Over the years, communicating effectively on issues affecting children and youth in the Middle East has become more challenging, as the public pays less and less attention to civil society and human rights violations. Rasha Abou Dargham, originally from Lebanon, is serving as a UN Volunteer Social Media Officer with UNICEF in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Regional Office in Amman. As a UN Volunteer, she is learning how to speak on behalf of children in a multicultural and demanding environment.

The Consultation provided a space for Plan of Action stakeholders from the ESCWA region to identify opportunities to support volunteers to accelerate SDG progress and maximize the potential of volunteering to tackle the region’s most pressing issues.

This phase of the project engaged four community volunteer groups from Khaizi, Hazara, Sariyab and Nawa Killi, to develop radio programmes. In total, 35 female and 25 male community volunteers were trained on ICT, radio production, script writing and broadcasting and ran the community radio for the duration of one year. On average, one radio programme was produced every 2-3 weeks. In total, 15 radio programmes were developed in one year and aired on FM101 during prime-time hours. An estimated 160 to 250 listeners tuned in for each programme.

Areas of cooperation include; creating an innovation and knowledge hub on volunteerism, enhancing research and evidence around volunteerism in the UAE, and encouraging UAE nationals to serve abroad as UN Volunteers for peace and development. The Agreement was signed by Jason Pronyk, UNV Regional Manager for Arab States, Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States, (on behalf of Olivier Adam, UNV Executive Coordinator) and Maytha Al Habsi, CEO of Emirates Foundation.

Areas of cooperation include; creating an innovation and knowledge hub on volunteerism, enhancing research and evidence around volunteerism in the UAE, and encouraging UAE nationals to serve abroad as UN Volunteers for peace and development. The Agreement was signed by Jason Pronyk, UNV Regional Manager for Arab States, Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States, (on behalf of Olivier Adam, UNV Executive Coordinator) and Maytha Al Habsi, CEO of Emirates Foundation.

Sri Lanka is identified as one of the major hotspots of climate change (according to a report by the World Bank, a hotspot is a location where changes in average weather affects the living standards negatively). Some 4 million people in the country are projected to be severely affected by 2020, thus it is imperative to know exactly how and how disastrous the consequences of this threat will be. 1.       Agriculture and Agricultural Productivity

In my youth, I often volunteered with orphanages and animal rescue organizations in my country. Although I felt that I could and should do more to help build a better world, I didn’t know where to start. This was until I delved into the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I then realized that what I wanted was a volunteer assignment within the United Nations system, particularly in a place where I could advocate for equality, respect for diversity and peace and development. I applied for a UNV assignment and was accepted as an Air Operations Assistant with UNMISS.

The consultation facilitated substantive discussions and generated great interest from partners to further strengthen and leverage the role of volunteerism to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

The consultation facilitated substantive discussions and generated great interest from partners to further strengthen and leverage the role of volunteerism to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

As a UN Youth Volunteer with a disability, Kasunjith provided a unique and personal input to the discussions related to inclusion and played a key role in advocating for needs specific to the disabled community. If not us then who? ‘Inclusion’ cannot be fostered without the participation of people with disabilities. It is very important that the disabled community is not left behind in the recognition of Sustainable Development Goals. --Kasunjith Satanarachchi Devesurenda, during the 2019 ECOSOC Youth Forum