Rita Chiara Mele, UN Volunteer Energy Specialist, UNDP Comoros In Small Islands Development States (SIDS) like Comoros, gender and climate change are deeply interconnected. For instance, in the clean cooking sector, women have limited access to modern cooking services and still use traditional biofuels such as firewood, which cause deforestation and increase community vulnerability to climate change. 

Bénédicte Kindji, from Benin, is an international UN Volunteer with UN Women. She supports the dissemination and availability of information, and is responsible for monitoring the office's legal issues. Additionally, Bénédicte assists in the management of administrative issues related to human resources, and promotes knowledge building and management.

Natalie Ismail is a UN Youth Volunteer serving as Youth Engagement and Water Scarcity Support Officer with UNICEF Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa, based in Amman, Jordan. She is the focal point for participatory action research in the region. Through this role, Natalie raises awareness and builds the capacity of young people for climate-related issues.

Landscape Restoration Project  Júlia Baena de Mesquita is an Environmental and Social Analyst with the World Bank in Burundi. She ensures that the World Bank’s social safeguards are applied to all the projects. By doing so, she guarantees that development is not done at any cost. This ranges from issues that stem from labour conditions to gender-based violence, and communities’ health and safety. 

In the region, more than 4.8 million Venezuelans have left the country towards other territories like Peru, where 57 percent live in overcrowded spaces (World Bank, 2020).

According to the State of the Climate in Latin America and the Caribbean 2020 Report, more than 312,000 people lost their lives and 277 million were affected by climate-related events between 1998 and 2020; the severe droughts in the southern Amazon were the worst in 50 years, while in Central America, a record of 30 storms a year was recorded with 8 million people affected.

In Kazakhstan, under the leadership of the Ministry of Information and Social Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan, volunteer organizations gathered for the International Volunteer of the Year Award ceremony in Pavlodar on 3 December.  UNV held a panel on International Volunteerism, featuring volunteers serving in Azerbaijan, Jordan, Russia and Turkey.

This year, in Ethiopia, 10 UN Volunteers decided to overcome emerging obstacles. Leveraging the power of e-communication platforms, they embarked on an online three-month journey to connect with young, passionate Ethiopian students. The goal of this bridge-building coaching initiative was to enhance digital, communication and presentation skills and to support young mentees in facing challenges in identifying future career paths. This collaboration was of mutual benefit to the personal development of both mentors and mentees.

In line with the theme of IVD 2021, Volunteer Now for Our Common Future, partners across the Pacific came together to honour volunteers striving to address development challenges in their communities. 

In Thailand, the UNV Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific marked IVD 2021 together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.