Georgina Edwards, UN Volunteer Innovation Analyst with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in South Africa After finishing my graduate degree, I interned with UN-Habitat and that set the stage for my UN career.  Transitioning to a UN Volunteer assignment in 2021 was a turning point, allowing me to step into my dream role as an Innovation Analyst with UNFPA.

The objective was to live up to the wellbeing of UN Volunteers stationed with UN partners across the country. The outcome was informative and inspiring, in every sense of the word.

Digital readiness is key to our success. i.e. building and refining of capabilities and culture to perform and transform. According to the Institute for Digital Transformation, "The more prepared or ready an organization, the more likely it will achieve its desired outcome. 'Digital readiness' is being prepared for the disruption of Digital Transformation." 

The Volunteer Talk – UNV Knowledge Sharing Webinar with the theme “Organising learning events for Volunteers: the Capacity Development and Learning Facility (CDLF)” was organized on 11 March 2015. The webinar featured experiences from the field presented by Ulla Gronlund, former UNV Programme Officer in Turkey and Katalin Kaplár, UNV Administration Officer in the UN Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO). Photographs by: UNV DR Congo and Turkey Video edited by: UN Online Volunteer Amy Ozeri

The third “Volunteer Talk – UNV Knowledge Sharing Webinar” was organized on 30 October 2014 and had as theme “Motivating and Recognizing Volunteers". The webinar featured experiences from the field on tools for recognizing the contribution of volunteers, in a wider policy context. The guest speakers for this webinar were Renata Farias, UNV Programme Officer in Cabo Verde and Adriana Serdan, UNV Programme Officer in Colombia.

The third “Volunteer Talk – UNV Knowledge Sharing Webinar” was organized on 30 October 2014 and had as theme “Motivating and Recognising Volunteers". The webinar featured experiences from the field on tools for recognising the contribution of volunteers, in a wider policy context. The guest speakers for this webinar were Renata Farias, UNV Programme Officer in Cabo Verde and Adriana Serdan, UNV Programme Officer in Colombia.

The first UNV African Regional Retreat for UN Volunteers was held from 5 to 8 November, 2014 at the Maanzoni Lodge, Lukenya, in Kenya. More than 150 people from UNV teams in Kenya, Somalia and Uganda gathered to share their knowledge and network. Tapiwa Kamuruko, who was recently installed in Nairobi in the new post of UNV Regional Manager for Africa, opened the retreat. Maria–Threase Keating, UNDP Kenya Country Director, and David Akopyan, UNDP Somalia Deputy Country Director (Programmes), also attended.

How does volunteering make a difference? These days, we are trying to do development differently: to partner with less usual suspects for outside insights, and tap into local energy and initiatives. The ethos of volunteerism is exactly the same – it is not a supplement to the work we do; it is a natural component within it. And with whom do we partner up to do this? The answer, of course, is young people. They are the natural choice.

The second “Volunteer Talk – UNV Knowledge Sharing Webinar” was organized on 7 July 2014, with the theme “Gathering evidence on the impact of volunteering". The webinar featured experiences from the field in carrying out research studies on volunteering. Presentations by the guest speakers – Natal Donnaloia and Mohammed Husni from Sri Lanka, and Laura Amadori from Guinea Bissau – were followed by vivid interactions with the nearly 70 webinar participants. Video edited by: UN Online Volunteer Amy Ozeri

The first "Volunteer Talk -- UNV Knowledge Sharing Webinar" was organized on 21 May 2014 with the theme "Creating opportunities for volunteering". The webinar featured experiences in establishing Liberia's National Youth Volunteering Service (NYVS) and the Viet Nam Volunteer Information and Resource Centre (VVIRC). The guest speakers from Liberia were Eric Opoku, UNV Programme Officer and Isaac Bropheh, NYVS Programme Coordinator. The speakers from Viet Nam were Tran Thi Kim Chung, UNV Programme Assistant, Do Thi Kim Hoa, VVIRC Deputy Director and Do Thi Phuc, SJ Viet Nam Director.