With approximately 1,3 million population, Timor-Leste has made milestones in ending violence against women and girls and intimate partner violence. More than 75 per cent of the population under 35 and more than half of the youth live in rural areas and have been unable to shift the high tolerance for men’s perpetration of violence against women.

In 2022, UN Women conducted an ethnographic review of harmful social norms and practices and support for mass advocacy initiatives to prevent violence against women and girls in the country. This mapped both harmful and positive practices, attitudes and behaviours that influence violence against women and girls.

“Volunteering with UNICEF has helped me expand my knowledge on child protection issues and develop a passion for advancing children’s rights,” says So Dam Hong, a UN Youth Volunteer who supports adolescent empowerment to end child marriage in India, a core strategy of UNICEF.

More than a year since its launch, In Their Sneakers has been the foundation of projects nurturing creativity in coming up with solutions for forcibly displaced people to effectively integrate into local communities. Serbia, over the years, has seen significant forced displacement both within its borders and among its neighbours in the region. It currently hosts more than 3,000 refugees, asylum-seekers, and migrants.

What does your assignment with UNDP mean to you? To me, this assignment is an opportunity where you don't just serve for livelihood, but also to change people's lives as much as you can. I am aware that one person cannot do much, but I am convinced that the change starts within each of us. This is much easier to do when you are part of a team of professionals who share common values. I am fortunate, because both in the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, I have very open-minded colleagues, who helped me to change my mindset.

According to reports, since the war started more than 2.4 million Ukrainians have crossed the border into Romania from Ukraine or Moldova.

In Peru, UNV partnered with two UN entities that host the highest numbers of UN Volunteers, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), to carry out a talent outreach mission on the northern border of the country. 

The Peruvian towns of Tumbes, Piura, and Lambayeque are facing a triple crisis: climate change, a dengue fever outbreak and forced migration. It is estimated that 840,000 people need humanitarian assistance after heavy rains and are at risk of a possible "El Niño" phenomenon.

Facilitating safe returns with IOM Toema Ibrahim (Egypt, 24) is a UN Volunteer Migrant Protection Assistant with the International Office for Migration (IOM) in Cairo. In his work, he is facilitating the safe return of individuals from diverse nationalities to their countries of origin, and he has worked actively on IOM’s Sudan response assisting people to their countries of origin.