UN Youth Volunteers from Sweden learn new skills while supporting peace and development all over the world

Swedish UN Volunteers
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The Government of Sweden has partnered with the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) since 2007. Sweden strongly supports the deployment of Swedish UN Volunteers, as well as UNV’s programmatic work to promote volunteerism worldwide. In fact, Sida doubled its funding in 2018 for up to 40 UNV assignments, with a strong focus on supporting refugees and migrants. Three Swedish UN Volunteers currently serving in Bolivia, Guatemala and Ukraine share their experiences below.

Alexandra Palmquist, UN Youth Volunteer in Environment and Climate Change with UNDP Bolivia

Alexandra arrived in Bolivia six months ago and works on environmental management, monitoring activities, assessing outputs, and preparing reports.

Youth volunteering as an engine for social enterprises in Southeast Asia

Bangkok, Thailand
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The initiatives awarded under the Youth Volunteering Innovation Challenge featured youth engaging volunteers to address social issues with the help of private sector volunteering – the SAP staff members who provided mentorships were also volunteers.  The three-month mentorships enabled grantees to scale up their projects in the areas of environment, people with disabilities, and women’s economic empowerment within urban contexts, with a focus on leveraging volunteering for the localization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Youth volunteering as an engine for social enterprises in Southeast Asia

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The initiatives awarded under the Youth Volunteering Innovation Challenge featured youth engaging volunteers to address social issues with the help of private sector volunteering – the SAP staff members who provided mentorships were also volunteers.  The three-month mentorships enabled grantees to scale up their projects in the areas of environment, people with disabilities, and women’s economic empowerment within urban contexts, with a focus on leveraging volunteering for the localization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Providing primary healthcare in Trinidad and Tobago

Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
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The Primary Healthcare Initiative in Trinidad and Tobago, jointly coordinated by the Ministry of Health and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has come to an end after three successful years. With a medical team comprising 28 UN Volunteer Doctors, one international health officer and one international bio-medical engineer, the project was designed to fill the gaps in service delivery in under-served rural areas and provide primary healthcare to vulnerable communities of Trinidad and Tobago.

Increasing access to basic social services

UN Member States support UNV Strategic Framework 2018-2021

New York, United States
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In his opening statement, Mr Tegegnework Gettu, UNDP Associate Administrator, stated that volunteerism was strongly linked to the SDGs, as it was a cross-cutting issue. He emphasized that UNV – through this new SF – would help UNDP deliver on the 2030 Agenda. Mr Gettu noted that he was thoroughly impressed by the UN Volunteers that he had met in the field (read his full remarks.)

Remarks by Olivier Adam, UNV Executive Coordinator, on the occasion of the UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS Executive Board (First regular session 2018)

New York, United States
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Remarks by Olivier Adam, UNV Executive Coordinator, on the occasion of the UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS Executive Board

- Agenda Item 5:  United Nations Volunteers, UNV Strategic Framework, 2018-2021.

New York, 24 January 2018.

Thank you, Mr. Associate Administrator, for your introductory remarks. I am grateful to you and the Administrator for your leadership, and your strong support to volunteers, volunteerism and UNV.

Mr. President,

Excellencies and Distinguished Members of the Executive Board,

Remarks by Olivier Adam, UNV Executive Coordinator, on the occasion of the UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS Executive Board (First regular session 2018)

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Remarks by Olivier Adam, UNV Executive Coordinator, on the occasion of the UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS Executive Board

- Agenda Item 5:  United Nations Volunteers, UNV Strategic Framework, 2018-2021.

New York, 24 January 2018.

Thank you, Mr. Associate Administrator, for your introductory remarks. I am grateful to you and the Administrator for your leadership, and your strong support to volunteers, volunteerism and UNV.

Mr. President,

Report of the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations (BRAHIMI Report) - A/55/305

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The report mentions that there is no comprehensive staffing strategy to ensure the right mix of civilian personnel in any operation. There are talents within the United Nations system that must be tapped, gaps to be filled through external recruitment and a range of other options that fall in between, such as the use of United Nations Volunteers, subcontracted personnel, commercial services, and nationally-recruited staff. The United Nations has turned to all of these sources of personnel throughout the past decade, but on a case-by-case basis rather than according to a global strategy.

University Volunteer Scheme for youth empowerment and development of Papua: Lessons learned from review of UNV projects.

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The University Volunteer Scheme (UVS) was designed to complement the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme’s community coordination under the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) within the People Centred Development Program (PCDP) in Papua and West Papua. These provinces have the lowest Human Development Index (HDI) rating in Indonesia. The main expected output under the revised PCDP was two university volunteer schemes developed and managed by partner universities in Papua and West Papua.

Digital volunteers deliver lifesaving information during Hurricane Irma

James Powell, U-Report lead (UNICEF)
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After Hurricane Irma hit the Caribbean, UNICEF recruited volunteers using the UNV Online Volunteer service and trained them to respond to messages on the situation and advice on how to stay safe. Seven volunteers were recruited and responded to 8,000 messages in 21 days.

They came in three. Hurricanes Irma, Jose and Maria battered their way through the Caribbean and Southern Florida last summer, with 185mph winds causing an estimated $67 billion worth of damage. Many homes, schools and hospitals were ripped apart, with communities working desperately hard to ensure people remained safe. One important way of ensuring people were prepared was getting potentially life-saving information to those in the path of the storms.

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