In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), refugees, displaced persons and women are particularly vulnerable to economic shocks because they are disproportionally represented in the labor market as either informal laborers or underpaid and unpaid caregivers.

A crucial part of Anton’s work is to promote gender equality and raise awareness about domestic and sexual violence against women; an issue that has worsened during the lockdown period, as witnessed by the dramatic increase in reported cases.

"I used to sell tomatoes in the morning, at the Mutondo street market, to help my family, and in the afternoon I went to school," said Cecília Augusto, 25. The shy girl was forced to speak louder than usual because all we could hear in the room was the sound of sewing machines and people talking happily. That is because Cecília is doing a professional internship in sewing, after finishing training at the National Institute of Employment and Professional Training (INEFOP) in the province of Huíla, southern Angola.

Water filters, soap and hand sanitizers are essential for the survival and development of children – especially those who struggle every day from poor sanitation and a lack of access to drinking water – and have become more critical than ever during the global pandemic. In Viet Nam, UNICEF’s WASH team has distributed critical supplies to communal health centres and communities in selected provinces, reaching over 2.1 million people as of November 2020 through their immediate response.

Isolation, war, famine, arid climate, poor access to basic social services, and lack of access to drinking water and electricity are common issues in Androy region. In the face of difficult external and environmental conditions, it has been challenging to recruit high-performing, skilled, and dedicated individuals to build a local team for the Androy region.

COVID-19 threatens millions already vulnerable due to food insecurity Just a couple of months before COVID-19 spread across nearly every border in the world, Ângela Gregório António Chale Macie began serving as a UN Volunteer in Nampula, Mozambique. Little did she know just how critical her role would become for the people in Erati district when the Coronavirus endangered their already-limited access to food.

Senior UN Volunteers are not common – the average global age of UN Volunteers is 32 – but the Haddows can attest to the many benefits their presence brings both to the missions they serve, and to themselves as older volunteers. Rather than spending their retirement years in quiet relaxation, the Haddows, both from the United Kingdom, chose to share their lifetime of expertise as UN Volunteers with United Nations missions.

Through my work, I tell the stories of these transformative changes in the lives of women and girls.

Resilience in Zhouqu  UN Volunteer Zeng Yunheng has been serving as a Project Coordinator for the United Nation’s Development Programme (UNDP) - Demonstration Project for Poverty Reduction and Resilience Construction - in Zhouqu County, Gansu Province in China since November 2019. Due to geological and geographical conditions, Zhouqu is one of the worst-hit areas by natural hazards in the country.

I remember sitting at home in Mwanza, Tanzania, in July 2017, and reading about the work United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme was doing on my phone. As I read further, my excitement grew, and I stumbled upon the United Nations Online Volunteering platform. I quickly followed the link, read on, and in 10 minutes, I was able to understand how it works. I was delighted by the prospects of using the platform. I loved the impact I could make anywhere in the world from the comfort of my home. --Kido Mwamyenyelwa