On International Volunteer Day (IVD), the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme is calling for nominations for the UNV Online Volunteering Award 2017, which will be presented to five online volunteers or teams of online volunteers for their contributions to peace and development projects.

A jury made up of UNV representatives and external experts in volunteerism and development cooperation will review the nominations and select the 5 winners.

The winners will be announced on the International Day of Happiness, 20 March 2018, to celebrate the ways in which UN Online Volunteers unremittingly seek to end poverty, reduce inequality, and protect our planet – key aspects that lead to well-being and happiness.

That day and until the end of March, you will be able to cast your vote for your favourite winner. Connect via social media for more information:

Twitter: @UNVOnline and Facebook: www.facebook.com/OnlineVolunteeringservice

Eligibility

The award will be given to Online Volunteers or teams of Online Volunteers who supported an organization working for peace and development over the Internet. The online collaboration must date back less than two and a half years and must have been facilitated through the UNV Online Volunteering service.

Selection criteria

The jury will review the nominations and select 5 winners based on the following criteria:

* Online volunteers’ commitment and contribution

* Collaboration between the volunteers and the organization

* Result of the collaboration and impact on the organization’s activities

Purpose

The purpose of the award is to recognize online volunteers’ contributions towards achieving peace and development worldwide, to showcase the many ways in which online volunteers can strengthen the capacities of organizations and to demonstrate the difference volunteers can make to peace and development projects by sharing their time, skills and expertise over the Internet.

The UNV Online Volunteering Award presents an opportunity for organizations to bring their online volunteering experiences and good practices to the attention of a global audience.

Your experience may inspire others and thus help mobilize more volunteers to engage in peace and development activities over the Internet, or encourage more organizations to strengthen their efforts by tapping into the rich resource that online volunteers provide. Also, by submitting your nomination, you express your appreciation to your volunteers for a successful online collaboration.

Nomination

Organizations may nominate their volunteers in English, French or Spanish no later than 15 January 2018.  To do so, go to the “Manage Volunteers” section of your account at www.onlinevolunteering.org and find the corresponding button underneath the name of each eligible volunteer. Alternatively, you can nominate a group of volunteers by selecting them and clicking on “Nominate selected volunteers” at the top. To be eligible for nomination, volunteers must have applied to an online volunteering opportunity between 2 July 2015 and 5 November 2017. Note that you will not be able to save nominations in draft mode nor save them for later.

We will ask you to upload one or more pictures that in one way or another illustrate the results of the collaboration or the project that the volunteer(s) supported. Should your volunteer(s) be amongst the winners, these pictures will be featured along with the winners’ story on the Online Volunteering service website and in other UNV communications material.

Timeline

5 December 2017: Launch of UNV Online Volunteering Award 2017

15 January 2018: Deadline for organizations to submit a nomination

30 January 2018: Deadline for volunteers to submit their response to a nomination

20 March 2018: Announcement of the 5 winners of the UNV Online Volunteering Award 2017 and launch of global voting campaign for the public’s favourite award winner

30 March 2018: Deadline to cast your vote for your favourite award winner

3 April 2018: Announcement of the public’s favourite award winner

Do not hesitate to email us your questions and comments regarding the award.