Amidst the pandemic, the world finds itself at a critical turning point. To fulfil the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to overcome both current crises and future ones, this Decade of Action needs to be just that – one of urgent, inclusive and long-term-oriented action.

The 2019 Human Development Report noted that one of the most persistent forms of inequality is gender inequality. Rooted in social norms and exclusion, girls and women are more likely to have fewer opportunities and stay mired in a cycle of generational poverty.

So, what does “move towards more people-centered solutions” mean in practice? The answer is surprisingly straightforward. It resides in the opportunities created for citizens to meaningfully engage in the issues affecting them. The more engagement is secured, the more impactful will development initiatives be. From this perspective, volunteering is perhaps the greatest and most underutilized asset in development assistance today.

The shadow pandemic of violence against women and girls is one of these issues. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that about one in three women worldwide have suffered physical and/or sexual violence at some point in their lives. The scourge of gender-based violence (GBV), one of the most ubiquitous human rights violations in the world, is exacerbated during the COVID-19 crisis as traditional prevention and attention mechanisms are inhibited.

Last year "Myropolis" gathered nearly 200 young people from Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts (regions) to build city of peace: teenagers participated in educational and artistic activities that helped them to learn how to conduct negotiations for peace and recovery – important knowledge when you live in the conflict affected areas. Many of participants never left their villages before "Myropolis" sessions. Situation in these lands is really fragile and challenging: no descent roads, villages are very difficult to reach, parents do not allow children even to leave the houses.

Through their partnership, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and UN Volunteers (UNV) programme have deployed 10 such UN Community Volunteers in the different regions of Senegal. 

Thank you, Mr Associate Administrator, for your introduction and your – and the Administrator’s – commitment to volunteerism and your strong support to the United Nations Volunteers programme. Madame President, Distinguished delegates, Mr Associate Administrator, Ladies and Gentlemen:

This cohort will consist of five national UN Volunteer Specialists from Burkina Faso, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal and two international UN Volunteer Experts working from Dakar, Senegal, and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  State of the World Population: Harmful Practices (Interactive Website)

A year before the global pandemic began, Francisco, who had recently graduated in medicine, was in Roraima facing the migrant emergency which is yet to be resolved. Serving as a UN Youth Volunteer during the first half of the year would teach him a life lesson that changed his perspective.

If there is a skill that UN Volunteers currently assigned in Guinea-Bissau have strengthened in the fight against COVID-19, it is adaptability to local and national situations. João Hernani Melo and Laura Brandão, Brazilian UN Volunteers assigned to UNDP and UNFPA respectively, have had to develop effective response strategies to accompany the government and support communities in these challenging times.