Ensuring women's voices are heard

Leyla Novruzlu, UN Volunteer with UNDP Azerbaijan
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Leyla Novruzlu is a UN Volunteer with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). She focuses on Sustainable Development Goal 5 calling for gender equality under the second phase of Women's Economic Empowerment in the South Caucasus programme in Azerbaijan.

 

Leyla started her volunteering journey with UNDP as a Project Clerk.

She provides administrative support, maintains project documents, and assists communication across many levels. "I am keen to contribute to a culture of inclusivity within the team and ensure that women's voices are heard and valued at every stage of the project." Leyla shares.

Think and then act for the environment

Bilel Dhouib, UN Volunteer Environmental Education Officer, UNMISS South Sudan
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I am Bilel Dhouib, UN Volunteer Environmental Education Officer with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). The mission's mandate is to protect civilians and build durable peace. I am part of a creative team making sure our work is eco-friendly.

I serve with the Environment and Occupational Safety and Health Unit.

Every newcomer to UNMISS, whether civilian, military, or police, goes through environmental induction training. My responsibility is to make sure they understand how important it is to consider the environment in everything they do.

We look at aspects such as wastewater management, solid waste management, and energy use.

Peacekeeping in hard-to-reach Abyei

UN Volunteers with UNISFA
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Prince Jacob from India, Caroline Barozi from Uganda, and Tsegaye Hailemeskel from Ethiopia are UN Volunteers with the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA). 

Prince Jacob is a UN Volunteer Nurse. He administers vaccinations, delivers nursing care, facilitates prompt emergency responses, and ensures medical support for UNISFA's field operations.

Nursing in the peacekeeping context — Prince's service directly impacts the health and welfare of all personnel including international peacekeepers and local staff engaged in the mission's endeavours.

Abyei is situated between Sudan and South Sudan.

Online Volunteers compile data for digital governance

UNV Online Volunteering Service
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Belenky Lorena from Argentina and Won Fy Lee from Korea were among the 250 Online Volunteers from 80 countries who supported the development of the 2024 United Nations E-Government Survey conducted by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA). 

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.

Protection Officer in South Sudan Impacts Lives

Leonsious Ranjitraj, UN Volunteer Women Protection Officer, UNMISS
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Leonsious Ranjitraj is a UN Volunteer Women Protection Officer with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). He reflects on his volunteering experience.  

 

This is my first experience serving with UN peacekeeping operations. 

My day-to-day tasks include documenting, reviewing and analyzing cases of conflict-related sexual violence. This exercise helps identify trends and patterns to inform prevention and response interventions.

All hands on deck for a sustainable Zambia

Vanessa Akibate, UN Volunteer Communications Specialist, UNDP Zambia
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My journey as a UN Volunteer began in August 2023. I had just completed an incredible learning experience with the African Young Women Leaders Fellowship Programme, a partnership of the African Union Commission and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). As I contemplated my next steps, the call to volunteer came loud and clear. 

I am an international UN Volunteer Communications Specialist from Ghana. My role with UNDP in Zambia involves connecting with people throughout the country to document stories of strife and triumph.

What I value most in my work is storytelling and bringing to the fore voices of the ones not heard.

Connecting the dots through volunteering

Niels Vestergaard Knudsen, Chief, External Relations and Communications Section at UNV
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It’s 1981, a young German, Gudrun Merzenich travels from Germany to Sri Lanka to support a grassroots enterprise that helps local small-holder farmers. Gudrun is with the United Nations Volunteers (UNV). Volunteering shapes her future career choice – the service of others transpires into a medical career in Bonn.
 
Fast forward almost 50 years, Raoul Herbert, another German with UNV supports operations in the United Nations’ Ukraine crisis response and its spillover to neighbouring countries. Raoul assists displaced Ukrainians in humanitarian and development projects in Moldova. 
 
What binds the two Germans, Gudrun and Raoul – volunteering and UNV.
 

The volunteer organization of the United Nations is United Nations Volunteers, in short – UNV, which provides grassroots-level response in emergencies and local-level support to peace, humanitarian and development initiatives.

Are you listening? Every Girl Counts!

Christian Hainzl, UNV Regional Manager for Asia and the Pacific
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Our world is becoming increasingly digital and in this context, Online Volunteers play a significant role in tackling sustainable development challenges from any device, anywhere. Like they did in 2023 on a first large-scale Online Volunteering initiative aimed at addressing child marriage, a violation of human rights.

There are 290 million child brides in South Asia — the highest in the world, accounting for 45 percent of the global data. 

Since 2016, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) have implemented a Global Programme to End Child Marriage in 12 of the highest prevalence countries — including Bangladesh, India, and Nepal.

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