On 14 July 2026, UN Volunteers serving with UNICEF came together from across the globe for the first Learning Townhall.
The idea was built around a simple question: what do volunteers need to grow, thrive and achieve even greater impact?
UNV and UNICEF Launch Global Learning Townhall Series
The Billion-Person Blind Spot in Public Policy
Opening the event, Tapiwa Kamuruko, Chief of the Volunteer Advisory Services Section at the United Nations Volunteers (UNV), reflected on the webinar series and its focus on understanding and measuring volunteerism.
Invisible to Most. Indispensable to Millions.
We think we know who volunteers are—until we look closer. They are not a single age, profession, or type of person. They are students, engineers, parents, activists, neighbours. Most pass through life unnoticed. Yet behind some of the world's toughest challenges are ordinary people doing extraordinary work—supporting those forced to flee, helping communities recover, protecting the environment, and creating opportunities where none existed before. As we approach World Humanitarian Day, we bring you the story of one of them.
For many people, opportunities to volunteer with the United Nations remain little known. Kateřina Rohanová understands that feeling. Before joining the United Nations, she volunteered in different settings, from summer camps to dance studios but never imagined that volunteering also existed within the UN. She certainly didn't expect that one day she would become a UN Volunteer herself.
UNV Welcomes Recognition of Volunteerism in the 2026 HLPF Ministerial Declaration
A major outcome of the Forum was the inclusion of volunteerism in the Ministerial Declaration, recognizing volunteers' contributions to supporting communities, strengthening resilience and advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This recognition is an important milestone for IVY 2026 and shows growing global support for volunteerism as a driver of sustainable development.
Online Volunteers bring Intergenerational Peace Circles to Communities
Half the world's population is below the age of 30, and many young people today live in areas affected by conflict and violence. As they grow up amidst polarization, insecurity and protracted violence, peace feels like a distant concept. It is spoken about in far away parliaments and convention centers, disconnected from daily realities. Too often, decisions about peace and security are made without the young voices that will be affected.
This discrepancy gave rise to the United Nations' Hear Us. Act Now for a Peaceful World campaign, which works to change the dynamic. In an active outreach strategy, the campaign has recently onboarded around 100 Online Volunteers, the majority of them under the age of 35, from all over the world as peace mobilizers, facilitated by the United Nations Volunteers (UNV).
From Guinea to Nicaragua, from North Macedonia to Uzbekistan, and from Australia to Peru, these Online Volunteers who joined the campaign come from geographically diverse places. Some are students, others are professionals. They are connected by a shared belief that peace begins with dialogue.
As these Online Volunteers are the experts and influencers within their communities, they are able to lead peace and security dialogues that are tailored to the specific context in which they are set.