The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme and Kopernik are happy to announce the winners of the video competition launched earlier this year, in collaboration with Ricoh, to highlight UN Volunteers’ contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Ten videos have been selected out of 52 submissions received from all over the world. UNV and Kopernik highly appreciate all the video submissions and recognize the efforts and motivation of all contest participants. Winners will be trained on how to showcase volunteers’ contributions to the SDGs through 360-degree/VR videos using RICOH THETA 360 cameras.
The winners are Ahmed Alrough in Yemen; Ana Maria Castro in Ecuador; Cemail Morina in Serbia; Dora Kunda in South Sudan; Emanuel Foukou in Cameroon; Mai Abdelwahab in South Sudan; Namchok Petsaen in Thailand; Njobati Sylvie Vernyuy in the Republic of the Congo; Seung Choe in Nepal; and Uyen Vu in Viet Nam.
Have a closer look at the ten winners and the videos they submitted to the competition:
Uyen Vu is a national UN Volunteer Communications Officer with WHO in Viet Nam. Her video is a collection of footage she filmed to highlight the work of the World Health Organization in the country. She helped create communication materials for COVID-19 awareness on social media since the early response to the pandemic, and travelled to far-flung areas of the country to meet and feature people and convey their voices.
In 2020, UNV and the WHO Regional Office in Africa launched an initiative to deploy 100 young African women as UN Volunteers in public health initiatives in Africa. Njobati Sylvie Vernyuy, international UN Volunteer Multimedia Officer serving with WHO in the Republic of the Congo produced this video on the Africa Women Health Champions initiative and its objectives to promote health and boost gender equality across 47 African countries.
UN Youth Volunteer Seung Jee Choe, from the Republic of Korea, serves with WFP in Nepal as a Knowledge Management Associate. In the video, she talks about her work to achieve zero hunger in Nepal through the compiling of data and evidence on the population’s vulnerability during the COVID-19 crisis. Her work also includes support in monitoring the National School Meal Programme in the Nuwakot district.
Cemail Morina is a member of The Association of Young Volunteers in Serbia -- a network set up by national Roma UN Volunteers as part of the joint UNDP-UNHCR project ‘Local Initiatives for Improved Social Inclusion of Young Roma’. In the video, Cemail and the volunteers share how they work to combat discrimination and support the most vulnerable members of the Roma community, especially youth. The project also assists local authorities in increasing their commitment towards inclusion of the Roma by facilitating their employment within local institutions.
Dora Kunda is a national UN Volunteer Midwife serving with UNFPA in South Sudan. In the video, she explains how she prepares mothers for delivery and provides information about infant care, postnatal hygiene, and health. She also raises awareness about the importance of giving birth in the hospital and avoiding risky home deliveries.
Emanuel Foukou is an international UN Volunteer from Sweden serving with the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office in Cameroon as Public Information and Partnerships Officer. His video shows a ‘plogging’ event organized around World Environment Day 2021 by UNV and UNDP to clean the streets of Yaoundé. The video features Agnes Okodombe, UNV Country Coordinator in Cameroon, several UN Volunteers, community leaders, and members of civil society.
Mai Abdelwahab, from Egypt, is an international UN Volunteer Project Engineer serving with UNMISS in South Sudan. The video captures her work in Torit, Eastern Equatorial. Mai and her team ensure the provision and upkeep of units required by the mission. They also monitor the construction activities of community quick impact projects, many of which this year were for health units.
Namchok Petsaen is a national UN Volunteer Communications Assistant serving in Thailand with the UNV Regional Office for Asia Pacific. In the video, he shares some of the challenges that persons with disabilities like himself face during the COVID-19 pandemic, and highlights the need to be inclusive when responding to crises.
Ana Maria Castro, from Colombia, is an international UN Volunteer Multimedia Communication Assistant with UNICEF in Ecuador. The video she produced is about the work of UNICEF Ecuador and the Peacebuilding Fund on the northern border of the country. The video features Gloria Carolina González, international UN Volunteer focal point of UNICEF in Esmeraldas, talking about the Peacebuilding Fund project and her work in the community.
Ahmed Alrough is a national UN Volunteer Emergency Nurse serving with UNDP in a UN Clinic in Sana’a, Yemen. He submitted a video testimonial he filmed of Dr. Marwah Almaqtari, national UN Volunteer Emergency Doctor serving at the UN Clinic in Sana’a as part of the COVID-19 response team.
The ten winners will each receive a RICOH THETA 360-degree camera and training on 360-degree video production. After the training, these UN Volunteers will use the cameras to develop 360-degree video content about the SDG challenges they are tackling in the field.
The video content created by UN Volunteers will be showcased on Kopernik’s free open-source platform, VR for SDGs, and on UNV’s website and social media. An online event will be held around International Volunteer Day (IVD) on the 5th of December, to present the videos alongside other UNV’s initiatives.
The VR for SDGs platform has been developed by Kopernik to help articulate challenges in developing countries that need to be addressed to achieve the SDGs, through 360-degree/Virtual Reality (VR) videos. The VR content will be used by development organizations, companies, academic institutions, governments, and programs working on addressing the unmet social and environmental needs of underserved people across the world.
The videos will highlight the commitment of volunteers in each respective area in helping the community and leave no one behind by reaching out to people, including those marginalized or difficult to reach, to bring people’s voices and knowledge into collective actions. This is crucial to achieve the SDGs. Stay updated with the latest on this collaboration by following UNV and Kopernik on social media and www.unv.org.