In 2022, Mount Kenya University funded three national UN University Volunteer assignments. Brenda Kemunto Onyancha, Jane Wamucii Ngure and Jeremiah Newton Otieno joined the teams of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), International Organization for Migration (IOM) and UN Environment Programme (UNEP), respectively. The youth volunteers share the valuable experience they have gained in global development, and how their perspectives have changed through their assignments. 

Funding partners may choose to sponsor nationals of their own country or those of other nationalities to contribute their skills and talents for peace and development.  UN Volunteers contribute to key UN projects and functions at country and regional level, and address some of the most pressing peace and development challenges around the world. In 2022, some 736 fully funded UN Volunteers around the world. Of these, 72 per cent were women, 52 per cent were UN Youth and University Volunteers and 12 per cent persons with disabilities.

Orphée landed her internship with the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme in Panama "auf Umwegen", as she says in German, or in an unanticipated way. Initially, she was assigned to a different duty station, but when that assignment was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, her fluency in Spanish qualified her for Panama. "I wanted to contribute to peace and development and felt a direct connection to volunteerism," Orphée shares.

Atsuhito Nakata was deployed as a UN Volunteer Electoral Supervisor with the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) and supported the first general elections in the country. On 8 April 1993, Atsuhito was tragically ambushed and killed, together with his Khmer interpreter, Lek Sophiep, in the province of Kampong Thom.

In Kenya, UN Volunteers took part in the activities marking the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, 3 December, hosted at the Technical University of Mombasa. The event included a booth display and a talent show from special needs schools. UNV highlighted volunteer programmes and potential UN Volunteer assignments that are inclusive of people with disabilities.

When partners fund UNV’s work they can increase the visibility of their international engagement and promote people-centered development cooperation. In addition to broadening participation by supporting UN Volunteers in their field assignments, funding partners also assist UNV to uphold the value and global recognition of volunteerism. Funding UNV is possible through the UNV Special Voluntary Fund and Full Funding Programme. Special Voluntary Fund

As part of UNV's ambitious Digital Transformation programme, the Unified Volunteering Platform (UVP) offers a remarkable feature, namely AI-guided candidate matching.

The 2022 SWVR reveals that cooperation between volunteers and governments helps build collaborative decision-making. Drawing on quantitative and qualitative research with case studies from around the world, it also highlights the role of local volunteers as brokers between their communities and state authorities and underlines the diverse paths volunteering offers to civic participation.

To promote intergenerational solidarity, two UN Volunteers serving with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) in Kenya met during a training session organized by the UNV Kenya Office.

The African Development Bank reports that while 10 million to 12 million youth enter the workforce in Africa each year, only 3 million formal jobs are created annually.