The Government of Germany is a long-standing key partner of UNV, and regular partner consultations take place with the two lead ministries in Bonn and Berlin, and with the German mission to the UN in New York, to assess and advance this multi-faceted partnership: the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Federal Foreign Office. The focus of the recent dialogue was on the current collaboration as well as broader issues relate

2020 is the year when UNV moved towards strong financial BI capabilities, which has facilitated delivering an exhaustive, accessible and accurate financial picture of the organization and set the baseline for stronger financial monitoring and forecasting. We are proud that UNV has invested into BI and that through our digital transformation project we are transforming how UNV is using data and statistics for all critical domains. --Frederic Le Maistre, Chief, ICT Unit at UNV

The shadow pandemic of violence against women and girls is one of these issues. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that about one in three women worldwide have suffered physical and/or sexual violence at some point in their lives. The scourge of gender-based violence (GBV), one of the most ubiquitous human rights violations in the world, is exacerbated during the COVID-19 crisis as traditional prevention and attention mechanisms are inhibited.

The team of UN Volunteers in Serbia comprises 65 such dedicated young Roma as Silvija, Kristina and Meti. They have been trained to become activists, fighting for the inclusion of Roma, against discrimination and social injustice and supporting the vulnerable members of the Roma community. 

Despite significant improvement in food security during the last 20 years, many Vietnamese face undernutrition, overnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies. To ensure food systems contribute to better nutrition, it is essential to strengthen the capacities of various stakeholders including national governments, academia and the private sector, to mainstream nutrition in their policies and investments.

Over the last months, as the COVID 19 pandemic has ravaged across the world, volunteers have been at the forefront of medical, community and societal responses.  The COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan by the WHO identifies community volunteers as key stakeholders for risk communication and community engagement. This indicates the valuable and the great effort the WHO believes volunteers is doing during COVID-19. Yet, recognition is still not enough, especially when it comes to volunteers' own well-being and access to health care. 

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

Virginia Pérez, Chief of the Child Protection Programme with UNICEF in Bolivia, drew on her past experience as a volunteer with a free phone helpline in Spain that assisted children, recalling the impact it had and how they were able to enter the heart of a family through the phone.

Nanami Akimoto joined UN-Habitat as a UN Volunteer Programme Officer in April 2018 under the Human Resource Development Programme for Peace and Development. Her assignment was fully funded by Japan. She had broad expectations of supporting the work of UN-Habitat Cambodia in advocacy and playing a critical role developing and maintaining networks with donors, development partners and other UN agencies.

Last year "Myropolis" gathered nearly 200 young people from Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts (regions) to build city of peace: teenagers participated in educational and artistic activities that helped them to learn how to conduct negotiations for peace and recovery – important knowledge when you live in the conflict affected areas. Many of participants never left their villages before "Myropolis" sessions. Situation in these lands is really fragile and challenging: no descent roads, villages are very difficult to reach, parents do not allow children even to leave the houses.