UN Volunteers Frans Elinder (Sweden), Sohee Lee (South Korea), Usitha Rajeevan, Prabuddha Boralugoda, Sanaaree Manoratna, and Sathsara Deyalage (Sri Lanka), are from different countries and regions but have one thing in common: they are all serving with the World Food Programme (WFP) in Sri Lanka.

As part of UNV’s disability inclusion strategy, this initiative aims to build a talent pipeline of qualified professionals with disabilities who can contribute to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at national and global levels, with a focus on national capacity. The initiative also supports UN partners to expand diversity and inclusion of persons with disabilities in their workforce worldwide. Eligibility and requirements

UNDP advertised for the Young Environmental Journalists via the Online Volunteering platform of UNV, offering young leaders and environmental and human rights advocates worldwide an opportunity to join the programme. Following a rigorous selection process, 71 young talents were selected to work together in 2019, while 100 young talents from 27 countries participated in the 2020 edition of the campaign.

Following the outbreak of the pandemic in Kenya, 50 UN Volunteer health experts were deployed through a UN joint programme to support the COVID-19 response at county level, where the unexpected surge of infections had overstretched healthcare service-delivery capacity, impacting lives and livelihoods.

To date in 2020, at least 71 UN Volunteer with disabilities are deployed with our UN entity partners. We say at least, because these figures only factor in those volunteers who voluntarily disclosed their disability. There are many more, serving on regular volunteer assignments.

In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), refugees, displaced persons and women are particularly vulnerable to economic shocks because they are disproportionally represented in the labor market as either informal laborers or underpaid and unpaid caregivers.

A crucial part of Anton’s work is to promote gender equality and raise awareness about domestic and sexual violence against women; an issue that has worsened during the lockdown period, as witnessed by the dramatic increase in reported cases.

Last year "Myropolis" gathered nearly 200 young people from Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts (regions) to build city of peace: teenagers participated in educational and artistic activities that helped them to learn how to conduct negotiations for peace and recovery – important knowledge when you live in the conflict affected areas. Many of participants never left their villages before "Myropolis" sessions. Situation in these lands is really fragile and challenging: no descent roads, villages are very difficult to reach, parents do not allow children even to leave the houses.

Many factors motivated me to volunteer: I always wanted to be an agent of change to change mindsets towards persons with disabilities and disability-related matters. I further wanted to prove to the world – through my actions and contributions – that disability does not mean inability. --Pelgrina Shimanu Ndumba, UN Volunteer with UNDP, serving under the UNDP-UNV Talent Programme for Young Professionals with Disabilities