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You are here:  Home > Current highlight > International Women's Day 2009: Our women volunteers
The women of UNV
Bonn, Germany - International Women's Day 2009: All UN Volunteers bring with them that little bit extra, an 'added value', the value of volunteerism. And women make up almost half of the total number of UN Volunteers deployed to the field.

Their special motivation makes them unique assets to the UN partners they are assigned to and - sometimes working in 'traditionally male' assignments like some of the volunteers we meet below- they set an example to the men and women around them.

Women UN Volunteers thus help create the "positive image" of women that United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon cites in his message for International Women's Day as a key to achieving women's equality and empowerment.

Read more about our women UN Volunteers, and click here to read about UNV and its work for women too.

Other languages: en français  en español

"When I arrived at the mission, everyone was stunned," says UNV volunteer Vehicle Mechanic Julme Charles Elza. "They wanted to see how I would get along. They doubted my capability as a woman to perform 'difficult' tasks in the workshop. One day all the colleagues were amazed when my supervisor told me to go and tow a vehicle from Bouaké, about 370km from Abidjan. I went ahead without a moment's hesitation and the job was done perfectly… Sort of ironically, each time there's a mechanical problem that's a bit complex, men and women now ask me to help assess the situation and come up with an appropriate solution!" (UNV)
The women keeping ONUCI on the road
Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire: You might assume that the Transport Section at a United Nations peacekeeping mission would be an exclusively male domain. But UNV volunteers in Côte d'Ivoire are breaking gender barriers. Read
More about: Gender  Peace & conflict resolution
Countries:  Côte d'Ivoire  Haiti  Sierra Leone
Other languages: en français  
"The women look at me with huge eyes and ask how I can get onto that motorbike," UNV volunteer Maïmounata Ouedraogo remarks. (K. Gosse/UNV)
The motorbike volunteer opening people's eyes
Yako, Burkina Faso: You could call her a rural volunteerism ambassador. Since March 2008, Maïmounata Ouedraogo has ridden across Burkina Faso by motorbike with the National Volunteer Programme. Read
More about: Gender  Poverty
Countries:  Burkina Faso
Other languages: en français  en español  
Ethnic women and girls in the north of Viet Nam. UNV volunteers are working as gender specialists with a number of UN agencies in Viet Nam to promote gender equality and empower women. (Caroline den Dulk/2009)
Bringing Viet Nam together on gender
Ha Noi, Viet Nam: In Viet Nam – a UN 'Delivering as One' pilot country - UNV volunteers are right at the heart of working gender into the mainstream of development programming. Read
More about: Gender
Countries:  Viet Nam
UNV volunteer Karla Koutkova from the Czech Republic works in UNDP’s Research and Development Unit and the UNV office. (UNV)
Three women: three UNV assignments
Sarajevo, Foca and Gorazde, Bosnia and Herzegovina: Three UNV volunteers in Bosnia and Herzegovina talk about their varying assignments for UNDP and UNHCR. Read
More about: Poverty  Refugees & displaced people
Countries:  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Canada  Czech Republic
Kartini Mansmoor is a national UNV volunteer with the UNDP People-Centred Development Programme. (UNV)
Inspiration in Indonesia
Jakarta and Teluk Mayalibit, Indonesia: Almost half of the total number of UNV volunteers in Indonesia are women, working on a variety of projects: here we introduce two of them. Read
More about: Education  Emergency relief  Poverty
Countries:  Canada  Indonesia
UNV volunteer Intern Valentina Manzato is funded by the Italian government and works with UNCTAD in Cambodia. (UNV)
Manic Mondays in Cambodian commerce
Phnom Penh, Cambodia: "A project is first of all the people who work on it day after day." An Italian UNV volunteer Intern shares her experience with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Cambodia. Read
More about: Governance
Countries:  Cambodia  Italy
In addition to the professional and cultural tests, in an environment like Afghanistan other things can go wrong. Winter in Afghanistan can be "daunting", says Menchita Caramat (pictured here 2nd left with a UNV volunteer colleague and local children), and using a kerosene heater without proper ventilation once caused an "excruciating ordeal". "I remembered that I was at some point rolling back and forth on the floor and my bed due to dizziness and pain in my head," says Ms. Caramat. "My housemates had to carry me in one of the rooms which are warmer than mine. I remembered that I was shouting, crying and shivering in between my fainting spells." Fortunately, UN medical staff were on the scene quickly, and her housemates proved to be a "surrogate family" in time of need. (UNV)
Challenging the Afghan divide
Kabul, Afghanistan: "I have observed that the women are beginning to assume a more substantive role in the emerging Afghan society," says UNV Programme Officer Menchita Caramat, a woman working for peace and development in many ways. Read
More about: Gender  Poverty
Countries:  Afghanistan  Philippines
Georgeta Silaghi (centre) is UNV Programme Manager for the United Nations Mission in Afghanistan. (UNV)
Looking after the UNV family in Afghanistan
Kabul, Afghanistan: Georgeta Silaghi is a UNV Programme Manager at one of the UN's toughest and most high-profile missions – Afghanistan. As well as supporting the UNV volunteers and their commitment to volunteerism, she is also about to introduce a new element to the UN mission. Read
More about: Education  Gender  Peace & conflict resolution
Countries:  Afghanistan
UNV volunteer Caroline Kennedy from Guyana (left) takes the floor at a UNIFEM workshop on civic education. (UNV)
Positive and thankful in South Sudan
Warrap, Sudan: Do I like it all the time? No! Do I complain sometimes? Of course!... Then on the flip side, there is so much to be grateful for. I have grown much stronger emotionally and mentally and have a better understanding of myself. Read
More about: Electoral assistance  Gender  Peace & conflict resolution
Countries:  Guyana  Sudan
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