UNDP in Liberia taps skills of national UN Volunteers for communities' futures

Liberia
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Pursuing its efforts to support the Liberian people, the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office works in close collaboration with UNV to engage with the government, communities and civil society partners in different peacebuilding programmes. Below you will read, and see UNV Liberia's video production, about truly inspirational UN Volunteers in the country assisting to make Liberian communities thrive.

Since the end of the civil war in 2004, Liberia has faced many challenges, the most recent ones being the management of the Ebola epidemic, the closure of the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Liberia (UNMIL); and a historical democratic transition after the elections. Through all of these, UN Volunteers have made significant and effective contributions to peace and development in the country. 

Refugee community in Kakuma empowered through volunteering

Kenya
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Kakuma refugee camp, located in the Northwest of Kenya, plays host to approximately 191,000 refugees from 20 different nationalities, with the majority being from South Sudan and Somalia. Under the guidance of UNHCR, UNV and other developing partners have developed volunteer initiatives with refugees in the camps. These activities enhance community security and refugee protection through refugee engagement, with a particular focus on women and girls.

The enhancing security, co-existence and protection through refugee outreach volunteer’s project in Kalobeyei was launched in 2017 by UNV. The project, funded by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) was implemented by Lutheran World Federation LWF with support from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). In Kakuma, it is the first time that a UN Agency piloted a refugee youth volunteer project through an organized structure.

Volunteers continue to reach out through community-based radio across Pakistan

Community-Focused Radio Project
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In January 2018, UNV Pakistan and UN Women Pakistan launched the second phase of the Community-Focused Radio Project (CFRP) where marginalized young women and youth volunteered across Pakistan to draft scripts, conduct interviews and produce radio programmes related to gender equality, empowerment, youth and education.

This phase of the project engaged four community volunteer groups from Khaizi, Hazara, Sariyab and Nawa Killi, to develop radio programmes. In total, 35 female and 25 male community volunteers were trained on ICT, radio production, script writing and broadcasting and ran the community radio for the duration of one year.

On average, one radio programme was produced every 2-3 weeks. In total, 15 radio programmes were developed in one year and aired on FM101 during prime-time hours. An estimated 160 to 250 listeners tuned in for each programme.

Here's how climate change will impact you – a UN Youth Volunteer shares her perspective

Anuradha Withanachchi, UN Youth Volunteer with UNDP, Sri Lanka
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With youth taking the center stage in activism for climate change on 15 March 2019, mobilizing a record number of students across the world (1.5 million students, from 2,000 places, in 125 countries), it seems opportune to highlight why actions of such massive scale are a necessity now more than ever. Read more in this blog by UN Youth Volunteer in Knowledge Management, Anuradha Withanachchi, who served with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka is identified as one of the major hotspots of climate change (according to a report by the World Bank, a hotspot is a location where changes in average weather affects the living standards negatively). Some 4 million people in the country are projected to be severely affected by 2020, thus it is imperative to know exactly how and how disastrous the consequences of this threat will be.

1.       Agriculture and Agricultural Productivity

ECOSOC Youth Forum: Volunteerism key to fostering inclusion of youth and people with disabilities in sustainable development

New York, United States of America
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As a UN Youth Volunteer with a disability, Kasunjith provided a unique and personal input to the discussions related to inclusion and played a key role in advocating for needs specific to the disabled community.

If not us then who? ‘Inclusion’ cannot be fostered without the participation of people with disabilities. It is very important that the disabled community is not left behind in the recognition of Sustainable Development Goals. --Kasunjith Satanarachchi Devesurenda, during the 2019 ECOSOC Youth Forum

ECOSOC Youth Forum: Volunteerism key to fostering inclusion of youth and people with disabilities in sustainable development

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As a UN Youth Volunteer with a disability, Kasunjith provided a unique and personal input to the discussions related to inclusion and played a key role in advocating for needs specific to the disabled community.

If not us then who? ‘Inclusion’ cannot be fostered without the participation of people with disabilities. It is very important that the disabled community is not left behind in the recognition of Sustainable Development Goals. --Kasunjith Satanarachchi Devesurenda, during the 2019 ECOSOC Youth Forum

How innovative volunteer data-collection leads to action on pollution in Kosovo*

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Environmental pollution is one of the biggest problems affecting lives of people in Kosovo*. Air pollution is seriously threatening the health of Kosovars - children and elderly in particular.

Air pollutants (caused by two coal-fired power plants, the high intensity of road transport, and  household burning of wood and coal), along with poor waste management, abuse of the natural resources and widespread use of fertile land for construction, are seriously threatening the health of Kosovars -  children and elderly in particular.

“Healthier Kosovo”, a joint project of UNDP, UNV and WHO, supported by the government of Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, responds to this serious, yet often neglected problem.

"The core strength of volunteers comes from their motivation"

Alexandra Solovieva, former UN Volunteer with UNDP, Lao PDR
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Alexandra Solovieva, currently Chief of the External Relations and Communications Section at UNV, served as a UN Volunteer early in her career, then progressed to different postings with the United Nations Development Programme. Alexandra shares her insight on how volunteerism impacted her journey.

My UN Volunteer assignment dates back to the late 1990s.  At that point, I was already working with UNDP in the Lao PDR, so serving as volunteer offered additional learning and networking opportunities.

Being one of the largest UNV programmes at the time, the Lao PDR had a strong and diverse group of UN Volunteers that I became part of. An Orientalist, I always drew my motivation from building country capacities and learning local cultures. 

UNV in the Democratic Republic of Congo reinforces UN Volunteers’ knowledge on sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA)

UNV partnering with MONUSCO
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For the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme, the respect of UN core values is mandatory, especially those related to serving with integrity, professionalism and the respect of measures against sexual exploitation and abuse. At the end of February 2019, UNV organized a capacity-building seminar for 40 UN Volunteers from 15 duty stations across the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in order to reinforce their understanding of the value and potential of volunteerism to advance peace and development. Emphasis was also made, during the seminar, on the zero tolerance policy towards sexual exploitation and abuse.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a vast country with a large number of UN Volunteers (currently almost 460) serving in 25 different duty stations (including the Entebbe Support Base in Uganda). Over 80 per cent of these volunteers serve with the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democractic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO). The remainder serve with seven other UN agencies, funds and programmes.

UN Volunteers in white coats provide health care for UN Mission staff in the Central African Republic

Daniel Bukasa, UN Volunteer Medical Doctor, Central African Republic
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Daniel Bukasa, a native of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has been serving as a UN Volunteer Medical Officer for the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) for almost two years. He and his colleagues are based in the mission’s offices in Ndele in the Prefecture of Bamingui-Bangoran, 650 km north of the capital Bangui, where they provide health care services to staff of the UN Mission.

By joining the United Nations as a volunteer, Dany, as his patients call him, hopes that his medical expertise and day-to-day contributions will help promote peace in the country.

'When I arrived, I first assessed the health risks related to the region and set up the clinic with care services for the patients," says Dr. Daniel.

Ndele is one of the regions of CAR with a small government presence, including police and security forces, and where MINUSCA's priority is to gradually restore the state of authority by facilitating the conditions for their redeployment.

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