Quito, Ecuador:  During my one-year assignment in Quito, Ecuador, I supported the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women). I focused on the programmes that aim to prevent violence against women and girls and to ensure the restitution of their rights.    Violence against women and girls is one of the most frequent violations of human rights. Some consider it a pandemic, as no country is exempt from it.

Quito, Ecuador:  Women in all parts of the world suffer violence and discrimination. They are under-represented in political and economic decision-making processes. They lack access to decent work, face gender gaps and are often denied access to basic education and health care. UN WOMEN is trying to address these global challenges.

Quito, Ecuador:  Around one thousand young people from Quito, but also other parts of Ecuador and even Colombia, Cuba, Denmark, Germany, Spain and Venezuela, gathered on an August 2013 weekend to celebrate the largest alternative music festival in Ecuador. It was a great start into my year as a UN Youth Volunteer and provided an excellent opportunity to discuss development challenges with young people that hold the future in their hands.

Quito, Ecuador: As a UN Youth Volunteer in Gender Analysis, assigned to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Office of the Resident Coordinator in Quito, Ecuador, I support and advise the Resident Coordinator and the United Nations Country Team on gender-related advocacy, communications and resource mobilization.

Quito, Ecuador:  An experience away from home is challenging, a confrontation with a different culture at times confusing, and the lack of familiarity frustrating. I believe that during my yearlong UN Youth Volunteer assignment in Ecuador, all stars were aligned: rarely did I deal with any of the above. The Andes, the city in its midst, and my host institution, the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing, greeted me with open arms and slowly taught me the tips and tricks of living and working in Ecuador.

Quito, Ecuador:  I arrived in Ecuador in February 2012 to strengthen the Articulation of Territorial Networks team of the United Nations Development Programme (ART/UNDP) on issues related to gender and human development in land planning and management.

Quito, Ecuador: I am a 27-year-old lawyer and I just finished my one-year assignment with the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme at the Office of the Human Rights Adviser in Ecuador.

On the occasion of International Volunteer Day in Trinidad and Tobago, the UNV Field Unit with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has joined forces with the Pride in Gonzales Project in Belmont to showcase the numerous volunteer efforts  in the community through the symbolic Planting of a Peace Pole.

It was a great honour for me, as the national IYV+10 Coordinator in Uzbekistan, to directly participate in the celebration of the birth of the United Nations. We enjoyed a gorgeous autumn day in Tashkent on Monday 24 October, still blessed with vitamin D from the sun.

It was a great honour for me, as the national IYV+10 Coordinator in Uzbekistan, to directly participate in the celebration of the birth of the United Nations. We enjoyed a gorgeous autumn day in Tashkent on Monday 24 October, still blessed with vitamin D from the sun.