In Colombo, Sri Lanka, UN Volunteer Alex Suwitra acted to anchor the engagements of UN agencies, international partners, NGOs and government and safeguard the immediate and longer term disaster response to the needs of communities in distress. The unique geography of the country that makes it more susceptible to the effects of climate change creates a very contrasting situation – floods and landslides in the southwest parts and drought in Sri Lanka’s north and east regions.  

As an international UN Youth Volunteer fully funded by the Czech Republic, Tereza dedicated most of her time at MiLab to designing technology-based solutions to address development challenges in the country. Her work involved projects such as digital education for Moldovan children, using behavioral science to reduce plastic and energy consumption, utilizing Big Data for urban development, and introducing blockchain-based solar power solutions for public institutions.

The Protocol does this by establishing more predictable conditions for access as well as ensuring benefit sharing when genetic resources leave the country. Furthermore, the Protocol creates incentives to conserve and sustainably use genetic resources, enhancing the contribution of biodiversity to development and human wellbeing. Despite being one of the first countries to have ratified the Protocol, Rwanda’s progress towards domesticating the Nagoya Protocol has been slow to pick up momentum.

Imagine living close to a river and not knowing if and when the rivers will rise above normal levels. Imagine a large wave of rain flooding your land, destroying your home while washing away your dear belongings. This was the reality of many Laotians during the rainy season in 2018.

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 UN in Myanmar is in the process of formulating its first United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) for the period 2018-2021. The Office of the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator is the unit within the UN Development Programme (UNDP) providing support to the Resident Coordinator and the United Nations Country Team to promote and implement the UN coordination/reform agenda and the overall UN strategy. This support is guided by the principles of inclusiveness and sustainability and in the internationally agreed treaties and standards.

Driven by a partnership between the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), UN Development Programme (UNDP), and UN Women in Bosnia and Herzegovina, IT Girls aims to make girls and women more visible in the world of Information and Communications Technology (ICT).

I enthusiastically joined the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), sub-office Gambella, as an international UN Volunteer to contribute towards addressing the plight of persons of concern and provision of protection services which is the core mandate of UNHCR. Since December 2015, I have been the ‘boots on the ground', managing and coordinating the fleet and transport facilitation for UNHCR staff.

As the world commemorated October 17th as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, key 'Buy Malawi' strategy stakeholders recognized the initiative as pivotal in tackling poverty in Malawi. Like most developing countries, a large proportion of the population generally prefer imported products and services to local ones.

Following Nepal's recent constitutional transition to a federal structure and many new provincial offices being established to foster Nepal’s process to E-Governance and transparency, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme supported the LGCDP II project under the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration by deploying national UN Volunteer ICT Experts to the different provinces.