CA — Continuing Appointment. The complete shape. Everything open, nothing expiring. Package density 100% of the full staff package.
FTA — Fixed-Term Appointment. Nearly full, with one dent: it expires, and no length of service creates a right to renewal. Package density 96% of the full staff package.
TA — Temporary Appointment. Identical pay, collapsed shape. The security and career spokes sit at zero. Package density 46% of the full staff package.
IPSA — UNDP Personnel Service Agreement (international). The most generous affiliate modality — and still not a staff contract. Its national twin is the NPSA, paid on the local scale. Package density 38% of the full staff package.
IICA — UNOPS International Individual Contractor. Often used to host personnel for other agencies — the contracting party is not always the agency being joined. Package density 33% of the full staff package.
UNV — UN Volunteer. Service, not a junior staff job — and a broader family of roles than most realize. Package density 42% of the full staff package.
IC — Consultant / Individual Contractor. A fee for focused, deliverable work, and a flexibility no staff contract offers. WHO, PAHO and WFP run it as the SSA; FAO as the PSA. Package density 8% of the full staff package.
NPSA — UNDP Personnel Service Agreement (national). The IPSA’s national twin, and the single most advertised non-staff level in the system. Locally recruited, paid on the local scale. Package density 33% of the full staff package.
LICA — UNOPS Local Individual Contractor. The IICA’s local counterpart — and the better-covered of the two, because the Provident Fund is automatic here. Package density 38% of the full staff package.
SC — Service Contract. The field workhorse — WFP, UNESCO and UNDP country offices run much of their local operation on it. Package density 33% of the full staff package.
I-1 — Internship. Not a job and not paid as one. The UN Secretariat grades it I-1 — a level with no salary scale behind it. Package density 4% of the full staff package.
WBG — World Bank Group appointment. A full staff package, on an entirely separate system — and the figures are net of tax, so they do not compare with UN ones as directly as they look. Package density 92% of the full staff package.
Two engagements on the same salary can be worlds apart. Every contract modality — staff and affiliate alike — is scored across eight dimensions: pension, leave, health cover, family entitlements, relocation, job security, legal recourse, and whether it leads anywhere. Each draws a different shape, and the shapes make the comparison legible. Tap a card to open it, or add a second contract to overlay the two.
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Based on the World Bank Group's {{ range.fiscalYear }} salary structure ({{ fmtDate(range.publishedOn) }}), quoted net of tax and shown here for ease of reference.
Reference: {{ allowance.reference }}. The living allowance is not a salary — it is set to cover living costs, and every UN Volunteer of the same category at the same duty station receives the same amount. Entry and exit lump sums, family allowance and insurance sit on top; see the levels below.
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UN Online Volunteering is unpaid. There is no living allowance, no lump sums and no insurance: assignments are remote, short and voluntary in the fullest sense. The paid categories are listed below. Pick a category below and open it from a job at a specific duty station to see the allowance computed for that station — the rate is set per duty station, so there is no single figure. There is no scale behind I-1: it is a level, not a pay grade. Where a stipend is paid at all it is a contribution to living costs set by the receiving office and the duty station, not a salary and not negotiable, and it carries none of the allowances that attach to a post. {{ c.label }} remuneration is an all-inclusive fee, agreed on appointment, and no organization publishes its scale — so no figure can be quoted for a level. What IS published is the ladder below and the common-system grade each level tracks. That grade describes the LEVEL OF THE WORK, not the money: where a country office does publish its amounts, they come in below the grade's UN salary.
Open this page from a World Bank vacancy, or from a country's salary guide, to see that country's salary range.
| Grade | Minimum | Midpoint | Maximum |
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Every grade the Bank sets for {{ pay.country }} — annual, net of tax, in local currency. Grades GI and above are headquarters grades and are not published for country offices.
{{ guide.note }} Figures are reviewed periodically and can change without notice, so the {{ guide.source.label }} → should always be consulted, and prevails over anything shown on this page.
| Level | Reference point | What it covers |
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The reference point is the common-system grade a level is set against — how the organizations themselves describe the ladder. It is a bridge to a figure, not the fee: the actual amount depends on the duty station, the funding and the individual's background.
Contract type is separate from grade — the staff appointments span General Service (G-1–G-7), National Officer, Professional (P-1–P-5), Director (D-1/D-2) and above, and Field Service. Scores are an editorial reading of published entitlements for at-a-glance comparison, not an official index — affiliate terms vary sharply by organization, and the governing text is always the contract on offer. The rules behind each score are set out in UN contract types explained; the full benefit-by-benefit detail is on Benefits & Allowances.