With a background in architecture, urban design, planning and sustainable development, I have worked with many international organizations on emergency to long-term development projects across East Africa, Middle East, Asia, North America and Europe. I was grateful to join the UNHCR Burundi operation as a UN Volunteer and apply my over eight years of experience, working in fast paced multicultural environments to provide the technical expertise that was needed from the national to community level.

Law school seemed to be a logical choice for me as I was an avid reader of history and early on in life, I became transfixed by how every positive social change, whether in my own country, India, or the world at large, could be traced to much-needed amendments in legal frameworks.

In 2018, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) launched a job creation programme for 3,000 young people in Mali. Daouda Michel Sawadogo (Burkina Faso) is based in Mopti and served under this programme as an international UN Volunteer Youth Specialist. Idleness makes young people easy prey for armed groups who can then easily recruit them.  The challenge is to help them find an occupation that meets their aspirations. --Daouda Michel Sawadogo, international UN Volunteer Youth Specialist

Through the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Child Development and its network, the initiative aims to mobilise, train and deploy 2500 community youth volunteers across the country, selected from some of the most affected communities in the country. They will support ongoing sensitization efforts by the Zambian Government, the United Nations, Development partners and other key stakeholders to help control the spread of the virus.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) does not discriminate by race, gender, geography, income, age or sex. Regardless of who you are, the type of job you have, or the lifestyle you lead, COVID-19 has shaken societies around the world and upended lives and livelihoods. It has forced governments to respond rapidly and develop response and recovery plans.

Education systems had already been under strain because of double-shifting and other adjustments to school schedules to accommodate rising numbers of students. Subsequent increases in education spending and a consistent effort aimed to keep pace with the demand for nutrition, health and second-chance learning services that disadvantaged students need most.

To achieve this, new development patterns must be inclusive, resilient and advance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. By weaving a strong social fabric within communities, volunteering is at the key intersection of these qualities. When those with local knowledge and insights take collective ownership of local problems, communities are uniquely mobilized around development efforts.

The COVID-19 Response Programme was developed by the UN Joint Devolution Programme after development partners Finland, Italy and Sweden consented to remobilizing USD 3.1 million to respond to the pandemic in Kenya.