Following the adoption of the Global Compact on Refugees by the UN General Assembly in 2018, and in partnership with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), UNV launched a special initiative to facilitate the deployment of people of concern with UNHCR as Refugee UN Volunteers. This enables them to engage in an income generating opportunity which also assists them in building on their competencies and skills.

Natalie Ismail is a UN Youth Volunteer serving as Youth Engagement and Water Scarcity Support Officer with UNICEF Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa, based in Amman, Jordan. She is the focal point for participatory action research in the region. Through this role, Natalie raises awareness and builds the capacity of young people for climate-related issues.

When I reflect on my life, I realize that my upbringing in a rural area largely shaped my decision to become a UN Volunteer. Growing up in Guruve, a rural community north of Harare, Zimbabwe, gave me an excellent grounding in local issues and a true understanding of the poverty and social exclusion that people in under-served communities suffer. Although rural life was difficult, it had several redeeming qualities.

Since we can't reduce what we don't know, my first activity was to identify the different sources of emissions and then to calculate the quantity of greenhouse gases that UNDP emits." Larissa identified electricity as the main source of emissions and developed a prioritized and concrete action plan. She organized awareness sessions for the staff to adopt environmentally-responsible practices to reverse the trend.

UNDP advertised for the Young Environmental Journalists via the Online Volunteering platform of UNV, offering young leaders and environmental and human rights advocates worldwide an opportunity to join the programme. Following a rigorous selection process, 71 young talents were selected to work together in 2019, while 100 young talents from 27 countries participated in the 2020 edition of the campaign.

Senior UN Volunteers are not common – the average global age of UN Volunteers is 32 – but the Haddows can attest to the many benefits their presence brings both to the missions they serve, and to themselves as older volunteers. Rather than spending their retirement years in quiet relaxation, the Haddows, both from the United Kingdom, chose to share their lifetime of expertise as UN Volunteers with United Nations missions.

To contain the spread of COVID-19, the government of Uganda started lockdown restrictions, limiting movement and livelihood activities. Previously, the refugees sourced firewood for cooking from host communities. The majority of the refugees did not have access to any renewable energy sources and relied heavily on low-quality fuels, resulting in higher air pollution, and a greater risk of respiratory tract infections and eye diseases, among other negative implications.

Ronald Cumberbatch is an international UN Volunteer from Guyana, serving as an Energy and Environment Specialist with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Liberia. He has been supporting the Good Grow Partnership (GGP) programme for almost 3 years. Launched in 2017, the GGP programme is aimed at reducing deforestation caused by mass production of global key commodities. It also focuses on facilitating strong supply chains and creating an enabling environment in support of sustainable production.

Viktoriia Unuchko started as a UN Youth Volunteer Administrative and Communications Assistant. She supports the Sustainable Development and Environment Portfolio within the UNDP/Global Environment Facility project "Removing barriers to increase investment in energy efficiency in public buildings in Ukraine through the ESCO modality in small and medium-sized cities".

At present, Alen is working as a Procurement Assistant in a UNDP-GEF project on “Derisking Renewable Energy Investment,” which is connected with SDG #7: “Affordable and clean energy.” The significance of this project can be gauged from the fact that 40% of heat production in Kazakhstan is generated from centralized district heating systems that run on combined heat and power plants (typically coal-fired).  The remaining heat is produced by heat-only boilers, which often have low efficiencies.