Nizar (24), Raymonda (28) and Zeinab (27) serve as UN Youth Volunteers in Water/Irrigation Engineering, assisting with the upgrade of existing irrigation infrastructure. "The project targets the rehabilitation of existing damaged irrigation canals and the transformation of earthen canals to concrete canals," Raymonda explains.

In total, around 206 UN Volunteer teachers were deployed over the course of 3 school years, to provide quality, inclusive and equitable education services to both 31,231 Palestinian refugee children already living in Lebanon and 5,318 Palestinian refugee children who newly arrived from Syria. The support of UN Volunteer teachers was extended to UNRWA schools for the academic years 2016-2017 and 2017-2018.

The Consultation provided a space for Plan of Action stakeholders from the ESCWA region to identify opportunities to support volunteers to accelerate SDG progress and maximize the potential of volunteering to tackle the region’s most pressing issues.

  The Consultation will provide a space for Plan of Action Stakeholders from the ESCWA region to identify opportunities to support volunteers to accelerate SDG progress and maximize the potential of volunteering to tackle the region’s most pressing issues.

In Syria, 3.5 million of 6.5 million food-insecure Syrians receive food rations every month from the World Food Programme. Every month, WFP uses over 4,600 trucks to deliver emergency food assistance to more than 1,300 distribution points in all of Syria’s 14 governorates.

Since 1950, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has been working to ensure recognition of the rights of five million refugees in the Near East. Among them are over half a million children who continue to receive quality education.

In Lebanon, three national UN Volunteers, Vicky Kendirjian, Lara Riachi and Rim Kalfayan, joined the Office of the Minister of State for Women’s Affairs (OMSWA) to support the latter and the Lebanese government in addressing priorities pertaining to women's affairs. Promoting the advancement of the status of women in all areas of life, especially in terms of political participation, directly contributes to the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5, achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. 

In 2013, the Lebanon Host Communities Support Programme (LHSP) was launched jointly by the Ministry of Social Affairs (MoSA) of Lebanon and the United Nations Development Progamme (UNDP) under the umbrella of the country’s response to the impact of the Syria Crisis in Lebanon (Lebanon Crisis Response Plan – LCRP). The Programme targets the most vulnerable communities hosting displaced Syrians and aims to decrease tensions and conflict between host communities and displaced persons.