Call: Website Revamp

UNV – UN Volunteers, Bonn – Germany

Estimated Duration: 15 – 20 Weeks (final date of delivery 31 May 2026)

Start date: January 2026

Location: Home-based/Remote

Language: English

Deadline: Dec 16

Background: UNV (administred by the UN Development Programme) mobilizes thousands of skilled volunteers annually to support peace, development, and humanitarian efforts in some 170 countries

The UNV corporate website, www.unv.org, serves as a primary gateway for engaging stakeholders volunteers, UN entities, donors, civil society organizations, governments, and the general public. It supports storytelling, volunteer registration, partner collaboration, visibility of results, and alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals .

The current website was last revamped in 2015-16 using the Drupal Content Management System. Since then, global digital standards and user needs have significantly evolved, and UNV’s operational model has grown more complex. Insights from surveys conducted in May through June 2025 indicate several areas for improvement, including centralizing and streamlining corporate information, mobile responsiveness, accessibility, visual appeal of the way information is presented, AI integration, multilingual support, and partner engagement.

Objective: The revamped website will serve as a strategic communication and engagement platform that:

* Amplifies the UNV brand and impact by showcasing volunteer contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals across global, regional, and local contexts.

* Functions as a one-stop shop for all corporate information such as Conditions of Service, Partner Tool Kit, Explore, Knowledge Portal, and having a calendar once the website is revamped to name ownership per element and responsibility to update respective content.

* Facilitates volunteer recruitment through seamless integration with platforms such as the Unified Volunteering Platform.

* Strengthens stakeholder engagement with dedicated experiences for UN agencies, governments, donors, host institutions, civil society, and the media.

* Empowers regional and country teams to access operational resources via secure and userfriendly interfaces.

* Improves inclusivity, accessibility, and usability through responsive design, multilingual support, fully compatible and certified for disability inclusion WCAG 2.1 compliance, and mobile-first architecture.

* Enables data-informed decision-making with analytics dashboards, impact visualizations, and real-time reporting capabilities.

* Ensures governance and security through United Nations data protection regulations.

* Redesign the website architecture for improved navigation, mobile responsiveness, and accessibility.

* Integrates AI for a future-ready UNV.

* Ensure multilingual support (UN official languages/more).

* Align content and design with the UNV Strategic Framework 2025 2029.

* Takes into account the scoping exercise carried out in 2025.

Ultimately, the new website will become a unified digital front door bridging the gap between opportunity and action, from volunteers and communities to partners and policymakers.

The objective of this assignment is not only to revamp the UNV website aesthetically, but to reengineer its architecture, functionality, accessibility, and integration capacity into a platform that ally distributed, and impact-driven organization.

This scope recognizes the multi-layered role the website plays as a public communications gateway, a volunteer mobilization engine, a partner-facing service platform, and an internal resource hub and mandates a future-proof, scalable, and inclusive digital foundation aligned with the values of the United Nations and the expectations of a diverse global audience.

The Website Revamp Consultancy is expected to deliver a comprehensive solution across the following dimensions:

1- Navigation intelligence

The redesigned platform must position user experience (UX) at the core of its architecture. Each user group volunteers (active and prospective), UN agencies, donor governments, partner organizations, field units, researchers, and the general public must be able to navigate the platform seamlessly, discover relevant content quickly, and perform actions without friction.

Key actions include:

Architecting adaptive navigation flows that dynamically present relevant content based on user role, location, language, and interaction history.

Designing a mobile-first, multilingual interface that ensures accessibility and functionality across devices and in low-bandwidth environments.

Incorporating a „smart“landing structure, with dedicated regional, country, and thematic pages that can evolve as new needs or stakeholders emerge.

Applying human-centered design principles to form layouts, onboarding journeys, and search pathways.

Making content accessible for users with disabilities (e.g., text-to-speech, contrast optimization, predictive navigation).

The platform must balance information density with elegance simplifying complex service offerings through clear language, purposeful design, and embedded guidance.

2- AI-powered features

To enhance personalization, efficiency, and user engagement, the revamped UNV website shall incorporate AI-driven functionalities that support both public-facing and internal operations. These include:

Content Recommendation Engine

Implement AI algorithms to suggest relevant articles, volunteer opportunities, and resources based on user behaviour, location, and preferences.

Automated Tagging and Metadata Generation:

Use AI to auto-tag uploaded content (e.g., stories, reports, media) with relevant SDGs, regions, and themes to streamline publishing workflows.

Sentiment and Engagement Analysis:

Apply AI to analyze user feedback, survey responses, and site interactions to identify trends, satisfaction levels, and areas for improvement.

Translation Support

Use AI-assisted translation tools to accelerate multilingual content delivery, with human validation for quality assurance.

3 Systems Integration

The website must serve as a cohesive entry point to UNV´s digital service ekosystem – unifying the user journey across its key operational platforms without forcing disjointed navigation or fragmented data silos.

Critical integration points include:

* Unified Volunteering Platform (UVP): Recruitment and application workflows

Employing tools that would allow UVP users to have recommendations on relevant content pieces from the website.

* Salesforce platform (CRM): UN partner request submissions

UN partners potentially have the ability to read content and then contact UNV.

 * UNV eCampus: Learning and capacity development interface (linked)

* Programming Interface for real time data integration could be an advantage for partners and Member States. Real time data could demonstrate number of volunteers per UN entity and such relevant information.

These integrations must:

* Preserve session continuity and data handoff security

* Be based on open web standards (REST, SAML, OAuth2, etc.)

The company must also anticipate and document all endpoints and authentication flows to enable sustainable operations and future enhancements.

4 Core Functional Modules

To shift the website from a static information archive into a functional engagement platform, the following core capabilities must be included:

* Dynamic Storytelling Engine:

o Structured templates for volunteer journeys, partner initiatives, community impact, and donor-funded programmes

o Embedding options for multimedia (video, maps, social embeds, etc.)

o Controlled submission portals for field units and partners, with editorial approvals

* Communication Tools:

o Chat widgets with multilingual auto-responders

o Smart contact forms with dynamic field routing to HQ, regional, or country focal points

* Resource and Toolkit Libraries:

o Downloadable, searchable documents (branding, policies, forms, training)

o Role-based access and expiration controls

o Automatic tagging by region, function, or programme

* Feedback, Surveys, and Consent Flows:

o Built-in feedback forms for site usability and content relevance

o Consent management for data collection and media submissions

* Interactive Impact Dashboards:

o Filterable by country, region, SDG, volunteer type, and time period

o Display volunteer hours, deployments, partner participation, and thematic focus

o Designed for both high-level visual storytelling and deep data inspection

5 Platform Architecture, Security, and Sustainability

The underlying architecture must reflect security by design, compliance by default, and performance by necessity.

Key system requirements include:

* Upgrade and hardening of the Drupal CMS to its most stable, long-term supported version

* Modular development structure with component-based theming, reusable templates, and

scoped CSS

* Integration of SSO via federated identity protocols, compatible with Azure AD or equivalent, with fallback support for multi-factor authentication

* Implementation of role-based access control (RBAC), secure file handling, and activity logging

* Front-end performance optimizations including:

o Image and asset compression

o Lazy loading and deferred scripts

o HTTP/2 or HTTP/3 support

o CDN readiness for distributed caching and faster access globally

* Security protocols to include:

o HTTPS with enforced HSTS

o XSS/CSRF protection

o Form validation and sanitization

o CAPTCHA for public inputs

o Scheduled vulnerability scans and patch updates

This platform must serve both as a flagship public interface and as an internal enabler with sufficient modularity to support future features such as job boards, chatbots, localized campaign microsites, or data visualizations.

6 Analytics, SEO, and Decision Support

The platform must provide a 360-degree view of user behaviour, engagement levels, and content performance, empowering UNV to make evidence-based decisions.

Analytics capabilities must include:

* Real-time and retrospective reporting on visits, user paths, and conversion funnels

* Engagement mapping for different user personas (volunteer, donor, partner, staff, etc.)

* Geo-location reporting and campaign tracking

The platform must also be fully optimized for discoverability:

* SEO-compliant markup for all languages

* Automatic generation of multilingual sitemaps

* Social preview configuration and link management

* Schema.org microdata for structured search engine representation