The training, which occurred between 31 October and 3 November, included interactive sessions, group work, case studies, role modelling and competency design to better understand the complexity of sustainable development and to identify comparative advantages of volunteerism in implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
UN Volunteers in Central Asia meet for regional training in Kazakhstan
UN Volunteers in Central Asia meet for regional training in Kazakhstan
The training, which occurred between 31 October and 3 November, included interactive sessions, group work, case studies, role modelling and competency design to better understand the complexity of sustainable development and to identify comparative advantages of volunteerism in implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
‘Racing’ to stop violence against women
Natacha Montenegro (Switzerland) served as international UN Youth Volunteer with UN Women in Tajikistan to work as Basic Social Services Officer on a project supporting civil registration in the country. Having volunteered for a decade with several non-governmental organizations in Switzerland, India, Russia and England, she was very happy to join UN Women to try to change the patterns perpetuating gender-based violence against women.
According to a recent Oxfam study conducted in six districts in Tajikistan, 96.5% of men interviewed and 71.5% of women consider that women must tolerate violence for the benefit of the family. Needless to say, when I first read this report, only a couple of weeks after I began my assignment, I was shocked by these statistics.
At Executive Board meeting 2018, Member States applaud UNV for enhancing its ability to deliver
Mr Tegegnework Gettu, UNDP Associate Administrator, opened UNV’s session at the meeting. He highlighted the strong UND/UNV partnership and noted how through its engagements with UNDP, UNV is constantly demonstrating how volunteers are vital to the success of development initiatives at local, regional and national levels.
A united partnership to increase the number of voices against violence in Togo
Around the world, 6 out of 10 girls experience violence in their lifetime. In Togo, violence and harassment of a sexual nature, as well as early pregnancy in schools, are all obstacles to girls' schooling. The trivialization of this violence during adolescence perpetuates it in adulthood, reproducing an endless cycle.
"Voices Against Violence" in Togo is an $85,000 USD project that was funded and implemented by the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme between October 2016 and April 2017. The project is based on an informal education program developed by the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts and UN Women. It aims to fight against gender-based violence by raising the awareness of young secondary students about the root causes of violence, ways to prevent it, and finding solutions.
Rapid response to sexual and gender based violence in emergency and humanitarian settings in West and Central Africa
The West and Central African regions are faced with complex emergency crises. In the Lake Chad Basin (LCB) some 17 million people in Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria, are affected by insecurity, food insufficiency, droughts, and diseases. A breakdown in civil order following disasters consistently increases the occurrence of sexual violence, exposure to sexually transmitted infection such as HIV, and unwanted pregnancies. Sexual and gender-based violence is higher in sites for those who are internally displaced such as refugee camps and conflict areas.
The Gender Based Violence Sub Cluster Report from West and Central African countries facing armed conflict revealed that the prevalence of sexual and gender-based violence has drastically increased since the last report in 2016. It is in this line that we jointly organized, in 2017, a regional capacity building workshop on gender mainstreaming, prevention and response to Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in emergency and humanitarian settings in Dakar, Senegal.
On a peacekeeping mission, you become part of history
My decision to enroll in the UN Volunteer roster was emboldened after seeing two female medical doctors reject their assignment offers in Liberia due to social pressures from their families—an unfortunate but common occurrence in Pakistan. I admit, the situation in Liberia at that moment was not very encouraging, but I felt bad seeing two qualified women from my country not able to follow their aspirations. That was the moment when I decided that I was going to enroll, and become a UN Volunteer.
I first became a UN Volunteer in 2004 when I accepted an assignment with the United Nations Operation in Burundi (ONUB) as a Support Officer. I was excited about the opportunity. I still remember practically jumping from joy in my office when I received the offer. My enthusiasm was quickly dampened by the words of caution from colleagues and friends—some of them calling me crazy for being happy to land a role in a warzone.
Volunteering, South-South and triangular cooperation
Volunteering is a universal human value that can be found in all societies. In southern Africa, for example, the concept of Ubuntu defines the relationships of mutual assistance between people. In Norway, the word dugnad describes a traditional system of cooperation. In the Arab world, the word tatawa'a represents voluntary assistance to others. In Niger, the word samariya is used to express the voluntary commitment of young people to community-based activities. In our various experiences, we all know a traditional form of volunteering.
Volunteering and South-South Cooperation share common ideals that make them perfect partners: solidarity, respect and equality. Both have an opportunity to derive mutual benefit from their alliance. The landscape of international volunteering, like that of international cooperation, has changed immensely in the past decades. Today’s programmes are no longer limited to the participation of traditional donor countries of the North.
The 2030 Youth Force—One Year On
It has been more than a year since the 2030 Youth Force was established by 19 young leaders from Asia and the Pacific, sparking a youth and volunteer-led movement that engages young people in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Most recently, leaders from six countries gathered in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, to celebrate their achievements, share best practices and plan for the future.
Since the ambitious group of young women and young men was brought together in June 2016, UNV and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are supporting the network of youth and volunteers by facilitating knowledge-sharing and assisting young leaders to engage in regional and national initiatives. Throughout the initiative, UNDP and UNV have organized capacity-building webinars, arranged opportunities for young leaders to share their opinions in multi-stakeholder conferences at regional and country-level, and collaborated in online and offline activities.
Korea's Global Renewable Energy Forum 2017: Volunteering solutions for green energy
The Global Renewable Energy Forum was organized by the Embassy of the Republic of Korea on 12 November 2017, as a Special Event during COP23. Bearing the title “Towards a Low Carbon, Green Energy Future”, the event provided added value to the COP 23 policy discussions by engaging and informing an international audience on state-of-the-art, energy transition applications and policies in the sectors of transport (e.g., strategy roadmaps, electric vehicles, batteries, ‘mobility as a service’, and diesel phase out policies); and innovative, Integrated Systems (e.g., smart cities, heating