World Humanitarian Day: UN Volunteers in Cameroon support Central African refugees

UNV partnering with UNHCR & WFP
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United Nations Volunteers from the Adamaoua and eastern regions of Cameroon gathered with UN partners at the Lolo refugee site for a series of awareness and capacity building activities, as part of the celebration of World Humanitarian Day, 19 August. This was also an opportunity to pay tribute to the remarkable work accomplished by UN Volunteers in the humanitarian response.

It takes two hours to cover the 60 kilometers between Batouri, the capital of the Kadey department to the Lolo refugee site. Near the border with the Central African Republic (CAR) in the commune of Kentzou, the camp hosts a population of over 13,000 refugees from CAR. Fleeing a war-torn country, these vulnerable communities, predominately Muslims, settled at the site from the beginning of 2014.

One UN Volunteer’s experience of emergency response in the wake of Cyclone Idai

Matecue Tendai, national UN Volunteer, UNFPA
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On 14 March 2019, tropical Cyclone Idai hit the port of Beira, Mozambique, before moving across the region. Millions of people in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe were affected by what is the worst natural disaster to hit Southern Africa in at last two decades. As a national of Mozambique who was directly affected by the cyclone, Matecue Tendai, a national UN Volunteer with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Mozambique, shares his personal experience during this natural disaster.

The day the cyclone hit, we accommodated five neighbour families who sought refuge after the cyclone winds destroyed their houses. A total of 33 people sat in our small sitting room and I had to climb up the roof to place stone blocks to prevent the roof of being swept away.

Going beyond self in South Sudan, the story of one woman humanitarian

Jessica Piccinini, UN Volunteer Public Information Officer, UNMISS
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UN Volunteers make important contributions to UN action in the pursuit of sustainable development, with a particular focus on people in transition or crisis. So many of these UN Volunteers, particularly women, put themselves on the front lines to help people affected by crises. Before joining the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) as a UN Volunteer one month ago, I really had no idea what to expect. I had never ventured to this region of Africa, and I wasn’t quite sure how I’d fit in amongst my peers or the locals. Still, my staunch curious nature overcame any insecurities I may have had pre-departure and took the wheel, guiding me on my next odyssey. 

I quickly discovered that the mission is a mosaic of diverse characters facing unique challenges and chasing different dreams. For example, in my role as UN Volunteer Public Information Officer, I hoped to use my writing to highlight the collective challenges, as well as accomplishments, of a nascent nation like South Sudan to a global audience. But I never really considered what I was doing as humanitarian work. 

Supporting disaster and emergency preparedness and response capacity in Myanmar

Makato Sasakawa, HRD-UN Volunteer Supply Chain Officer, Myanmar
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Emergency preparedness and response is a highly nuanced and complex process, requiring coordination between many important groups when disaster strikes. Governments are looked to for rapid response and are required to mobilize quickly and efficiently. Effective preparation and response requires a complex architecture, including command, operations, planning, logistics, finance and administration, if aid is to be reach those affected in a timely and organized fashion.

Myanmar is highly susceptible to natural disasters and ranks second out of 187 countries in the 2016 Global Climate Risk Index. Prolonged conflict fuelled by ethnic tensions has exacerbated Myanmar’s vulnerability to natural disasters, so much so that the Government of Myanmar has placed emergency response and disaster preparedness at the top of its priority list.

UN Volunteers as ambassadors of coexistence, humility and courage in Northern Mali

Rontal Dixon Saint-Juste and Jackson Mwakwilay, UN Volunteers with MINUSMA
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We are about 160 km away from the Algerian border, and more than 1,800 km away from Bamako, in Tessalit, in the heart of the Adrar of Ifoghas. It is close by this sand-colored city, emblematic place of the Tuareg rebellion in Mali, that UN Volunteers Rontal Dixon Saint-Juste and Jackson Mwakwilay, are serving with the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).

Never leave the desert, because the desert purifies the soul. Far from it, you are deaf and blind. So speak the Tuareg mothers. --Mano Dayak 

Young people transform education by volunteering

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Young people transform education by volunteering

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National UN Volunteers promote youth participation in electoral processes in Pakistan

Fatima Rind & Aneesa Kafait, national UN Youth Volunteers with UNDP
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The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme has had an extensive youth engagement programme with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Pakistan since 2013. To date, 111 national UN Youth Volunteers have been mobilized with the Strengthening Electoral and legislative Processes (SELP) project. These volunteers have diverse education backgrounds and have been deployed to urban and rural areas to raise awareness of communities on civic rights, voter education and local and the national political system. National UN Youth Volunteers Fatima Rind and Aneesa Kafair share their experiences.

"I was teaching a session on parliamentary systems in a village outside Hyderabad in Sindh province to a crowd of 50 labourers, and decided to tell shopkeepers and shepherds – who all happened to be men. After I delivered the teaching materials, I told them a little bit about myself, my education background and my volunteer work with UNDP."

I wanted them to see me beyond my gender. I wanted them to see that women and girls can also lead, if given the right schooling and education opportunity. --national UN Volunteer with UNDP Fatima Rind

Creating a supportive learning environment from early childhood in the State of Palestine

Rana Awad and Shaden Handal, UN Youth Volunteers with UNICEF
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Serving as UN Volunteers for Communication for Development (C4D) with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has helped Rana Awad and Shaden Handal realize the power of communication in changing lives. Their experience has helped them relate to the real struggles and needs of marginalized communities, particularly vulnerable children; allowing them to learn how to best analyse and use most suitable communication tools in their work.

Rana holds a Bachelor’s degree in journalism and a Master's degree in video direction and editing. She previously made documentaries with human rights and conflict resolution initiatives.

On behalf of children and young people across Gaza and the West Bank, Rana utilises her background in communications to trigger new discussions and challenge existing narratives.

Shaden, a UN Youth Volunteer from Jerusalem, is a skilled storyteller who helps bridge the gap between some of the most vulnerable children and adolescents and the changing society around them.

UN Volunteers improve the access of youth to education in Africa

UN Volunteer Ruth C. Engmann & UN Youth Volunteer Clara Sagna
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In West and Central Africa, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme promotes youth education by facilitating youth access to capacity building, education and professional opportunities within the UN system. In this region, where over 30 per cent of the population is between the age of 10 and 24, UNV invests in youth volunteerism as a means to empower and enable youth to contribute to peace and development.

Promoting girls’ education in Liberia

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