Volunteers uplift women and girls affected by COVID-19 in Nigeria

UNV partnering with UN Women
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An estimated 1.7 million women and girls of reproductive age have been forcibly displaced in northeastern Nigeria due to a violent insurgency led by fundamentalist extremists. Blessing and Aisha serve in a Women's Empowerment Hub project established by UN Women to help some of those women regain decent life.

UN Community Volunteers Blessing Iyala and Aisha Abdel-Latif are working to empower internally-displaced women from Borno State in Nigeria.

They facilitate informative and sensitization sessions in local languages for the women and girls and manage one-on-one cases for survivors of gender-based violence survivors. So far, over 200 women and girls have benefitted from their support in learning various livelihood skills.

Using robotic process automation at UNV

Mirela Zukanovic, Programme Associate, and Frederic Le Maistre, Chief, ICT
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Through its digital transformation, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme is enabling the use of software robotics. This is intended to help with routine, repetitive tasks and increase data quality and efficiency of data entry in the assignment and contract management of UN Volunteers. We are using UiPath technology to achieve increased compliance, consistency and productivity through robotic automation.

In today’s work culture, workload has increased tenfold and organizations facing workforce shortages and complexity of business processes feel pressure to improve. Will UNV be able to achieve greater productivity with the use of software robotics, as staff increasingly get nervous about automation?

In 2020, UNV fielded 7,639 onsite UN Volunteers in 2020, administering thousands of new recruitments and contract renewals over the course of the year.

UN Volunteers lead steps toward gender equality

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In 2020 The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme achieved gender parity among all deployed UN Volunteers. As frontline responders or communications experts, national or international - these women UN Volunteers are making critical contributions to the fight against COVID-19. Here are some faces behind promoting gender equality amidst the pandemic in West and Central Africa.

Joanna Gbotoe is a Liberian nurse serving at The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) in the medical section. Since the beginning of the COVID-10 outbreak, she has played a key role in the Mission regarding prevention activities. Her work involves detecting suspected cases, providing essential treatment, helping in decontamination, and coordinating patient's evacuation.

Amplifying critical health messages about COVID-19

Melvis Kimbi, UN Volunteer Communications Officer with WHO
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My name is Melvis Kimbi and I am currently serving with the World Health Organization (WHO) as an international UN Volunteer in Madagascar. I am from Cameroon and started my UN Volunteer assignment in October 2020, through the WHO/UNV Africa Women Health Champions programme.* 

Since the onset of COVID-19, online content and social media have become more important forms of public communication than ever.

My story as a UN Volunteer and medical doctor

Dr. Rudolf Maulany, UN Volunteer Medical Doctor, UNMISS
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I joined the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) as a UN Volunteer in November 2016. As a medical doctor, I was stationed in Rumbek, Lake State region, to provide medical care to both national and international UN personnel. I supported and coordinated efforts to prevent infectious and epidemic diseases and managed a team that handles daily services and emergency clinical and administrative duties, such as referral of patients, minor surgeries, mass casualty training, medical evacuation and first aid.

As a medical doctor, I have worked in conflict situations for most of my career. Since 2006, I have served as a medical doctor in Kabul, Afghanistan and Dili and Baucau in Timor Leste. During my assignments there, I helped set up UN level I clinics and handled medical issues similar to what I am handling now in South Sudan.

Volunteering as an Africa Woman Health Champion in Botswana

Dr. Violet Mathenge, Surveillance and Emergency Risk Management Officer, WHO Botswana
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My name is Violet Mathenge. I am a medical doctor and epidemiologist, with more than seven years of experience in the clinical field, as well as in disease surveillance. I am a Kenyan national, currently serving as a UN Volunteer Surveillance and Emergency Risk Management Officer with the World Health Organization (WHO) in Botswana.

Taking a pause from the private sector to volunteer

Hugo Juárez, UN Volunteer Information Management Specialist
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A genuine desire to help in responding to COVID-19 challenges prompted Hugo Juárez to apply for an assignment as UN Volunteer Information Management Specialist in the Dialogue and Innovation Team of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Guatemala. From the start, Hugo noticed the differences between the scope of this role and his years of experience in the private sector: "I did not see it as me asking for a job. It was more like, 'I'm here to help you, tell me what you need and I will do it.'"

Hugo brought to UNDP his strong background in communications and digital marketing, technical skills, as well as a drive to contribute to the development of his home country, Guatemala. He has made a significant impact in various projects.

One of these is En Marcha Digital, a strategic initiative that supports entrepreneurs in adapting their business models during the COVID-19 pandemic, equipping them with free digital tools to reach their clients in novel ways.

Strengthening cold chain management for vaccine distribution

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With the introduction of the COVID-19 vaccines, Governments worldwide are challenged to ensure inclusive coverage during routine immunization. As part of the national immunization response, the Government of Sri Lanka and volunteers are gearing up to store large consignments of COVID-19 vaccines, as well as manage the large-scale and equitable distribution across the country.

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has been working with the Ministry of Health to support the country's preparedness to receive vaccines and rollout vaccination.

All hands on deck: working together to beat COVID-19

Kevin Ochieng, UNV Communications, East and Southern Africa
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The COVID-19 pandemic caught most of us by surprise. Across the globe, the spread of COVID-19 continues to cause death and disruption. It has pushed even the most advanced health systems to the brink. The full scale and impact of the pandemic, though far-reaching, still remain largely unknown. However, the rapid spread of the virus has reminded us of our interconnectedness and interdependency. Cooperation, coordination and collaboration have emerged as basic enabling factors for winning the fight against the pandemic.

In 2020, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme supported system-wide action on COVID-19 by investing US $2 million to mobilize national UN Volunteers in 79 countries and with 18 UN entities. The resources were dedicated from UNV's Special Voluntary Fund* (SVF), a flexible multi-donor fund that allows UNV to provide timely and strategic investments when needed, such as during the ongoing crisis.  

50 years of the United Nations Volunteers programme: a contemporary witness recalls

Prof. Dr. Peter Molt, UNV’s First Deputy Executive Coordinator
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The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme turns 50 this year! A unique common service to the UN system and beyond, UNV provides dedicated volunteers and volunteerism expertise to our partners across the world. The organization has been described as the 'jewel' of the United Nations. To mark our anniversary, we share the reflections of former leading executives and deputies of UNV. First up: Mr Peter Molt (Germany), the first Deputy Executive Coordinator of UNV, 1970-1975.

At the end of October 1970, I received a request from the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to advise on the establishment of a United Nations Volunteer Service (UNV). The background to this request was that I had been instrumental in the establishment of the German Voluntary Service in 1962 and later served as one of the directors of the Service from 1966-1969.

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