One of the foundational data layers needed for the development of efficient approaches to solar energy expansion is information on solar mini-grid installations. These offer a sustainable and affordable solution to expand energy access, particularly in remote areas with high sun exposure. 

In delivering much-needed aid and assistance to the Afghan population, IOM national and international personnel face security risks and elevated stress. One of these is UN Volunteer Staff Counselor Anne Mungai (Kenya). Anne joined IOM in Afghanistan in November 2022, hoping to share her expertise she gained in her native country, Kenya. She supports IOM personnel in the delicate political environment that followed restrictions imposed by the de facto authorities on Afghan women and girls, who have been barred from schools, universities and work.

Christina Sfeir (Lebanon) is currently completing her second assignment as an Online Volunteer with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). She is offering her expertise in clinical psychology as an online counsellor for family members of OCHA staff in Sudan. Earlier this year, Christina provided similar services through OCHA to children of survivors of the earthquake in Türkiye and Syria.

Menstruation affects girls and women every month. Inadequate information on menstrual hygiene management and lack of access to related products expose girls and women, particularly those with limited resources, to discomfort and stigmatization.

Fatoumata T., Fatoumata S. and Ismail were actively engaged in sensitization events and engaging with communities on human rights. They conducted research, collected data and created content for dissemination. Their assignments as UN University Volunteers lasted six months, and their contributions were appreciated by OHCHR. 

Samuel Kimani started as a national UN Volunteer Youth Leadership Coordinator with the Youth Sounding Board in May 2022. As part of the board, he helped establish the youth marker, which offers tools for mainstreaming youth across programming. One of these is a scale that rates progress in building youth confidence and establishing inclusive spaces. In the past, youth mainstreaming was simply about ticking a box. Now, youth working groups conduct a thorough analysis of all initiatives.

Since the start of the pandemic, the Health, Nutrition and Population team of the World Bank has extended several projects in Indonesia. These range from improving the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and facilitating access to vaccines, increasing detection and treatment for tuberculosis, to finding ways in which the national health insurance system can cover the population with even more efficiency.

Over eight million people in Pakistan flood-affected districts are in urgent need of health assistance and the risk of disease outbreaks is particularly high.

As one of the fastest-growing cities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bukavu faces challenges due to the lack of clean water. According to provincial water supply, the population of Bukavu has grown from 650,000 in 1993 to three million presently.

Fatima-Zahra has been a volunteer for the civil society since 2008. After she began her UN Volunteer assignment, she wanted to connect with people especially youth, women and girls who benefit from UNFPA initiatives. In her role, she documents stories centering on issues of stigma and reasons that prevent women, girls, and youth from fulfilling their potential such as child marriage, early pregnancy, maternal death, and gender-based violence.