UNAIDS and UN Volunteer in Lao PDR improve equity of healthcare services for stigmatized groups

Karinda Chuntavorn
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With UNAIDS, I worked with stigmatized groups of people that included homosexuals, sex workers, and people living with HIV/AIDS. Discussing socially sensitive issues with them opened my eyes to new perspectives and outlooks on life. It made me realize that, despite differences, we are all part of one humanity.

“I served with the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) in Lao People’s Democratic Republic. My six-month assignment helped me gain many invaluable experiences that contributed to my personal and professional growth,” says Karinda Chuntavorn, a UN Youth University Volunteer in Resource Mobilization. Her assignment was supported by the Agency for Volunteer Service (AVS) and the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s Home Affairs Bureau (HAB).

Placing gender equality as one of the top priorities of Agenda 2030

Karol Alejandra Arámbula Carrillo
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In 2014, Karol Alejandra Arámbula Carrillo led a project as a Online Volunteer in partnership with The Red Elephant Foundation, based in India, the UNV Online Volunteering service and the MY World Global Survey on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, with the objective to position gender equality as one of the top priorities of international development.

Karol Alejandra Arámbula Carrillo (Mexico) has been a Online Volunteer since 2011. One of her motivations to join UNV’s Online Volunteering service was the desire to help organisations in other countries carry out their work, especially in the field of gender equality. 

Humanitarian crisis: What can I do to help?

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Advice for readers asking what they could do to help 20 million people facing the threat of starvation and famine in Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and Nigeria..

When youth shine, India shines

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Open Editorial by Toily Kurbanov, UNV Deputy Executive Coordinator during a mission to India to discuss global priorities between the government and UNV. 

Korea expands support to United Nations Volunteers scheme

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The Republic of Korea furthers its support for the United Nations Volunteers scheme.

Volunteerism is opportunity to grow

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Interview with Olivier Adam, UNV Executive Director, on the occasion of a strategic dialogue with the Korean Foreign Ministry.

Breaking gender stereotypes in Nepal

Anima Dhakal
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Immediately after the earthquake hit Nepal in April 2015, Anima Dhakal, a civil engineer, came to Karthali, Sindhupalchowk, to serve as a UN Youth Volunteer.

As one of the thirteen women who served as engineers in the demolition and debris management operations of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Anima supported the earthquake-affected areas by using her skills in a traditionally male-dominated field.

“Engineering is for boys while girls are supposed to study management and work in banks,” she recalls her uncle as saying when she was still a student asking for career advice years ago.

UN Volunteer fully funded by Korea helps Timor-Leste take climate action

Sung-gil
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It is rather fitting that the first impression of Timor-Leste that UN Volunteer Sung-gil Lee recalls is the stifling heat he felt when he got off the plane from his home country, Korea, and stepped onto the Dili airport tarmac. That day in February, 2016, Sung-gil reported for his assignment as a UN Volunteer Specialist for Environment with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Soon he would be carrying out a host of duties to help Timor-Leste’s citizens take action against global warming.

Local youth help vulnerable tribal groups in Maharashtra, India

Hindprabha Karve
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“It is very important to encourage youth to take ownership of key issues affecting their community and to voice these to the local government.” Hindprabha Karve is a national UN Youth Volunteer District Coordinator in the state of Maharashtra, western region of India. The state’s Thane-Palghar region is home to the Katkaris – a particularly vulnerable tribal group. The Katkaris are driven to leave their homes due to crushing poverty and a complete lack of traditional employment. The displacement of families has caused rampant malnutrition in Palghar district. Some 600 children died of malnourishment in the district in 2016 alone.

Hindprabha mobilizes youth in the district, and talks about her volunteer work: “Over the last year, 16 community youth volunteers were mobilized to work in Palghar district. We focus our efforts on reducing malnutrition deaths in the district. We help identify acutely malnourished children and refer them to a care center. We also help create awareness in the community about causes and ill-effects of malnutrition.”

Youth volunteers end open defecation in Kerala’s district

Toney Thomas
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“The state authorities view the volunteers with Nehru Yuva Kendra as people who intervene to get the job done.” Toney Thomas is a national UN Volunteer District Youth Coordinator in the state of Kerala, south of India. One of the challenges faced by the state’s Ernakulam district is open defecation. The tribal population residing in the district continues to practice primitive traditional methods, including defecating in the open. This is a result of lack of education and limited connection with the outside world.

Toney talks about the situation, “Open defecation poses a serious threat to the health of children in India, with 188,000 children under the age of five dying of diarrhea in the country. I took the risk and without any financial support for advance planning, took on the challenge of mass mobilizing community youth volunteers.”

One of the hardest areas to reach is Variyam, a small tribal village nestled in thick forests.

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