"Like everyone else, I have been watching and reading about the chaos around the world caused by COVID-19 and I really wanted to do something to help the community here fight this pandemic," reveals Catherine. "I saw that there was a shortage of face masks. I love sewing and the idea dawned on me that I could actually make some here," she adds.

The new Service Desk consolidates enquiry input channels, including web and email queries, and leverages AI and self-service technologies such as chatbots, to give around-the-clock service to UN partners and those who manage UN Volunteers. External visitors are serviced in three UNV languages – English, French and Spanish, including on the AI interface.

The Human Development Report 2019 titled ‘Beyond income, beyond averages, beyond today: Inequalities in human development in the 21st Century’ will be the centre of discussion at GIZ tomorrow. The global launch of the report was in Colombia in December. The co-organized event between GIZ, United Nations Volunteers (UNV) and the Human Development Report Office, will be the first launch in an outreach tour in Europe.

The Human Development Report 2019 titled ‘Beyond income, beyond averages, beyond today: Inequalities in human development in the 21st Century’ will be the centre of discussion at GIZ tomorrow. The global launch of the report was in Colombia in December. The co-organized event between GIZ, United Nations Volunteers (UNV) and the Human Development Report Office, will be the first launch in an outreach tour in Europe.

The Human Development Report 2019 titled ‘Beyond income, beyond averages, beyond today: Inequalities in human development in the 21st Century’ will be the centre of discussion at GIZ tomorrow. The global launch of the report was in Colombia in December. The co-organized event between GIZ, United Nations Volunteers (UNV) and the Human Development Report Office, will be the first launch in an outreach tour in Europe.

Education is one of six themes at the centre of the GRF, critical to the support of refugees and the countries that host them. The Spotlight Session focused on tertiary education for refugees, through a conversation about how barriers are being overcome, how interventions are improving the quality or expanding the quantity of opportunities available, and ultimately, how higher education pathways can support self-reliance and solutions for refugees.

The project consisted of recruiting refugees from the camp and members from the host communities as Refugee Outreach Volunteers. Additionally, UNV used its refugee-to-refugee volunteer modality to recruit and deploy one refugee identified in the camp as a UN Volunteer. The Refugee Outreach Volunteers served with UNHCR and were provided with the necessary capacities, knowledge and resources to contribute to addressing their own protection needs.  

Olga acquired her physical-motor disability at the age of 13 due to muscular dystrophy, and since then, her wheelchair has become her ally. She has had to face social, attitudinal, architectural, and transport barriers that at certain times have hindered her full development and participation in social activities. All these challenges make her think that disability is not so much in the person but in the obstacles interfering with its independence and ability to function in society.

The UNDP-UNV Talent Programme for Young Professionals with Disabilities was launched in January 2018. With a commitment to leave no one behind, it promotes the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the workforce of the United Nations.  In 2019, 31 UN Volunteers with disabilities, including 15 deployed under the Talent Programme, served across the UN family. Many more UN Volunteers supported the provision of services to persons with disabilities.

As a UN Volunteer Disability Rights Officer with the Governance and Participation Unit of UNDP, I champion the rights of people with disabilities and act as a passionate voice for their support and inclusion.