I enthusiastically joined the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), sub-office Gambella, as an international UN Volunteer to contribute towards addressing the plight of persons of concern and provision of protection services which is the core mandate of UNHCR. Since December 2015, I have been the ‘boots on the ground', managing and coordinating the fleet and transport facilitation for UNHCR staff.

The 4th Chinese Youth Volunteer Service Project Competition and Volunteer Service Exchange Expo in 2018 was successfully held during 1-2 December in Sichuan province of China, marking International Volunteer Day under the theme 'Youth Volunteerism for the New Era'. The hosting organizations of this volunteer event included the China Central Youth League (CYL), Central Civilization Office, and Ministry of Civil Affairs, the People’s Government of Sichuan Province and a total of 11 ministerial and provincial governmental entities.

UNV partners with UN entities to provide concrete support in mobilizing and managing UN Volunteers. UNV offers a global talent pool with over 200,000 profiles; a legal framework for engaging UN Volunteers comprising conditions of service, guidance notes and the UNV code of conduct; in addition to programmatic and operations support.

ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

A public affairs specialist, Tommaso was working with the UN Regional Information Centre (UNRIC) in Brussels – after stints in The Hague and Rome – when he decided to upload his profile into the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) database. One night, while walking home with a colleague, he received an email asking if he was interested in joining OCHA’s sub-office in the North Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). "I wasn’t convinced I could make it to the end of the selection process," Tommaso shares.

On 29 November, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme in Fiji launched a flagship report, the State of the World's Volunteerism Report (SWVR) 2018, demonstrating that volunteers across Asia and the Pacific region are a fundamental coping strategy for resilient communities. The SWVR 2018 launch in Suva, Fiji was held on the occasion of the UNV Executive Coordinator's official visit to the Pacific. 

Resolution A/RES/73/140 was co-facilitated through the Third Committee of the General Assembly by the Permanent Missions of Brazil and Japan, and was cosponsored by 124 Member States. The resolution follows the Secretary General’s report ‘Plan of Action to integrate volunteering into the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’, which was presented to the Third Committee at its opening session on 2 October 2018.

Resolution A/RES/73/140 was co-facilitated through the Third Committee of the General Assembly by the Permanent Missions of Brazil and Japan, and was cosponsored by 124 Member States. The resolution follows the Secretary General’s report ‘Plan of Action to integrate volunteering into the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’, which was presented to the Third Committee at its opening session on 2 October 2018.

UN Youth Volunteer Nour Hamayel is 26-years-old and has just completed a two-year assignment with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in her home country, the State of Palestine. As national UN Youth Volunteer, Nour’s primarily role was Y-PEER coordinator – facilitating conversations and activities in the State of Palestine on sexual and reproductive health and HIV prevention on behalf of the UNFPA-funded Youth Peer Education Network.

In Niamey, 10 UN volunteers serve in UNHCR offices as interpreters. Thanks to their commitment, capacities in languages and communications as well as linguistic and cultural proximity with the refugees, they improve the quality of protection and assistance provided to refugees, facilitate interviews, registrations, medical services etc., to better guarantee their rights and well-being. Gabriela Fana Kidane, a young Swedish interpreter of Eritrean origin is an international UN Volunteer with UNHCR in Niamey, Niger.