March 2025 — Igniting change through youth

Then came a pivotal moment. The United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) Information and Technology Management team visited UNV headquarters in Bonn and offered a candid assessment: our systems were due for a significant upgrade. UNV responded with determination. It was an opportunity to review our systems and think of solutions.We didn't just patch up things. We rethought everything.Physical servers? Slashed from 7 to 2.Virtual machines? Down from 47 to 9.Legacy systems that translated web addresses? Gone. Replaced by Cloud-based platforms.

Noemi started volunteering at a very young age. At 14, she was already raising awareness of gender equality. “The personal reward of seeing change in people has always driven me,” says Noemi, an economist now. 

I am a Doctor of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences by vocation, although my educational background is diverse, ranging from completing the Institute for Digital Media in Dublin to earning a master's degree in health management, pedagogy, political ecology, and more. I am quite specific and like to combine different tools, knowledge, and experiences to achieve my goals.

Digital technology is more than just a tool; it’s a lifeline, a bridge to a future with no boundaries, only limitless possibilities.

Nesrine Kammourieh is a Digital Communications Associate with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Lebanon. She manages the organization's social media accounts, creates impactful content and manages the digital campaigns. She also monitors the performance of various digital platforms. 

To have A-I-ready data is already a very successful differentiator for organizations over the last few years. Being able to use large amounts of data and provide visually appealing reports and dashboards helps fact-based decision-making and brings transparency, visibility and strategic, tactical and operational benefits. The reports and the dashboards are the visible tip of the data iceberg.

The United Nations E-Government Survey is a development tool that examines countries’ strengths, challenges and opportunities, and informs policies and strategies.  From June to September 2023, each Online Volunteer collected data through online assessments of national and city-level public sector portals, including associated official websites of 193 United Nations Member States.

The recent introduction of the UVP marks a significant turning point. This innovative platform has replaced a multitude of disconnected systems that were previously used to manage various aspects of volunteer recruitment. The result? A streamlined and unified approach that caters to UN Volunteers, candidates, United Nations partners, governmental bodies, and international organizations alike.

Usually, digital transformation often involves multiple projects, each handled by different project teams with distinct responsibilities. These comprise specialized individuals from different sections who contribute to the change. While this approach seems logical, it can inadvertently reinforce silos and hinder progress. Instead, building multidisciplinary and cross-functional teams that blend technology and business acumen and share accountability is critical. This shift away from grouping people by business function fosters collective ownership of shared outcomes.