Without the active participation and inclusion of youth, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development cannot be achieved. Young people constitute over 1.8 billion persons around the world. Already one in five people volunteer their time and efforts to organisations to contribute to sustainable development.
World Social Work Day 2018: Social Work and Youth—Towards Inclusive Sustainable Development
World Social Work Day 2018: Social Work and Youth—Towards Inclusive Sustainable Development
Without the active participation and inclusion of youth, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development cannot be achieved. Young people constitute over 1.8 billion persons around the world. Already one in five people volunteer their time and efforts to organisations to contribute to sustainable development.
UNV and UNDP engaging young talent with disabilities for the SDGs
With a commitment to diversity, inclusion and leaving no one behind, UNDP and UNV are implementing a Talent Programme for Young Professionals with Disabilities to increase the inclusion of persons with disabilities into the workforce of the development sector. The programme also aims to build a talent pipeline of highly qualified professionals with disabilities who can contribute to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at national and global levels.
The UNDP-UNV Talent Programme will offer young people with disabilities the opportunity to acquire practical work experience and exposure to the work of the UN Development System through assignments with country, regional or headquarters offices of UNDP and other UN entities. UNDP-UNV will identify relevant assignments and select applicants. Programme participants and host offices will benefit from dedicated support, guidance and professional development opportunities as part of the programme.
Take Five: "Thousands of people leave their homes, families and, often, countries in order to help humanity as UN Volunteers"
How do you see the partnership between UN Women and UN Volunteers and why is this important?
Take Five: "Thousands of people leave their homes, families and, often, countries in order to help humanity as UN Volunteers"
How do you see the partnership between UN Women and UN Volunteers and why is this important?
UN Youth Volunteers bridging UNICEF and young women and men in Indonesia
There are 1.2 billion adolescents aged 10-19 years in the world today, and more than half of them are living in Asia and the Pacific. However, there is a lack of services that can support the different needs of the children, young people and adolescents. That is why the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Indonesia, a country with around one-third of its population aged 10-24 years, has been hosting UN Volunteers, including UN Youth Volunteers, in its efforts to support adolescents and youth. These UN Volunteers are supporting UNICEF to understand, connect, and engage with adolescents from the perspectives of young women and men.
Ms Valerie Crab, Programme Specialist and Innovation Lead, has been working with two national UN Youth Volunteers and one national UN Volunteer in the twenties on innovation, such as the U-Report Indonesia, a polling system that uses social media to help deliver youth opinions to policymakers. “I think that UN Volunteers should be recruited to bring an added value to a programme that otherwise we wouldn’t have access to,” she says. On the value of having a UN Youth Volunteers in her team, she describes,
Volunteering with dedication to peace and development in South Sudan
UN Volunteers serving with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) demonstrate their dedication and commitment every day while working for peace and development in a conflict-ridden country. Dzemal Calakovic (Montenegro) serves as a UN Volunteer Human Rights Officer in Yambio. Godwin Benson Mkamanga (Malawi) serves as a Fire Safety Officer in Rumbek, the capital of Lakes State. Ia Saakadze (Georgia) supports the Aviation Section as an Air Operations Assistant in Juba.
The people of South Sudan deserve to enjoy life, deserve to have food, water, electricity, education and a prosperous future for their children. This is the spirit of volunteerism for me – volunteering to make people’s lives better. --Ia Saakadze, UN Volunteer Air Operations Assistant
UNV partners with UNMISS to advance peace and development in South Sudan
More than 400 UN Volunteers support the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). They are crucial to the success of the mission, performing a range of positions from Communication Officers to Vehicle Technicians. Every day, they go above and beyond in their assignments while enduring hardship conditions. To understand their engagement better, UNV Deputy Executive Coordinator Toily Kurbanov and UNV Regional Manager for East and Southern Africa, Njoya Tikum, visited South Sudan and the UN Volunteers in the Mission earlier this month.
UNMISS was established in 2011 after South Sudan became the newest country on earth and works to deter violence, provide refuge at Protection of Civilian sites across the country, facilitate humanitarian assistance and investigate human rights violations. It is an impartial partner at national and sub-national level to political, religious, traditional and community leaders to foster reconciliation.