Identity, to me, is what we share when we introduce ourselves to others. It includes the traditions of our country of origin or the language we speak, our religious practices, family customs, hometown festivals and more. Now, imagine if your very identity was continuously challenged – only because you were forced to flee your place of origin due to precarious circumstances like war, political unrest or climate change. This is the reality that asylum seekers, refugees and anyone unwillingly displaced from home, face every day.

Holly finds working on refugee and asylum matters very engaging, especially as the country has long-term ambitions to join the EU and align its legal frameworks and systems accordingly.

Sudan is currently hosting over one million refugees from South Sudan, Eritrea, Syria and other countries. While there have been no reported cases of refugees who have tested positive for COVID-19 so far, the high density of refugee dwellings, coupled with limited health care and WASH facilities, makes them particularly vulnerable to the pandemic. Based in Kosti, White Nile State, Alemayehu Gebremichael (Ethiopia) is a UN Volunteer serving as a Health and Nutrition Officer within a programme that caters to the needs of nearly 160,00 refugees in nine camps.

Awareness-raising and dissemination of information materials are paramount for COVID-19 prevention. Therefore, UNHCR, through its civil society partners, is ensuring outreach to refugee communities. As part of a dedicated information campaign for COVID-19 prevention, UNHCR facilitated the printing of information materials and disseminating them through partner organizations in locations where refugees and asylum seekers reside. Posters, for example, depict hygiene measures and restrictions on gatherings and travel, and guide on maintaining social distancing.

In total, around 206 UN Volunteer teachers were deployed over the course of 3 school years, to provide quality, inclusive and equitable education services to both 31,231 Palestinian refugee children already living in Lebanon and 5,318 Palestinian refugee children who newly arrived from Syria. The support of UN Volunteer teachers was extended to UNRWA schools for the academic years 2016-2017 and 2017-2018.

Education is one of six themes at the centre of the GRF, critical to the support of refugees and the countries that host them. The Spotlight Session focused on tertiary education for refugees, through a conversation about how barriers are being overcome, how interventions are improving the quality or expanding the quantity of opportunities available, and ultimately, how higher education pathways can support self-reliance and solutions for refugees.

The UNHCR-UNV DAFI Initiative seeks to expand the success of the DAFI programme by addressing the difficulties that graduated refugees face when trying to enter the job market. The Initiative constitutes an opportunity for the DAFI graduates to gain professional experience as UN Volunteers in the UN System, where they can contribute with their unique background and perspectives to help achieving the SDGs.

The project consisted of recruiting refugees from the camp and members from the host communities as Refugee Outreach Volunteers. Additionally, UNV used its refugee-to-refugee volunteer modality to recruit and deploy one refugee identified in the camp as a UN Volunteer. The Refugee Outreach Volunteers served with UNHCR and were provided with the necessary capacities, knowledge and resources to contribute to addressing their own protection needs.  

As part of his assignment, Hamma supports the implementation of humanitarian assistance activities to ensure compliance with relevant IOM donor policies and procedures. He has had an impact through the delivery of technical guidance and compliance monitoring to project partners, technical advisors, IOM personnel and implementing entities. Hamma also liaises with the programme manager to coordinate a working group on shelter in the regions of Tahoua and Tillabéry.

Serving with the IOM Durable Solutions Programme, Leena recognizes the opportunity to consult people with various backgrounds as a real asset in her daily activities as a UN Volunteer. She sees the diversity of their ideas and opinions as a rich resource to build cohesion and sustainable solutions. Volunteerism strengthens civic engagement, social inclusion, solidarity and ownership. It also builds capacities, ownership and connections between local communities and national authorities for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.