The Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) is a global initiative under UNDP that currently operates in 41 countries to create sustainable financial solutions that not only protect biodiversity, but also let it flourish. As part of the initiative, Joshua Mabeta, a national UN Volunteer Research Assistant with UNDP, has been working to achieve the broader biodiversity conservation goal by developing the Biodiversity Finance Plan.

As a part of the maritime disaster assistance project, Thevuni contributed to supporting one hundred vulnerable fisheries households affected by the MV X-Press disaster through a cash-for-work programme to clean up the Negombo lagoon. Until the successful completion of the project on 31 January 2022, Thevuni facilitated coordination between government institutions and project implementation partners. She monitoring project progress, reviewing and editing reports and communications materials from the implementing partners. 

The event was held during the Ninth Asia-Pacific Forum for Sustainable Development, arranged by UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) in late March 2022. Dignitaries from UN entities, government officials, diplomatic corps, development partners and volunteers from Europe and the CIS and Asia and the Pacific attended the event live. More than 1,500 participants joined virtually.

In 2020, WHO and UNV joined forces with the aim of recruiting 100 women to improve people’s health and well-being on the continent, while also promoting gender equality in Africa.  Thanks to this initiative, 77 UN Volunteer Health Champions are actively participating in the work of the World Health Organization (WHO). I am particularly appreciative of their actions during the COVID-19 response and other emergencies in the Africa Region. With diverse skill sets and competencies, they are also helping us sustain gains made in terms of our health priorities.  

Online Volunteers are valuable assets in implementing projects that require data analysis and digital technologies. The SDG AI Lab at UNDP Istanbul International Center for Private Sector in Development (IICPSD) brought together over 100 Online Volunteers from 45 countries under its Volunteer Data Scientists initiative, a partnership with the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme. 

Chaired by the World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in Namibia, the UN CPRP contributed to strengthening national health capacity and systems as well as providing operational assistance on logistics, especially for the procurement of medical equipment, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Azhar Sholgami, Mid-fielder of Al-Diffa Team / UN Volunteer with UNDP Sudan To me, there is no greater feeling than winning a tournament. The cheering fans, your teammates, friends, and family in the crowd. It brings people together like nothing else.

Growing up in Homs, Syria, Maha was always interested in technology, analyzing and solving problems, and she dreamt of becoming a software engineer one day. "I started studying for a degree in Software Engineering. However, during my second year at the university, the Syrian crisis broke out, where I started volunteering as a first aider with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to nurse victims," recalls Maha. 

In Luwuk, about 12 hours drive away from Palu when the earthquake hit, Tofan, then 24, feared the worst from a disaster that eventually killed more than 4,300 people. “We were very panicked for our loved ones. We could not contact them because there was no phone connection and electricity,” he says.