Embracing their 70s with the UN: a tale of two senior UN Volunteers

James and Carmen Haddow, UN Volunteers with UNSOM and UNAMA
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This year, the United Nations turns 75 years old. This milestone provides a timely opportunity to celebrate the organization’s accomplishments and reflect on lessons learned. On 10 October this year, James Haddow turned 75 years old; his wife, Carmen Haddow, is 72. They are both currently serving as UN Volunteers: James as an Electoral Logistics Specialist with the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), and Carmen as Administrative Officer, Human Resources, Training and UNV Support, with the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). Oceans and continents apart, they are united in their passion for the United Nations and advancing sustainable development.

Senior UN Volunteers are not common – the average global age of UN Volunteers is 32 – but the Haddows can attest to the many benefits their presence brings both to the missions they serve, and to themselves as older volunteers. Rather than spending their retirement years in quiet relaxation, the Haddows, both from the United Kingdom, chose to share their lifetime of expertise as UN Volunteers with United Nations missions.

Making information available for migrants in Tajikistan

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Supporting vulnerable groups and communities with up-to-date services and information is among the key areas that UN Volunteers contribute to in Europe and Central Asia. As part of these efforts, UN Volunteer Sodam Baek, whose assignment is fully funded by the Republic of Korea, joined the International Organization of Migration (IOM) recently. She shares how she helps migrants receive verified news and information useful to ensure the security and welfare of their families in Tajikistan.

Tajikistan is the country of origin for large numbers of migrant workers who seek employment abroad. It is hard to find a single Tajik citizen who does not have a family member or friend currently working abroad. In many cases, however, their journeys are connected with risks of social disintegration and human trafficking. Despite the comprehensive efforts to address the remaining challenges in regards to migration management, Tajik migrants and their families continue to face a lot of difficulties both abroad and at home.

Transforming decision making at UNV through data, statistics and business intelligence

Frederic LeMaistre, Chief, with Luis Lopez and Bansi Zala, ICT
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The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme has introduced a complete Enterprise Business Intelligence (BI) solution, with the aim of transforming UNV into a data-driven decision-making organization. We are using Microsoft BI technologies (ranked #1 in 2020 by Gartner) for BI data to optimize our volunteer recruitment and management, finance, procurement, support and corporate planning.

2020 is the year when UNV moved towards strong financial BI capabilities, which has facilitated delivering an exhaustive, accessible and accurate financial picture of the organization and set the baseline for stronger financial monitoring and forecasting.

We are proud that UNV has invested into BI and that through our digital transformation project we are transforming how UNV is using data and statistics for all critical domains. --Frederic Le Maistre, Chief, ICT Unit at UNV

Upscaling my contribution to resolving global issues through on-site and online volunteering

Yuliya Pismennaya, Online Volunteer
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I am proud to provide my expertise to organizations abroad and collaborate to bridge the gap between UN agencies, policy-makers and civic activists. For me, online volunteering has become a practical option to upscale my contribution to resolving global issues.

I have served as an Online Volunteer with the UN Volunteers (UNV) programme, partaking in emergency mapping, women’s rights advocacy, NGO funding, creating learning opportunities for people in poverty, rare bird species conservation and much more. 

2,000 impressions, or, why I promote my UN Volunteer experience

Dilara Umudova, Communications Officer and former national UN Volunteer with UNDP Azerbaijan
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Year 2019. One day, in the middle of my active search for opportunities to serve the Sustainable Development Agenda, I see a national UN Volunteer Communications Officer opening with the UN Development Programme in Azerbaijan. I read the description, thinking "this is about me!" and applied immediately... and so my journey began. It’s been more than a year now since that day, and I can proudly say that I am where I am supposed to be.

Year 2020. After this one-year life-changing journey, I got my certificate and shared it on my LinkedIn profile, tagging the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme. With that another exciting journey began: people from all over the world started liking, sharing and asking me to talk through my experience with them. From Africa to Asia, more than 2,000 people felt inspired by two simple sentences I wrote when sharing my UN Volunteer Certificate of Service.

Volunteering for inclusion and resilience

UN Volunteers serve communities prone to disaster in China and Nepal
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UN Volunteers across the Asia Pacific region ensure that disaster risks are reduced and communities are better prepared for response and recovery. In doing so, they contribute to sustainability in their communities. On International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, two UN Volunteers serving in China and Nepal, reflect on their assignments.

Resilience in Zhouqu 

UN Volunteer Zeng Yunheng has been serving as a Project Coordinator for the United Nation’s Development Programme (UNDP) - Demonstration Project for Poverty Reduction and Resilience Construction - in Zhouqu County, Gansu Province in China since November 2019. Due to geological and geographical conditions, Zhouqu is one of the worst-hit areas by natural hazards in the country.

Facing multiple challenges of COVID-19 and drought and saltwater intrusion in Viet Nam

Natsuko Hatano, UN Volunteer with UNICEF
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UN Volunteer Natsuko Hatano (Japan) began her volunteer assignment with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Viet Nam in May 2019. As part of the Child Survival and Development Programme Section, Natsuko is supporting the Water, Sanitization and Hygiene team and Emergency Working Group of UNICEF in their COVID-19 response efforts. She shares her experience in supporting the WASH response in the current context.

Water filters, soap and hand sanitizers are essential for the survival and development of children – especially those who struggle every day from poor sanitation and a lack of access to drinking water – and have become more critical than ever during the global pandemic. In Viet Nam, UNICEF’s WASH team has distributed critical supplies to communal health centres and communities in selected provinces, reaching over 2.1 million people as of November 2020 through their immediate response.

Volunteers play an integral role in restoring peace in Mali

Marc Lalanne, UNV Programme Manager, MINUSMA
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On this international day of peace, 172 UN Volunteers are serving with the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). They are called Semhar from Eritrea, Shirin from the State of Palestine, Natasha from Slovakia, or Trinite from Chad; women and men of 57 nationalities deployed throughout the country. While some are starting their careers, others, already retired, have chosen to return to help build the much-needed peace.

The volunteers occupy various functions within the fifty sections of MINUSMA. Among them are medical staff, human rights specialists, electoral advisers, air movement specialists and logisticians.

Like an orchestra, everyone plays their part in this large ensemble in order to restore peace. The experiences and life paths of these UN Volunteers differ, but cardinal values animate them and bring them together. They have the merit of being committed, dynamic and of offering solutions.

Practicing negotiations for peace and recovery with youth

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This year, the "Myropolis" (City of Peace) initiative was at risk of total cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is implemented in the villages of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine, within the framework of the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme. One of the first tasks of UN Volunteer Olga Tsuprykova, serving with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), was to find activists from 2019 project alumni and to prepare and coordinate the new session of "Myropolis".

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.

South-South Volunteering as a driving force for development: Experiences from Asia and the Pacific

Mr Olivier Adam, UNV, and Mr Jorge Chediek, UNOSSC
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On the UN Day for South-South Cooperation, the Executive Coordinator of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme, Mr Olivier Adam, and Director of the UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) and Envoy of the UN Secretary-General on South-South Cooperation, Mr Jorge Chediek, reflect on the importance of South-South volunteering as a driving force for development.

In this time of global crisis, solidarity between people and communities is more important than ever. Volunteerism exists in all human societies and reflects important human values of mutual aid, service, community-building and engagement. It is often scaled up in times of crisis in response to immediate needs. Volunteers are already providing important services in the COVID-19 response and will be critical in supporting the recovery, especially as the public health crisis exacerbates economic and social inequalities and exposes vulnerabilities in many communities.

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