Beyond averages: do gender disparities exist in volunteering?

Katrina Borromeo
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In 2019 and 2020, UNV reported achieving a 50-50 gender balance among its men and women volunteers. This is an admirable feat and sets a good foundation for moving towards gender equality. But the work does not end there. We also need to look at the hidden figures and go beyond averages to better understand and uncover intersectional disparities. 

Are these numbers more or less the same across regions, age groups and types of volunteering work? Are women and men volunteers getting the same recognition for the same types of work? And how can disaggregating such data help us better address gender differences in volunteering?

What do the hidden figures tell us?

Looking beyond averages will tell a slightly different story about how we fare with achieving gender balance in volunteering - at UNV and at the global level. 

For example, if we disaggregate data on UNV gender averages, we will see that in some regions such as in Western and Central Africa, the average drops to 40-60 in favour of male volunteers, whereas in Latin America, the number of women volunteers tend to be higher. 

Seven Kazakh citizens to be deployed as volunteers to serve the United Nations

Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
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The initiative of the Head of State to declare this year the Year of the Volunteer is a great incentive for the development of the volunteer movement, especially during this pandemic. Under the aegis of the republican front office Birgemiz, volunteer headquarters were created, hotlines were established and about 40 thousand volunteers were involved in providing targeted assistance to socially-vulnerable segments of the population. As a result, during the state of emergency, assistance was provided to almost one million citizens in difficult situations.

Germany provides sustained support to UNV, including increased financial resources in 2020

Berlin, Germany
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The Government of Germany is a long-standing key partner of UNV, and regular partner consultations take place with the two lead ministries in Bonn and Berlin, and with the German mission to the UN in New York, to assess and advance this multi-faceted partnership: the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Federal Foreign Office. The focus of the recent dialogue was on the current collaboration as well as broader issues relate

Launch of International Volunteer Day theme 2020

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Over the last months, as the COVID 19 pandemic has ravaged across the world, volunteers have been at the forefront of medical, community and societal responses. 

The COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan by the WHO identifies community volunteers as key stakeholders for risk communication and community engagement. This indicates the valuable and the great effort the WHO believes volunteers is doing during COVID-19. Yet, recognition is still not enough, especially when it comes to volunteers' own well-being and access to health care. 

"It’s fine not to be fine: Personal connection is what matters"

Miroslava Vavrecanova
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World Mental Health Day is recognized on 10 October each year. Personnel mental health and wellbeing is a priority for the United Nations at any time, and it is crucial now more than ever to bring the conversation around mental health and wellbeing to light. We should explore different aspects and angles to mental health in conversations about how we can take care of ourselves, reduce stigma and work together to create a healthier workforce. Head of Human Resources at the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme, Miroslava (Mirka) Vavrecanova, shares her reflections on mental health, COVID-19 and the future of work at UNV and beyond.

There is no doubt that 2020 has been challenging. Difficult work situations, changing contexts, working from home and in many instances, disconnection from friends and family. It has forced us to confront our personal and professional realities in new ways. In my personal situation, I am a single mother and COVID-19 has taught me I wear many hats – I am a mother, father, student, team leader, subordinate. Of course, this has been hard on my mental health and wellbeing.

Turning the tables for women builds a more resilient world

Sika Ahawo, Portfolio Specialist, UNV Regional Office for West and Central Africa
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Since the beginning of the pandemic in West and Central Africa, 1,270 women UN Volunteers have been mobilized to respond to the crisis. These women are health professionals, community leaders, engineers, scientists, women's rights activists, researchers, communication specialists, and statisticians. They are making a significant and crucial contribution every day in the most affected socio-economic sectors. Inspired by powerful role models across the world, these women UN Volunteers are real-time examples of transformational leadership in communities, organizations, and public institutions.

As I reflect on this year’s International Women’s Day’s theme “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world”, I cannot help but be tempted to reconsider women’s triple roles of productive, reproductive, and community work in society, often referred to as their triple “burden”.

What if this triple burden, which predisposes women to be the hardest hit by this pandemic, was the stepping-stone that will make women the backbone of recovery in communities?

Closing the gender gap: five inspiring UN Volunteers

UNV East and Southern Africa
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From economic empowerment in Burundi to positive masculinity in Madagascar, meet five UN Volunteers (women and men) breaking barriers, changing perceptions, and transforming the lives of women in the East and Southern African region.

Communicating for gender equality

Shukria Syed (UN Women, South Sudan) – contributing to SDGs 3, 4, 5 & 17)

In South Sudan, Shukria Syed is applying her communications skills, as a UN Volunteer,  to help tackle the pressing needs for gender equality in the country.

Her assignment with UN Women South Sudan has involved leveraging local means of communication to spread critical information. With her team, she has participated in messaging gender concerns via media platforms such as radio.

New era for the volunteers of Karakalpakstan: fighting an invisible enemy

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COVID-19 has tested the strength of communities around the world. It has presented challenges for healthcare systems, economies and labor markets, and has influenced many other facets that impact people’s lives. Today the world is adapting to a new reality, in which self-isolation is a life-saving practice. However, all the while there are some who have decided to respond to the current pandemic by volunteering their time and energy, helping communities overcome the new difficulties they face.

Some volunteers load trucks with medical masks and hygiene items. Others rush to distribute printed handouts which outline basic hygiene principles to use in the face of COVID-19. Many more sit in front of their laptops and phones at home, reaching out to households in remote and affected areas, and assisting health and social workers who disseminate handouts.

Building accessible justice for gender-based violence victims in Turkey

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National UN Volunteers with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Turkey devote their skills to help women and girls subjected to violence access legal aid. As young women leaders themselves, Eda Senel, Kivilcim Kardelen Yok, and Pelin Kocer work together to fight gender-based violence, which has been on the rise during the pandemic.

Eda Senel, Kivilcim Kardelen Yok, and Pelin Kocer were always interested in gender issues. Now, as UN Volunteers, they apply their knowledge gained throughout their academic studies and previous internships, to contribute to the improvement of coordination and operations.  

Utilizing artificial intelligence for equitable and efficient volunteer selection

Avetis Avagyan and Hae-Yeon Alice Jeong
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Continuing with the UNV Digital Transformation journey, our next major milestone is the introduction of the state-of-the-art cloud-based volunteer recruitment and management platform: the Unified Volunteer Platform (UVP) in May 2021. The establishment of the UVP, coupled with the introduction of new UN Volunteer Conditions of Service (COS), will result in significant efficiency gains for partners, specifically the faster deployment of UN Volunteers worldwide, at a reduced operational cost.

UNV’s new Unified Volunteering Platform will replace several older volunteer recruitment and management applications. While UVP users will enjoy a number of major policy, process and system improvements, one innovation we are working on is the strategic utilization of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

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