Youth volunteerism helps climate action go further, stronger, together

Victoria de Mello
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United Nations Youth Volunteer Victoria de Mello from Salvador, Brazil briefly explains how her personal experience convinced her about the power of youth volunteerism for climate action.

Coming from a place where inequality and urban violence are the rule, my beautiful city is also under immense environmental pressure from climate change and deforestation. As part of the few with access to higher education in Salvador, having the opportunity to earn a Law degree and volunteer for climate justice projects in University helped to make me a potential solution to the challenges facing my community.

Supporting Nepali youth as they take sexual and reproductive health rights into their own hands

UNV partnering with UNAIDS
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UNV is partnering with UNAIDS in Nepal on stopping new HIV infections and ensuring that people have access to information. UN Volunteers are supporting Nepali youth as they take sexual and reproductive health and rights into their own hands. Driving a youth-led social media initiative, ‘Live2Luv in Nepal’ is giving young people a platform to voice their concerns, experiences and opinions, ask questions and challenge taboos about sexual and reproductive health.

Some 103 UN Volunteers served with UNAIDS in 38 countries over the past 10 years.  Supporting the mandate of UNAIDS, they have been working towards stopping new HIV infections, ensuring that everyone living with HIV has access to treatment, protecting and promoting human rights and producing data for decision-making. 

UN Volunteers ensure healthy lives and wellbeing in East and Southern Africa

East and Southern Africa
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In East and Southern Africa, the achievement of SDG 3, Good Health and Wellbeing, is particularly crucial. According to WHO, Sub-Saharan Africa “confronts the world’s most dramatic public health crisis”. Mortality among children under 5 years of age remains high, with a rate of 84 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2015. The incidence of HIV infection is still highest in sub-Saharan Africa, with 1.5 new infections per 1,000 uninfected people in 2015. In 2016, sub-Saharan Africa was home to 90 per cent of malaria cases and 91 per cent of malaria deaths.

In East and Southern Africa, the achievement of SDG 3 is particularly crucial. According to WHO, Sub-Saharan Africa “confronts the world’s most dramatic public health crisis”.  Mortality among children under 5 years of age remains high, with a rate of 84 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2015. The incidence of HIV infection is still highest in sub-Saharan Africa, with 1.5 new infections per 1,000 uninfected people in 2015. In 2016, sub-Saharan Africa was home to 90 per cent of malaria cases and 91 per cent of malaria deaths.

World Social Work Day 2018: Social Work and Youth—Towards Inclusive Sustainable Development

Palais des Nations, 1202 Genève, Switzerland
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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

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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

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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"

East and Southern Africa
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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"

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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

UNV partnering with the United Nations Children's Programme
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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

Dzemal Calakovic, Godwin Benson Mkamanga & Ia Saakadze
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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

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