processes and appropriate
follow up on tasks that need to be done
after your departure. The note can be
given to your supervisor or to your
successor, and may contain specific items
depending on your role and organization.
An accurate documentation of pending
tasks, operational and programmatic
issues is crucial to ensure that the
valuable work you have undertaken can
continue. It will also help your volunteer
assignment come to a positive closure.
In addition to the Handover document you
will leave important documents behind.
We would like to encourage you to
provide your successor (if there is one),
your colleagues at the duty station, as
well as UNV Field Unit with a clearly
structured document handover. Please
pass your documents on to your
colleagues at your duty station and the
UNV Field Units either by saving them on
a shared drive or by sharing them on a
CD or USB-stick.
We all know how frustrating it is to search
for documents in chaotic folder systems
named in ways impossible to understand
and worse when combined with constant
information and document overload. This
is why we suggest the following steps for
a document handover:
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PREPARING FOR DEPARTURE . 15
■ Be rigorous: select only the really
important documents that should be
passed on. If a successor will take your
place, it might be useful to leave more
documents behind than in cases where
no successor follows, especially
background studies and practical
manuals.
■ Leave only final documents behind (if
possible) and remember: the fewer
documents, the easier it is to find the
important ones!
■ Name your documents in a
comprehensible manner: remember that
the people who will receive your
documents need to grasp the content
right from the title. (A Project Document
named “PD01” for example cannot be
identified as a ProDoc by anyone,
whereas a tag such as
“ProjectDocument WaterManagement
Andhra Pradesh final – August 2009” is
easy to understand & to find.) Give the
document the clearest name possible,
indicate whether it is final or not and
include the date.
■ Structure your folders as
comprehensively as possible: The same
principles as for documents apply. Bear
in mind that the people who will receive
your documents are most likely not yet
as familiar with the thematic aspects of
your work as you are. We suggest the
following folder structure as a guide:
■ Project related documents.
■ Administrative documents.
■ Resource materials (studies, toolkits).
■ Contact lists (as well as names please
add the significance of the people to
your work).
■ Important correspondence.
■ Media files (Pictures & Videos) that can
be used for communications purposes.
(Where possible consult with the
country office and/or host in advance
about their needs and only pass on high
quality files as media files demand a lot
of storage space.)
Lastly, please do schedule sufficient time
for this; it is not unusual for this process to
take up to half a working day. In the long
run, it will save others time and effort and
make your work more accessible and
more likely to be used.
2.12 Special Considerations for
Spouses and Partners
The personal dynamics of each family unit
or partnership are unique. Your partner or
spouse needs to be included in the end-
of-assignment preparations. A second
consideration is whether your partner or
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16 . END-OF-ASSIGNMENT HANDBOOK
spouse will move with you during your
transition. It is important to try to make
time for reflection and discussion, and to
share as much information as possible, so
that you can plan together for the
emotional and operational aspects of the
move. Each reintegration is experienced
through an array of feelings- from positive
to negative. The feelings that accompany
re-entry are very similar to culture shock
(see section 3.4 for more on reverse
culture shock) so it may be useful to share
this document with your spouse or partner
so s/he can see what to expect.
UN Volunteers who left their families back
home when they were on assignment in
non-family duty stations will obviously face
additional challenges upon return. These
will depend on the length of time away and
how closely and regularly the volunteer had
remained in contact with their families.
Returnees should expect a period of
readjustment for everyone, which can
usually be made easier by sensitively
sharing some of the positive experiences of
your assignment (without overemphasizing
how much you miss it) while at the same
time reassuring your family about how good
it feels to be back home and how much you
missed them. It is also important to take the
time to make collective plans for the future,
both in the short term and longer term. Be
aware that the routines of family life will at
first feel unfamiliar to both you and for your
family - don’t forget they also have to
readjust to you being back - but this will
ease with time.
One factor on how a transition will impact
an accompanying spouse or partner is
whether s/he will be working on re-entry.
Research shows that non-working and
accompanying spouses/partners often
feel re-entry shock more strongly than the
person who is working. This shock is
attributed to the pressures placed on the
non-working person who may have limited
social structures in the place of
reintegration while simultaneously being
under pressure to find a new place to live
and establish basic routines.
If your spouse or partner is from the
location of assignment, and you will be
returning together to your home, there will
be many cultural considerations related to
the move. Some questions that can be
explored together include: Is this his or her
first time away from his/her home? Does
s/he speak the language of our new
location? What are his or her expectations
about the move? The way a spouse or
partner integrates into your home will be
different from the way you reintegrate. All
of these factors add stress to a
relationship, so advance planning and
discussion may help to ease this process.
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PREPARING FOR DEPARTURE . 17
2.13 Repatriation with Children
How children are affected by reintegration
into their home location depends on their
personalities, the length of time they have
been away from home and their current
age. Overall, it is important to allow time
and space for children to go through the
same steps of reintegration that you are
expecting to go through, and to ensure that
they are part of the planning and decision-
making process.
If your children have never lived in the
place that you call ‘home’, bear in mind that
they may experience considerable culture
shock when you move. This transition will
present challenges in terms of building an
identity around the home culture,
developing relationships with other children
or extended family members, and possibly
integrating into a new school system. Teens
may find this time particularly difficult, as
there are so many other changes going on
in their lives in addition to the move. Issues
emerge, such as how to make friendships
within groups who may have bonded many
years ago, or questions of what is current in
terms of language, current culture, and
fashion. Culture shock may present itself as
a loss of energy, irritability, feelings of
inadequacy, and periods of isolation.
When moving with children, it is important
to allow them time and opportunities to
say goodbye properly to their friends and
places that have been important to them
and to recover from any feelings of grief
and anxiety during the process of
repatriation. Your children may want to
have a goodbye party or some other
special event to mark the change. To get
them excited about the move, you may
want to show photographs of special
people or places, or find movies or books
that highlight special things about home.
Another situation may involve moving with
children who have been born at the
assignment location and/or are still too
young to have lasting memories of the
move. Children of a young age adapt
fairly quickly, particularly if their parents or
caregivers are present to provide them
with reassurance. In this case, you may
be more concerned about the logistical
arrangements of the move, such as
getting passports or working out how to
travel with small children, which can
require considerable advance preparation.
However, even young children can feel
the stress of a move without being able to
verbalize or otherwise express their
frustrations. This may erupt as tantrums,
clinginess or other forms of socially
inappropriate behavior.
When returning home with children it can
be useful to prepare friends and relatives
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18 . END-OF-ASSIGNMENT HANDBOOK
for the homecoming. Well-meaning family
members may have expectations of how
to interact with the child or of how the
child will behave, which can place
unnecessary stress on the reunion. For
example, the child may not like the food at
home, or may be afraid of all the smiling
faces. It is important to prepare people in
advance for the extra personal or parental
time that the children may need.
Note that if you have adopted children in
the location of assignment, it is
recommended to do research well in
advance of returning home, as there are
many national and international laws
regarding the legal adoption of children.
2.14 Senior Volunteers
The process of returning home as a
senior volunteer will depend on what
plans you have for your return. If you took
a sabbatical from a job at home in order to
undertake a volunteer assignment,
research suggests that your primary
challenge may be how to integrate the
lessons learned from the assignment into
your regular routine. If you will be looking
for work after your assignment, your
extensive experience and the networks
you possess may be a major asset. The
time it takes to find a job may be your first
real experience of being unemployed,
which can be difficult both emotionally and
financially. Planning ahead can help to
prepare for some of these challenges.
Other alternatives, such as retiring,
spending time with family, or continuing to
volunteer will involve many personal
decisions and implications. Research
done has shown that the decision to
volunteer once you return back home is
influenced by your age and stage of life.
Approximately 70% of a survey group of
older volunteers found that the volunteers
who continue to volunteer at home were
influenced by factors such as having more
free time, and finding the activities a
rewarding and stimulating substitute for
paid employment (CIDA).
2.15 Preparing for what Comes Next
Over the coming months, you will face a
number of options- some of which may
present themselves easily and others that
may take more time and energy to
discover. Since your choice as to what
you do at the end of your assignment will
be tailored to you as an individual, we
cannot give details on every option you
may pursue. Those that will be covered in
this document are future employment,
further education and taking a sabbatical;
they will be covered in Sections 3.3, 3.5,
and 3.6. Guidance on how to go through
the preparation process is outlined in the
Volunteer Reflection Toolkit.
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WHAT TO EXPECT POST ASSIGNMENT . 19
3.1 Reverse Culture Shock: what is
reverse culture shock?
Reverse culture shock is defined as the“reactions which occur as a result of re-
adapting to our home culture. … Thereentry process has some things in
common with culture shock but also hasthe added factor of surprise: we don’t
expect our home culture to be sounreceptive to us, and to be so difficult to
come back to.”Janet Bennett, Transition Shock: Putting
Culture Shock in Perspective
As this definition suggests, culture shock
and reverse culture shock are similar, but
have different symptoms and will be
experienced differently given the unique
dynamics of returning home. The diagram
below shows a comparison. Note that
these shocks, when lived through, are
more often a series of small shocks
occurring on a daily or weekly basis, and
culminating in the overall pattern shown
below:
3. What to expect post assignment
Source: ‘Almost American’ Blog
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20 . END-OF-ASSIGNMENT HANDBOOK
The stages and characteristics of reverse
culture shock are described below:
■ Taking Leave: This stage includes
saying goodbye (section 2.11), and
preparing to take leave (Chapter 2). It is
likely to be a series of emotional ups
and downs before your departure, and
is often all the more stressful due to the
time and energy constraints that are felt
during the process of concluding your
assignment. Try to make time to think
about what it means to be ending your
assignment, to visit a place that you
have always wanted to see or to
otherwise mark the end of your
assignment while reflecting on what it
means to be coming to the end.
■ Excitement: You are excited to be
home, and are anticipating the
upcoming changes. You may be excited
and relieved to see family and friends
and to have access to all the aspects of
home that you have missed during your
volunteer assignment.
■ Anxiety and Feelings of Loss: You may
begin to feel that parts of your home
culture are irritating, illogical, or
generally unexpected. You may miss
aspects of life at the location of your
volunteer assignment. The reality of
settling in begins to set in!
■ Reverse Culture Shock: Classically
experienced as a period of depression
or apathy, this stage can be very
challenging. Feelings of isolation and
confusion are common. The low period
in reverse culture shock begins earlier
than it would if you were experiencing
an initial shock to the location of
volunteer assignment. The lowest
periods normally occur during the
second and third months home, and
balance out approximately six months
after you return (Nancy Adler,
International Dimensions ofOrganizational Behaviour).
■ Recovery: Slowly you begin to reconcile
what you have experienced in your
volunteer assignment with life at home.
■ Re-integration: A balance is found
between the two cultures and
differences are appreciated.
There are many reasons why reverse
culture shock occurs, but the major
contributing factors are:
■ The reality of home differs from the
home you remember: Over the course
of your volunteer assignment you may
have idealized or romanticized home. It
is easy to forget or minimize the
problems or issues that once were
sources of stress in your everyday life.
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WHAT TO EXPECT POST ASSIGNMENT . 21
When you return home, the
juxtaposition of reality to ideal can
create conflict.
■ Things change: Change has occurred to
everyone and everything. Learning
about these changes and adjusting to
them can be very stressful. As well, you
have changed over the course of your
volunteer assignment, and it may be
difficult for people to know how to react
to you.
■ People may not react to you or your
experiences in the way you expected:
Many returnees find it difficult to
connect with people and society in the
ways they used to or may be frustrated
by people’s limited attention span for
their experiences, which may last only
five minutes. Connections can feel
superficial or unrewarding in
comparison to the relationships you
developed whilst on assignment.
■ Re-integration is generally not
understood by family and friends:
Reverse culture shock is not well
understood, and is even less so by
those who have not lived through it. The
lack of tolerance and patience displayed
at home may make you feel displaced
or misunderstood, and may reinforce
any feelings of depression that you may
be experiencing.
The intensity of the reverse culture shock
that you feel will depend on a number of
factors, including:
■ the degree of cultural difference between
the home culture and the host culture
■ the depth of cultural immersion that you
experienced
■ changes that have occurred in your
home environment, particularly in the
field of employment and technology if
you plan to enter the workforce
■ the length of your volunteer assignment
■ whether you had another person or
many people to share the volunteer
experience with
■ prior experience(s) abroad
■ your reasons for returning. Note that if
you returned from a post conflict
situation or a situation where there were
significant security risks, your reverse
culture shock may be very extreme and
may culminate in post-traumatic stress
syndrome. Do not hesitate to seek social
or medical support if needed.
■ the expectations for the return
■ other personal factors, including your
gender, age, education, networks of
family and friends
(Adapted from: What’s Up with Culture? at
http://www3.uop.edu/sis/culture/index.htm)
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Each of these factors can be explored in
isolation; the better you understand the
changes and challenges, the better
prepared you will be for the reintegration
process.
Research suggests that there is no
definite timeline for the process of
reintegration. Some people will have a
few weeks of discomfort, whilst others feel
that their whole life has been impacted by
the process of reconciling what they have
seen and learned on assignment with the
realities of home. For some returnees, the
initial period of excitement lasts less than
a month with others reporting it to last
only a few hours.
3.2 Common Challenges and Strategies
Volunteers who return home find that
there are common feelings and
experiences that they encounter. Some of
these include:
■ Boredom: After the dynamism and
challenge of your volunteer assignment,
some people find their home
environment to be stagnant or boring.
■ Feelings of mourning or loss: It is
common to feel sadness about the
people or life you have left behind or for
the situations that you simply could not
resolve before departure.
■ No one seems interested: It may be
difficult to find people who understand
your experiences or who are deeply
interested in what you have lived
through. This may be because they
have limited abilities to draw
comparisons with their own lives or
have different interests and world views.
■ Reverse homesickness: If you adapted
to your host culture, a part of you is now
‘at home’ there. Because of this, you
may feel alienated at home or miss
certain aspects of your assignment
location.
■ Things at home have changed: People,
places and things change in ways that
are both positive and negative. Some
relationships will have been
strengthened while others weakened.
■ You have changed: Integrating your
new experiences and knowledge into
your home context may be challenging
for you. Other people may
misunderstand you or your new ways of
‘being and doing’.
■ Feelings of depression, void, apathy or
lack of energy and enthusiasm: It is
very common to go through a period
characterized by these feelings. How
long these periods last depend on your
coping strategies and the support that
you receive from your community.
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■ Changes in status: As an expatriate
volunteer, a volunteer serving within the
UN system, or as a person bringing
expertise, one is often placed in a
position of respect and authority. The
high status that is held whilst on
assignment is often a contrast to the
status that one normally holds at home,
and it may be difficult to accept what
may be perceived as a fall in status
upon return.
■ The contrast in life, culture and weather:
Inevitably, you will make comparisons
between life at home and life at the duty
station. Things such as the vibrancy of
the people, the access to goods and
services, the changes in the weather,
etc can make you idealize one place or
the other or cause situational stress.
As with every aspect of the reverse
culture shock process, the way in which
you overcome the challenges you face will
be highly personalized. Simply beingaware that reverse culture shock existswill already ease the process to someextent. Some possible strategies and
solutions are outlined here; chose those
that fit with your situation and personality.
■ Start mentally preparing for the
adjustment process before ending your
assignment: Ongoing reflection is useful
in terms of clarifying your thoughts and
feelings now and over the course of
reintegration. The different reflection
fields might be:
■ social relations (you may also find
yourself exploring how you and the
people around you have changed as
you might have grown apart from
some friends, you no longer have the
same interests, it might become
necessary to find new friends)
■ search for job/training (You may think
about how you will market the
competencies gained whilst
volunteering, etc)
■ cultural life
■ physical environment (housing,
space)
■ ways to link your host culture to your
home culture (find ways to
incorporate your news interests and
cross-cultural skills into your life here
– keep in touch with your experience!)
■ See the Volunteer Reflection Toolkit if
you are interested in more ideas or
guidance.
■ Give yourself enough time:
Reintegration is a process not a one-
time event. Avoid putting time pressures
or deadlines on how you feel or on
major life decisions.
WHAT TO EXPECT POST ASSIGNMENT . 23
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■ Learn about what has changed: Family
members, friends, politics, job markets,
technology, popular culture and even
your favorite restaurants may have
changed since you left for your
volunteer assignment. Look for ways to
learn about your own culture.
■ Avoid being defensive, aggressive or
making excessive comparisons: People
at home may not be able to understand
your ideas or empathize with your
experiences. This can be extremely
frustrating for a returnee; try to remain
positive and flexible when in these
situations.
■ Cultivate good listening practices: One
of the best ways to ensure that you
have an audience for your stories is to
show that you care about their stories.
Being a good listener will reinforce
mutually respectful and beneficial
relationships.
■ Seek support networks: Many people
find that the biggest challenge of
returning home is finding people who
are like-minded or with whom they can
share their experiences. In a recent
survey of former UN Volunteers, 70% of
those surveyed felt that finding
someone who might understand their
experience was a significant challenge
to their reintegration process. In order to
overcome this, you may want to
maintain contacts with other volunteers,
develop contacts within socially-
oriented organizations, discuss your
experiences with people who travel
frequently or people who visited you on
your assignment, take language
classes, or generally find other outlets
that attract people of a similar mind-set.
All of these social networks can now be
maintained in person or online; recently,
UN Volunteers have been
communicating by means of blogs and
online forums.
■ Find ways to manage your stress: There
are many techniques to manage stress,
and you will know best what works for
you. Some ideas are to continue to
keep a journal, do meditation, get
involved in sports or start to volunteer.
■ Teach people about your host location:
People may have a short attention span
for stories, but there are other ways to
bridge the cultural gap. Try teaching
people about your host location through
cooking lessons of traditional foods,
giving dance or music lessons, etc.
The benefits of volunteering outside of
your home culture are many, but these
benefits and what they mean to you may
not be immediately apparent. Thinking
back over what you have learned, the
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people you have met, the lives you have
impacted will be the legacy you carry
throughout reintegration and to your life
beyond.
3.3 Stress and Medical Considerations
Attention to your health may not be
foremost in your mind given the number of
other things you have to take care of
when you return from your volunteer
assignment. However, during this
transitional time, it is very important to
guard your health. You may expect some
extra exhaustion, depression or anxiety,
which are normal accompaniments to long
distance travel and the stress of returning
home. Most of these conditions are
temporary and preventable to some
degree, but will require planning,
understanding and attention to your
personal limits.
The World Health Organization (WHO)
recognizes that there are certain health
risks that increase after extended periods
of time in areas where hygiene and
sanitation are inadequate, medical
services are not well developed and clean
water is not easily available. The risks you
have faced personally depend on many
factors, such as how different the location
of assignment is from your home, how
much time you spent in the field and your
personal behavior patterns. If you have
WHAT TO EXPECT POST ASSIGNMENT . 25
been accompanied by children, they have
encountered health challenges that are
different to those that adults experience,
so it is recommended to be particularly
diligent with respect to their health.
Many tropical illnesses do not exhibit
symptoms for months after being
contracted or may be confused with the
exhaustion and stress of the move. In
order to rule out tropical illnesses, it is
advisable to talk to a doctor with
experience in tropical medicine about
having a basic medical checkup. If you
wish, an exit medical can be done at the
UN Clinic before your repatriation travel, if
such a clinic exists. This makes sense if
there are unresolved medical issues of
which the UN doctor is aware. Get a copy
of your medical records to take home with
you. Alternatively, you can undertake the
exam in your home medical system with a
doctor who specializes in tropical
medicine or who is familiar with the region
you have been on assignment to. Always
mention to your doctor where you have
been living. In either case, discuss cost
recovery charges with the doctor before
undertaking the exams, as these costs
are not currently covered by Vanbreda
insurance or the UNV programme.
In a world with HIV, it’s important to know
one’s own HIV status. This is even more
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26 . END-OF-ASSIGNMENT HANDBOOK
important if you have been living abroad
for a long period of time, far away from
home. If you are HIV-infected, it is
important to be tested as early as
possible, so that a doctor can monitor
your health and begin therapy when it will
be most effective. If you are not HIV-
infected, being tested can help reduce
your anxiety and provide an opportunity to
personalize your own HIV-prevention plan
with a trained counselor. In most
countries, there are many places where
you can get tested for HIV. It is
recommended that you get the HIV test
done at a health clinic or at a specialist
HIV & AIDS voluntary counseling and
testing (VCT) site where confidentiality is
guaranteed. When you go to get tested,
you will see a doctor, trained counselor, a
nurse or another health professional in
private. He or she will explain what the
test involves and what the results mean.
More information is available on HIV at
www.uncares.org.
Ultimately, it is the responsibility of each
individual to protect their health and
welfare upon return from their volunteer
assignment. Up-to-date and in-depth
information is available on the
international travel advisory site of the
WHO at http://www.who.int/ith/en/.
Reading can be targeted at health
considerations that are specific to the
area or country in which you were living. If
malaria exists at your location of
assignment, but not at your home
location, look for the symptoms. If you
exhibit these symptoms, you should take
into consideration you may have malaria
and immediately consult a doctor.
Many volunteers find that readjusting to
life at home can be difficult and generate
mixed emotions; this is discussed in detail
in the section on reverse culture shock. In
addition to the normal stresses
encountered at the end of an assignment,
you may experience “burnout”. Burnout is
a state of mental or physical exhaustion,
due to work-related or emotional stress. If
not caught in time, burnout can lead to
both physical and emotional illness that
will need the support of the medical
community and your social networks to
overcome.
As with all other medical issues, it will be
important for you or people within your
support network to be able to recognize
the possible signs of burnout. These
include:
■ Chronic fatigue - exhaustion, tiredness,
a sense of being physically run down
■ Anger
■ Self-criticism
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■ Cynicism, negativity, and irritability
■ Frequent headaches or gastrointestinal
illness
■ Weight loss or gain
■ Sleeplessness and depression
■ Shortness of breath
■ Suspiciousness
■ Feelings of helplessness
■ Increased degree of risk taking
If you find yourself experiencing these
symptoms, don’t ignore them. Talk to
whomever you feel will provide you with
the best support: family members, friends,
medical professionals or supervisors.
3.4 Employment
Looking for employment is something that
many full-time volunteers pursue at the
end of their volunteer assignments.
However, be prepared that you may not
face your employment search in quite the
same way that you would have previously
expected. In a survey of 549 Canadian
volunteers, 46% of respondents found
that their career decisions were greatly
affected by their volunteer experience,
and another 40% had their career
decisions impacted to some extent
(CIDA). This does not mean that
everything you know about job search is
irrelevant. What it does mean is that the
types of positions you are interested in,
the type of office environment that you
may find rewarding, and the
competencies you bring with you to the
employment arena are likely to have
changed. These changes can be reflected
upon and planned for, and doing so will
ultimately enrich your job seeking
experience.
3.5 How to Conduct a Job Search
The stages of an effective job search
include reflecting on your priorities, doing
background research, planning, taking
action and re-adjusting your strategy.
Reflection: Begin with brainstorming what
you want in a job. You likely started this
process with your end-of-assignment
reflection exercises, but it can be done
separately if you prefer. Use mind-maps,
lists or matrices to begin to clarify what
you are looking for in a job. Examine your
interests, skills, and preferences.
Background Research: In this phase, start
to look at the types of work, organizations,
and postings that match the criteria you
are interested in. Where you will look for
job postings will be greatly influenced by
your home context. Perhaps you live
where everything is done by word-of-
mouth? Or conversely, you may live in an
WHAT TO EXPECT POST ASSIGNMENT . 27
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28 . END-OF-ASSIGNMENT HANDBOOK
internet society. Consider whether the
method of posting jobs has changed since
you went away. If you are moving on to a
third culture, it will pay to investigate how
and where DoAs are posted in the target
location. Some former UN Volunteers find
looking for employment in the social
sector or with in other institutions with
strong social mandates to be the most
fruitful. Other volunteers chose to setting
up their own business.
Planning: In this stage, you will set out
your strategy, along with a concrete plan
of action. Include a timeline or other
motivational milestones in your plan.
Consider your financial situation, your list
of contacts, what method of application
will you use (online, direct, etc), and what
other actions you need to take (revising
CV, buying job search clothes, etc).
Taking Action: You have made your plan,
now pursue it! Some tasks in this phase
may be:
Write or revise your CV: There is good
online advice on CV writing.. The biggest
tips are to ensure that you contextualise
your CV in terms of what is appropriate for
the post and country of application, and to
ensure that you have someone else
proofread your CV.
Before revising your CV, think critically
about what you have learned during your
volunteer assignment, and what
competencies you now possess that put
you at an advantage over other job
seekers. The reflection process may help
you to identify these skills. Through your
volunteer experience it is likely that you
have learned new skills or enhanced skills
that you already possessed by applying
them in a new context. Most returning
volunteers feel that the level of
professional and cultural complexity they
are now able to manage has greatly
increased. They often feel improved
confidence, flexibility, resourcefulness,
patience, tolerance, openness and ability
to manage under change.
Make contact with your networks: Prepare
emails, social events, visits, or phone
calls with the people you have identified
as key contacts. If you are shy about
‘networking’, contact them to say ‘hello’
and to let them know you are back from
your volunteer assignment.
Practice interviewing: There are many
generic interview questions that come up
over and over again. It pays to have
practiced responses to these and clear
examples of your work experience related
to the DoA so that your preparation for an
individual interview is streamlined. Search
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for ‘interview questions’ online. It is
recommended to practice your responses
out loud, and if possible do a mock
interview with a friend or family member
asking you the questions.
Interview: An interview is a presentation of
you. Think in advance of what questions
employers may ask and read up on their
work.
It is well known that many posts are never
advertised, but filled informally through
the process of ‘I know someone who
would be good at this’. Therefore, it is
worth it to add the following techniques to
your job search repertoire:
Call select organizations: The primary
objective of this tactic is to make a human
contact within an organization, whilst
finding out more about what they do and
what their values are. Prepare a script
before you call, and practice what you
would like to say. Be respectful of
people’s time, as it will reflect poorly on
you if you are not. If you are nervous
about this process, start by doing a
practice phone call with a friend. Ask them
to act the part of a potential employer.
Book an informational interview: If your
phone call was successful, try to book an
appointment or informational interview
with someone in the human resource
department or the department that you
are interested in. Focus on fact-finding
rather than ‘getting a job’.
Re-adjustment: Take the time to reflect on
what you have learned thus far and
incorporate this into a revised plan.
3.6 Employment Considerations for
Spouses and Partners
The preceding section on employment
contains information that is relevant to
spouses and partners who are planning to
look for work upon their arrival home.
They will also benefit from the reflection
process as outlined in the Volunteer
Reflection Toolkit. In addition to these
tools, there are a few considerations that
may be specific to spouses and partners,
particularly if s/he was not working at the
location of the volunteer assignment:
■ The process of clarifying what
competencies the spouse or partner
has developed is very important. S/he
will likely have developed language
skills or contributed substantially to the
logistics of setting up and operating a
household. Perhaps s/he volunteered
his or her time, joined community
groups, worked part time or completed
consultancies. All of these activities will
be sources of skills and competencies.
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30 . END-OF-ASSIGNMENT HANDBOOK
■ Non-working spouses or partners may
not have up-to-date networks that they
activate easily, so they may want to
focus in this area well in advance of a
move. Some ideas are friends and
family members who are working in
your field of interest, former colleagues,
mentors, or alumni groups.
■ Letters of reference can be difficult if
one has not been working. Fellow team
members from volunteer groups are
useful in this respect. Another idea is to
alert previous referees that you will
begin looking again, and ask them if
they are still willing to give a reference
on your behalf.
3.7 Further education
You may decide to pursue further
education or a change in your field of
specialisation after you have completed
your volunteer assignment. The steps to
take when considering your educational
options are very similar to job search:
reflecting on your priorities and interests,
doing background research, planning, and
taking action.
During the reflection phase for your
educational options, things that may come
up are:
■ Your areas of interest
■ New technologies or areas of research
that have developed since you last
studied
■ Time availability (Part time, full time, for
how long?)
■ Finances
■ Location (Near your home town, online,
elsewhere in the world? Factors that
may influence this are the
specialisations offered at the institution,
costs or timing of the programme.)
■ Employability (Is it important that you
are more employable at the end of this?
In which areas? Do the prospective
programmes have good employability
ratings?)
Other factors to consider will likely come
up as you progress through the reflection
and onto the research stages.
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internet search engines if you search for
‘scholarships’ in the country and language
that you are interested in studying in.
3.8 Sabbatical or Time Off
Some volunteers may decide to take a
break or sabbatical after their volunteer
assignments. This may be due to a
multitude of personal considerations
including wanting time with one’s family,
needing time to recuperate from a
stressful volunteer assignment, taking
care of one’s health or to simply needing
some time to relax. Whatever the reason
that you chose to take a sabbatical, note
that you are not alone: 66% of people who
participated in a Swiss survey and who
did not return to work immediately after a
volunteer assignment cited personal
reasons or a sabbatical as their reason for
not doing so (CINFO).
WHAT TO EXPECT POST ASSIGNMENT . 31
Once you have mapped out your criteria,
it will be easier to proceed with the
research and planning stages. In order to
conduct research, most institutions have
web pages that give an overview of their
courses. However, you may want to
request a calendar from certain
institutions so that you have detailed
information about their entrance schedule,
entry requirements, and costs. Some
institutions offer ‘open days’ where
prospective students can visit the campus
and get a sense of its culture and
programmes. This often includes a tour of
services and a discussion with current or
graduated students. If you cannot make it
for the day, try requesting the documents
and contact information of student
representatives from the day.
Sources of funding for your education will
be country specific and depend on your
background. Some scholarship or bursary
programmes are run through embassies
or development programmes and will
require country specific research.
Information on many scholarship
programmes can be found through
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32 . END-OF-ASSIGNMENT HANDBOOK
Your assignment is complete, but the
learning experience you have taken part
in does not need to be over. Your
assignment is just one stage in a lifelong
commitment to making positive change.
As each of you is a unique individual, the
activities you undertake will be as diverse
and dynamic as you are: it doesn’t matter
where you are based, how much time you
have, or whether you promote
volunteerism for peace and development
specifically. You have a valuable role to
play.
“If you think you’re too small to have animpact, try going to sleep with a
mosquito.”Anita Roddick,(Founder of The Body Shop)
This final chapter will outline a few of the
ways you can stay involved. These
include continuing to advocate for and
promote volunteerism for peace and
development, seeking another UNV
assignment, continuing to volunteer,
mobilizing volunteers, and staying in
contact with the UNV programme. These
ideas do not present the end, but simply a
beginning, to the ideas and opportunities
that you can generate.
4.1 Continue to Advocate for
Volunteerism for Peace and
Development
In today’s information age, advocacy is an
important tool to capture the attention of
governments and of general populations.
The role that media plays in our societies
cannot be underestimated, with the
opinions of international organizations,
governments and local communities being
heavily influenced by what is portrayed.
Laws and policies are influenced by these
opinions, which in turn have direct
impacts on people’s day-to-day lives.
Advocating for and promoting
volunteerism for peace and development
is your chance to influence how people
perceive volunteerism and volunteers,
and to move their understanding beyond
philanthropy and skills development.
Volunteerism is a powerful tool that can
be used to generate a momentum,
mobilizing other people into service-
oriented action.
With this in mind, advocating for
volunteerism can mean many things. It
may mean raising the profile of volunteers
within your community by writing an article
about local volunteers for the newspaper
or by designing a volunteer recognition
4. How to stay involved
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ceremony for a local organization.
Presentations at local organizations or
universities are a way to demonstrate to
the next generation the value and
complexity of volunteering. Advocacy
could mean getting involved with larger
organizations, marches, or public events,
all the while highlighting ways that
volunteerism can provide greater leverage
to these agendas. You may also want to
advocate for the UNV program itself,
encouraging people to consider the
broader principles that we embrace and
possibly to apply to become a UN
Volunteers themselves. If you are short on
ideas, try talking to people around you or
looking on the internet for topics that
might interest you.
At the end of your volunteer assignment,
you are strongly encouraged to write
about your experiences. How to get
started on this process is covered in the
Volunteer Reflection Toolkit. The stories,
lessons, and other documents that you
generate will help to raise awareness
about volunteerism and of the positive
impacts that it can have on development.
If you share this information with UNV, it
will improve UNV’s ability to meet the
needs of the poor, through more informed
programming. It will also serve to support
incoming volunteers’ needs for
information, good practices and tested
HOW TO STAY INVOLVED . 33
advice. Channels for sharing these items
are:
■ Via your UNV Field Unit: Share photos,
stories, project documents. The UNV
Field Unit in your country of assignment
will then link with the UNV Knowledge
and Innovative Section and
Communication Unit at headquarters,
the UNDP Public Information Unit, with
local press and with volunteer networks
in other countries. Note that UNV is in
the process of setting up a social
network for former UN Volunteers which
you can access once it is fully
operational (see point 4.3 below for
more detail)
■ Submit article ideas through your end-
of-assignment report: Near the end of
your report, you will be asked to submit
ideas, articles, etc on your volunteer
assignment activities.
■ Upload your documents onto the World
Volunteer Web at
http://www.worldvolunteerweb.org/tools/
contribute.html. The World Volunteer
Web supports the volunteer community
by serving as a global focal site for
information and resources linked to
volunteerism. These can be used for
campaigning, advocacy and networking.
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34 . END-OF-ASSIGNMENT HANDBOOK
For ideas or inspiration, try looking back
at your journal, photographs, project
documents or other notes that you have
kept. If appropriate, telling stories can
outline the special role that being a
volunteer or volunteerism played in
helping you reach the objectives of your
assignment. See the Volunteer Reflection
Toolkit for guidance on how to write
articles.
To stay abreast of UN advocacy tools, try
searching UN agency websites.
Alternatively, there may be a chapter of a
United Nations Association (UNA) in your
home country. These groups have regular
meetings to discuss UN activities and to
plan events at the national level.
4.2 Seek another UNV assignment
In a 2007 survey of former UN Volunteers,
85% of the volunteers who were
interested in staying involved with the
UNV programme were interested in
applying for another UNV assignment. If
you are interested in doing the same, you
must activate your profile in the UNV
database of candidates by updating your
availability and your entire profile through
http://MyProfile.unv.org. A summary of
your experience as UN Volunteer should
be added to the professional experience
section of your profile.
Prior to reactivating your profile in the
UNV database of candidates, UNV will
request a recommendation from the UNV
Field Unit of your country of assignment.
Subsequent to this, the recruitment will
follow the usual process of waiting for
appropriate assignments to become
available, interviewing against the
Description of Assignment, and waiting for
selection.
4.3 Continue to Volunteer
A research on the effects of the national
UN Volunteers programme in Mongolia
found that 100% of the former national UN
Volunteers said that they were somehow
involved in volunteer activities on a
regular basis after their UNV assignment
(CSD, Centre for Coscial Development,
Ulaanbaatar). The findings of the research
also suggested that the former volunteers
“developed pro-social attitudes such as
helping others, looking for possibilities to
improve their social environment and
situation, involvement in volunteer
activities, civil society and NGO activities
and developed leadership skills in
encouraging other to participate” (CSD).
Many former volunteers feel that this is
important in order to maintain their new
beliefs while at the same time apply their
new skills and competencies in the home
context. Consider where you would like to
donate your time, what type of volunteer
Vol Toolkit_End of Assignment [2]_Layout 1 22/12/2011 19:48 Page 34
HOW TO STAY INVOLVED . 35
assignment would be rewarding to you,
what type of skills you would like to use or
develop, and how much time can you
afford to give.
If you are looking for ideas on how or
where to volunteer, many countries or
cities now have websites that function as
clearinghouses for volunteer assignments.
Another idea is to look on the World
Volunteer Web at
http://www.worldvolunteerweb.org/take-
action/be-a-volunteer.html. Additional sites
can be searched online. Another option is
to approach organizations that are of
interest to you and ask them directly if
they are willing to take you on as a
volunteer. If you are interested in directly
contributing your local knowledge,
consider becoming a buddy or a mentor to
local organizations or universities that
send students on international
assignments.
Unfortunately, after the end of your
assignment you may find yourself with a
desire to continue volunteering but
overwhelmed with time constraints and
family obligations. If this is the case, you
may want to consider volunteering during
your holiday periods, or volunteering
online. By continuing to volunteer over the
internet via the UNV Online Volunteering
Service (www.onlinevolunteering.org) you
can directly assist development
organizations, working from a computer
anywhere in the world. Volunteering
online gives you a great degree of
flexibility, there is no travel involved and
you can volunteer the hours that fit your
schedule.
Finally, you may feel that the best way for
you to continue to donate your time is via
a direct linkage to a community that you
got to know during your UNV assignment.
If so, supporting them through a small
project may be appropriate. Some steps
are:
■ Take the time to speak with local people
and generate a general concept or idea
of what you would like to do. This can
be discussed with other colleagues, or
you could conduct a needs analysis. If a
similar project already exists, how
would this project be different or what
could it add?
■ Make the appropriate contacts before
you leave your assignment location, as
these may be difficult to secure later.
■ Research broad ideas as to who could
be potential funders in this area. What
are their areas of interest and criteria?
■ Select the appropriate funders and
prepare your application according to
their application requirements.
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36 . END-OF-ASSIGNMENT HANDBOOK
■ Follow up on the applications you
submit
Online research or lessons learnt from
other projects can provide a good basis
for developing these ideas.
The former UN Volunteer network
UNV is currently developing a ‘former UN
Volunteer network’ to be launched in 2011
as part of the celebrations to mark the 10th
Anniversary of International Year of
Volunteers. The network, to be built
initially online, is designed to provide a
forum for peer-peer support, to facilitate
peace and development related
discussions and the exchange of
resources, as well as to create and
promote opportunities to stay involved
with volunteer related activities online and
onsite.
At the time of writing we are piloting the
network hosted on a platform, developed
by UNDP called ‘Teamworks’. Once the
pilot phase is complete, the intention is to
open it up to all former UN Volunteers for
which we will develop a user-friendly
registration process and communicate this
to all former UN Volunteers that we can
contact. In the meantime to keep up-to-
date with developments and opportunities
you can visit http://www.unv.org/how-to-
volunteer/former-unv-volunteers/the-ne
twork.html. For further information you
can email the Volunteer Networking
Specialist responsible for the network, at
4.4 Mobilize Volunteers
A very practical way to stay involved in
volunteerism is to continue to mobilize
volunteers. If you know of dynamic, skilled
and committed people who you can
recommend to roster with UNV, this is
most appreciated. Or perhaps you will see
an opportunity to mobilize volunteers
within your community or an organization
that you are involved in. If you are in a
position to plan projects that could be
made more effective through the use of
volunteers or require ideas on how
volunteerism could magnify the impact of
the organization’s developmental efforts,
please contact the UNV focal person
closest to you.
4.5 UNV Contact Information
As one of the nearly 40,000 members of
the UN Volunteers alumni, (know as
former UN Volunteers) you are part of a
global community and an extended
member of the UNV family. If you are
interested in staying informed about what
is happening within the organization as
well as in finding local and global
opportunities to remain active with peace
Vol Toolkit_End of Assignment [2]_Layout 1 22/12/2011 19:48 Page 36
and development issues through peer
discussions and events reach us at the
information below:
General enquiries:
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +49-228-815 2000
Fax: +49-228-815 2001
Web site feedback/queries:
Mailing Address:
United Nations Volunteers
Postfach 260 111
D-53153 Bonn
Germany
HOW TO STAY INVOLVED . 37
“Remember it’s a time of transition. Be good to yourself by taking the time to relax,reflect and re-enter your home.”
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38 . END-OF-ASSIGNMENT HANDBOOK
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This is a living document that will change as your needs change. If you have comments andadditions that you feel can make it more useful, please send your feedback [email protected] is hoped that the exercises and topics discussed will help to make yourtransition a successful one. We look forward to hearing from you in the future.
Vol Toolkit_End of Assignment [2]_Layout 1 22/12/2011 19:48 Page 40
NOTES
Vol Toolkit_End of Assignment [2]_Layout 1 22/12/2011 19:48 Page 41
NOTES
Vol Toolkit_End of Assignment [2]_Layout 1 22/12/2011 19:48 Page 42
Vol Toolkit_End of Assignment [2]_Layout 1 22/12/2011 19:48 Page 43
UNV is administered by the
United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP)
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