As a young woman, I have always been motivated to create spaces for women to participate in decision making and take on leadership roles. I want to help eliminate barriers to gender equality in my country and region and accelerate achieving 50-50 by 2030 globally. --Ekin Su Yilmaz, UN Youth Volunteer with UN Women, Turkey

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".

This undertaking aims to develop young women’s leadership capacities to become agents of change for their communities, contributing to social cohesion. I strongly believe in the solidarity and connection between women. Young women need just a bit of support to experience big changes. --Aleksandra Jovanović

Roma belong to the largest ethnic minority in Serbia and are still among the most deprived communities, often facing discrimination, social exclusion and unequal access to employment, education, housing and health services. The 2017 Regional Survey on socio-economic position of vulnerable Roma in the Western Balkans, commissioned by UNDP, showed that the biggest challenges for social inclusion of Roma in Serbia are their high unemployment and inactivity rates. While the education aspect has improved for Roma, it is not resulting in their employment.

For IVD, we are organizing a national celebration of volunteers. This will include an exhibit on the Sustainable Development Goals and and a fair of volunteer organizations to celebrate volunteerism for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda. When:  7 December 2019, 10:00-16:00, at the Asia Mall in Bishkek

On the occasion of International Volunteer Day (IVD), we will have a celebration in Nukus, Karakalpakstan, to mark the closure of UNV project activities. During the event, we will hand out awards for the best health community volunteers of the project. When: 5 December, Nukus, Karakalpakstan

For International Volunteer Day 2019, we are celebrating "Inclusion in Volunteerism". During our event we will have a networking session, speeches from the Executive Director, the Representatiive of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). We will also be joined by former volunteers sharing their experiences and close the ceremony with live performances and music.

International Volunteer Day (IVD) 2019 highlights volunteers contributing to inclusion, and Sustainable Development Goal 10, reducing inequality within and among countries.  At the United Nations Volunteer (UNV) programme, we are marking #IVD2019 with the theme "Volunteer for an inclusive future", highlighting SDG 10 and the pursuit of equality – including inclusion – through volunteerism. #volunteer4inclusion

As part of a team, Louise works on the implementation of two counter-trafficking projects, which strengthens the knowledge and capacity of the government to respond to trafficking. The projects include awareness raising in communities, which aims at informing community members about trafficking and related risks.

Through my volunteer assignment I support and develop workplaces for people with disabilities. Fundamentally, my goal is to remove barriers to employability for disabled people in Belarus, by educating employers on how to create accessible and inclusive working environments. Belarus signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in September 2015 and committed to the creation of an inclusive community. Despite this undertaking, progress has been slow.