Delivering as One, a UN in China conversation presented by Resident Coordinator Siddharth Chatterjee: Episode 14 with Nan Zhang, Programme and Partnership Specialist for UNV in China

In the fourteenth episode of the UN in China podcast, UN Resident Coordinator in China Siddharth Chatterjee sits down with Nan Zhang, Programme and Partnership Specialist for the United Nations Volunteers programme (UNV) in China.

Ms. Zhang, a Chinese national, grew up in the city of Tianjin along with her family. Her parents, both university graduates, attached great importance to the value of education and of gaining perspectives in the surrounding world, which led her to her travels during middle school to the United Kingdom. Like many in her generation brought up following the introduction of opening-up and reform, she benefited from the nation’s socio-economic development. Her participation in elderly care and other similar activities planted an early seed of volunteerism in her heart and mind. Having also spent time in Hainan and Hong Kong, she would later move to her second home of Beijing to take up studies at the University of International Business and Economics.

Developing on her interest in international development and humanitarian affairs, she would go on to join the National Health Commission as a civil servant upon her return to China. During this time, Ms. Zhang travelled again to the UK to study at Oxford University, where she majored in Comparative Social Policies. Her work on international cooperation in areas such as global health and disease control would see her engage with UN entities, including the UN Development Programme, the UN Children’s Fund and the World Health Organization. Later, she went on to work for the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS as part of its Liaison Office to the African Union in Ethiopia. After a competitive process, she was selected to lead the UNV team’s field unit in China, joining the UN family in China in 2018.

“I believe that serving and caring for others is beyond boundaries and that volunteerism is always at my heart,”

In this episode, Ms. Zhang explains the unique role of UNV, founded in 1971, with a mandate as the only UN agency dedicated to promoting peace and development through volunteerism while working to ensure that volunteerism is appropriately recognized in all societies. Each year, there are more than one billion volunteers around the world, and in 2022, over 12,400 UN Volunteers served with 56 UN partners, with 65 per cent of UN Volunteers coming from the Global South. She explains how UNV works to create and promote a people-centred UN where its functions are supported through the engagement of empowered UN Volunteers, to serve the UN system as a fit-for-purpose organization contributing to efficiency and gains, while supporting Member State and UN System efforts to integrate volunteerism as a cross-cutting means of implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

During the conversation, Ms. Zhang highlights UNV’s work in China to promote the universal values underpinning volunteerism: free will, commitment, equity, engagement, solidarity, compassion, empathy, and respect for others. In China, there are over 230 million registered volunteers who contribute over 5.2 billion hours towards economic and social development, with volunteerism also prioritized by the Government in the 14th Five-Year Plan.

More than 110 Chinese nationals serve as UN Volunteers in the country or fully funded by China, covering areas such as poverty reduction, gender equality, climate action, and more. She discusses various initiatives of UNV, including collaborations with the Chinese Youth Volunteers Association, past support of the 2008 and 2022 Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games and important efforts to promote the participation and inclusion of women, young people, and persons with disabilities.

Together with the Resident Coordinator, the two discuss other challenges and opportunities in the years ahead, particularly in the areas of youth development and South-South Cooperation, as well as UNV’s work in China to leave no one behind and contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, as part of the UN system in China.

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Siddharth Chatterjee

Siddharth Chatterjee took office as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in China on 16 January 2021 and is the designated representative of - and reports to - the UN Secretary-General. He presented his letter of credence to the President of China on 14 April 2021.

Mr. Chatterjee has more than 25 years of experience in international cooperation, sustainable development, humanitarian coordination and peace and security in the United Nations and the Red Cross movement. He has served in many fragile and war-torn countries all over the world.

A 3 times TEDx speaker, he is a regular opinion contributor on humanitarian and development issues for a range of journals which includes Newsweek, Los Angeles Times, Reuters, Huffington Post, Forbes, CNN, Al Jazeera, the Guardian and as of late has also published in mainstream Chinese journals.

Mr. Chatterjee holds a master’s degree in public policy from Princeton University in the United States of America.

Nan Zhang

Ms. Nan Zhang took up her UNV Country Coordinator (Programme and Partnerships Specialist) appointment in China in 2018. Fully committed to volunteerism as a powerful means of implementing the 2030 agenda, she leads and advocates strongly for the UN Volunteers programme and partnerships in China. Ms. ZHANG leads the mobilization, recruitment, and management of the UN volunteers deployed to the UN system in China and abroad to deliver on the 2030 Agenda. She also actively promotes strategic cooperation and the advancement of partnerships with the Ministry of Commerce, Chinese Young Volunteers Association, China Soong Ching Ling Foundation, Beijing Volunteer Service Federation, and other key governmental and non-governmental partners. She holds a master’s degree in Comparative Social Policy from Oxford University.