UNV and UN Women observe International Volunteer Day 2017 in Bangladesh. Volunteers as crisis managers and life savers at the time of need, their most defining quality is that they act first.

There are 27 volunteers serving in the Jonglei region for the United Nations Mission in South Sudan. They decided to make their special day about others rather than themselves in the spirit of volunteerism, which is all about giving.

The UNV Field Unit Khartoum, and the Sudanese Red Crescent held a day-long emergency first aid workshop to commemorate the International Volunteer Day under the theme “Volunteers Act First. Here. Everywhere.”.

From January 2014 to October 2017, over 230,000 Iraqi families have fled combat zones and armed groups, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). These families face unique protection risks due to fractured community structures, separation of families, insecure shelter arrangements, and loss of income.

Saima Mohammad works as an Associate Public Health Officer for UNHCR in the North-East of Jordan, near the Syrian border. Approximately 50,000 refugees, mostly women and children, are residing in Rukban camp without access to any other health facility than the local clinic. Every morning, Saima travels almost three hours from her office in Ruwaished to Rukban, driving through sensitive military posts on a partially-paved road. In this desert area, no facility or shop are to be seen for kilometres.

According to Iran Red Crescent, at least 328 people have been killed and 3,950 injured. In Iraq, the Iraqi Red Crescent report that nine people have been killed and more than 425 injured.

The project came at a crucial time, because in recent years, the state has been failing to control the spread of HIV/AIDS, to the extent that the prevalence of the disease in Tripura has surpassed the national prevalence rate. Add to this societal taboos and misconceptions, and the situation is infinitely compounded.

In a crisis that killed 8,790 people and forced more than 700,000 into poverty, national UN Volunteers were mobilized to deliver critical assistance in affected sites in Nepal.

"Voices Against Violence" in Togo is an $85,000 USD project that was funded and implemented by the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme between October 2016 and April 2017.  The project is based on an informal education program developed by the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts and UN Women.  It aims to fight against gender-based violence by raising the awareness of young secondary students about the root causes of violence, ways to prevent it, and finding solutions.

Akeisha Benjamin, Zika Project Coordinator with the Trinidad and Tobago Red Cross society (TTRCS) explains, “As people are cleaning up from the floods we are pushing the message to get rid of stagnant waters as quickly as possible, to eliminate mosquito breeding grounds. Given the fact that some people had to evacuate and go to shelters, we are encouraging affected persons to clean up quickly. We are also working with the Regional Corporations to spread the message.” The focus of the project has primarily been on community and school’s outreach in selected areas.