They come from Côte d’Ivoire, Italy, Bangladesh, Argentina and Kyrgyzstan… Online Volunteers worldwide allocate their time, competencies and energy to support civil society organizations, public institutions and UN agencies in the fight against COVID-19. In West and Central Africa, Online Volunteers have supported organizations in Senegal, Nigeria and Cameroon as social media administrators, graphic designers, researchers, financial proposal writers, project developers, and even as microbiologists.

The COVID-19 pandemic will have devastating effects on UN programme countries, reversing many positive gains in sustainable development. The negative social and economic impact particularly affects people most often left behind; such as women, children and those with disabilities.  In support of countries and UN partners in the COVID-19 response, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme is investing its own resources to immediately deploy 70 UN Volunteers to countries severely affected by the crisis.

This undertaking aims to develop young women’s leadership capacities to become agents of change for their communities, contributing to social cohesion. I strongly believe in the solidarity and connection between women. Young women need just a bit of support to experience big changes. --Aleksandra Jovanović

One billion active volunteers worldwide are already making important contributions across all SDGs. In July 2020, governments and their partners will come together at the Global Technical Meeting on Reimagining Volunteerism for the 2030 Agenda to discuss what we know about the transformative potential of volunteering, and to reflect on how to maximize the impact of volunteering under the 2030 Agenda.

The Government of Bangladesh will fund these UNV assignments. With this agreement Bangladesh becomes the first country to enter into an agreement with UNV, to deploy civil servants. Bangladesh is also the first South Asian country to be a signatory to the Fully-Funding partnership with UNV.

In September 2019, the declaration, “gearing up for a decade of action and delivery for sustainable development” was adopted at the United Nations General Assembly. World leaders called for a decade of action to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 and committed to their own actions to advance the agenda. Now that the Decade of Action is upon us, UNV is also committing to more action for the achievement of the SDGs.

The compilation of research findings launched in partnership with the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports in India is an outcome of the India Volunteering Conclave held in August 2019 in New Delhi. Over 250 stakeholders participated in the two-day event to promote volunteerism and youth participation in development processes and nation-building. They shared good practices and discussed innovative ideas and recommended strategies and policy interventions.

On the occasion of International Volunteer Day, we are organizing a workshop on Volunteers for an Inclusive Future, in collaboration with the Service Beyond Banking (SBI) Foundation. When: 27 December 2019 in Mumbai