Providing alternative cooking fuel to refugees amidst COVID-19

Hillary Agwe, UN Volunteer Livelihoods (Agriculture) Assistant
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Access to sustainable energy for cooking, lighting and power remain key challenges in Rwamwanja refugee settlement amidst the Coronavirus outbreak. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) had planned to achieve sufficient energy provision and environmental sustainability in the settlement. Hillary Agwe, national UN Volunteer Livelihoods (Agriculture) Assistant with UNHCR, explains how activities needed to be adjusted with the emergence of COVID-19.

To contain the spread of COVID-19, the government of Uganda started lockdown restrictions, limiting movement and livelihood activities. Previously, the refugees sourced firewood for cooking from host communities. The majority of the refugees did not have access to any renewable energy sources and relied heavily on low-quality fuels, resulting in higher air pollution, and a greater risk of respiratory tract infections and eye diseases, among other negative implications.

Improving the lives of 250,000 refugees through WASH interventions in Uganda

Harnessing the power of volunteering to support youth civil engagement and employment

Shoko Nakatomi, Youth and Adolescent Development Officer with UNICEF, Jordan
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Shoko Nakatomi served as a UN Volunteer Youth and Adolescent Development Officer with UNICEF in Jordan under the Human Resource Development Programme for Peacebuilding and Development (HRD). Her assignment was fully funded by Japan. Shoko was primarily responsible for managing, monitoring and delivering the results of the National Youth Engagement and Volunteering Movement programme for one million Jordanian and Syrian refugee youth.

Despite high enrollment rates in formal education, youth (aged 15-24) unemployment in Jordan is 37.4 per cent, more than double the world average. Unemployment of young Jordanian women is even greater.  Jordan is one of the countries worldwide with the lowest levels of female participation in the workforce, with 40 per cent of women aged 15-24 and 55 per cent of women aged 25-39 unemployed.

Helping refugee artisans access markets and generate income

Midori Honda, UN Volunteer Livelihoods Officer with UNHCR, Kenya
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The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is a global organization dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for refugees, forcibly displaced communities and stateless people.  In Kenya, UNHCR supports refugees and asylum seekers mainly from Central and Eastern Africa. This is where Midori Honda (Japan), served as a UN Volunteer Livelihoods Officer starting May 2018.

The Livelihoods Unit of UNHCR is responsible for overseeing national livelihood strategies in Nairobi, the Kakuma and Dadaab Camps, as well as the Kalobeiyei settlement.

Livelihood interventions help displaced people secure necessities such as food, water, shelter and clothing while also supporting them to gain skills, capacity and social networks. Fundamentally, livelihood assistance focuses on equipping displaced people to become increasing self-reliant, as well as supporting their capacity to participate in income-generating activities.

The UN at 75: How do we strengthen our mandate in the COVID-19 context?

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What role should international cooperation play in the context of interdependent challenges, which are inevitably impacted by COVID-19? How can volunteerism help ensure that these functions are fulfilled?

The UN at 75: How do we strengthen our mandate in the COVID-19 context?

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What role should international cooperation play in the context of interdependent challenges, which are inevitably impacted by COVID-19? How can volunteerism help ensure that these functions are fulfilled?

Securing the right to education for refugee girls in Bangladesh

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In Bangladesh, around 50 UN Volunteers are taking action to make a difference in the lives of refugees. On World Refugee Day, we share the story of UN Volunteer Education Officer Anika Tanjim, who is one of 28 UN Volunteers supporting the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in its response to the Rohingya crisis in Bangladesh.

UN Volunteers in Bangladesh provide support to refugees in issues related to education, water and sanitation, health care, research, nutrition, child care and gender, among others. Based in Cox’s Bazar, they serve with the international Organization for Migration (IOM), UN Development Programme (UNDP), UN Population Fund (UNFPA), UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), UNICEF and UN Women.

When refugees assist fellow refugees, an example from Burkina Faso

Ahmed Ag Mohamed Aly, Oussamata Iba and Mohamed Ould Zeni
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In 2019, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme launched a pilot project to mobilize refugees as UN Volunteers, in support of the refugee community in Burkina Faso, which includes more than 25,000 Malian refugees. Ahmed, Mohamed and Oussamata are refugees who were selected to support UNHCR operations as UN Volunteers in their own communities. One year on, we share their experiences.

Since March 2019, Mohamed Ould Zeni has served as a Community Mobilization Assistant with UNHCR in Djibo, in the north of the country. Every day he monitors households and ensures that cohabitation and relationships between local host populations and refugees are as peaceful as possible. 

Renewing hope: UN Volunteers supporting UNHCR’s work for refugees in the Arab States

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The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimates the number of forcibly displaced people at 79.5 million worldwide. Of these, 20.4 million refugees are under the agency’s mandate. The scene in the Arab States region is complex, with multiple emergency situations in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Libya posing overwhelming challenges on an unprecedented scale. The region is also affected by some of Africa’s largest refugee crises of South Sudan and Somalia, and is a main point of entry for refugees heading to Europe.

To support UNHCR in delivering its mandate, more than 310 UN Volunteers have served with in the Arab States during the period 2016-2019, over 50 per cent of them women. This group of diverse and well-trained practitioners strengthened UNHCR’s capacity to provide protection and critical emergency assistance for refugees, instilling hope and trust in hard times.

Refugee education in times of COVID-19

Bahati Ernestine, UN Volunteer with UNHCR, Kenya
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Bahati Ernestine is a 26-year-old refugee from Rwanda living in Kenya. She is also a UN Volunteer serving with UNHCR in Kenya and a nurse working on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic response. Bahati shares an excerpt of the keynote speech she gave at a virtual forum convened by UNHCR and Kiron on 19 June 2020 on the impact of COVID-19 on refugee education. 

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