In 2021, 24 Chinese youth took up UN Volunteer assignments to serve with 14 UN agencies around the world. Shuyi Song was one of them. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Shuyi's scheduled on-site assignment was changed to a telecommuting opportunity.

Vanuatu is a small island developing country with pristine coasts and luscious tropical nature that is also at high risk of natural disasters. The compounding impact of this is a climate security crisis, with quickly deteriorating livelihoods, and lacking opportunities for a sustainable ecosystem where all can thrive. COVID-19 only compounded matters further.

At 25 years of age, I was a teacher in Australia, yearning to experience something new. Out of the blue, I was offered an opportunity to teach at a missionary school in central Liberia. I remember going to a nearby library to check where Liberia was in the atlas!

Since 2007, more than 95 UN Volunteers have been engaged with OCHA in Latin America and the Caribbean and 30 in Europe and Central Asia. In Ukraine, OCHA successfully used UN Volunteers to scale up its humanitarian response to COVID-19 in the face of escalating needs. 

The fourth State of the World’s Volunteerism Report (SWVR), Building Equal and Inclusive Societies, is designed to strengthen understanding on volunteerism and demonstrate its universality, scope, and reach in the twenty-first century.

In the region, more than 4.8 million Venezuelans have left the country towards other territories like Peru, where 57 percent live in overcrowded spaces (World Bank, 2020).

In Niger, three UN Volunteers in humanitarian affairs are facilitating the work of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA). Oumou Moumouni, Fajimata Abba Gana and Farida Zakaria Abderrahmane are assigned to Niamey, Tillabéry and Tahoua regions respectively. In a sector that requires more women, Farida, Fatima and Oumou are more than welcome.  In some areas, the socio-cultural constraints are such that, despite the emergency, only women can interact with the women. So having these volunteers on our team is a huge help.

It’s different when you have suffered from discrimination yourself and when you are part of a minority. These life experiences help you develop more empathy towards those who need assistance. --Alfonso Zabaleta, UN Volunteer Humanitarian Affairs Access Officer with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Venezuela

The diversity of cultures and identities is a stamp of the Latin America and Caribbean region. On United Nations Day, we recognize the efforts of the UN system, and the UN Volunteers who work therein, to implement solutions that are inclusive, innovative and respectful.