The first workshop that took place in Nairobi was organized in partnership with UNICEF for 40 UN Volunteer Youth Advocates drawn from 28 countries across the globe.
During the two day workshop, the UNICEF volunteers were involved in learning on career planning and professional development. The UN Volunteer Youth Advocates also strengthened their capacities and professional skills in communications, leadership, conflict resolution, and teamwork.
The first workshop that took place in Nairobi was organized in partnership with UNICEF for 40 UN Volunteer Youth Advocates drawn from 28 countries across the globe.
During the two day workshop, the UNICEF volunteers were involved in learning on career planning and professional development. The UN Volunteer Youth Advocates also strengthened their capacities and professional skills in communications, leadership, conflict resolution, and teamwork.
Nearly 150 participants from government institutions, academia, and UN agencies attended the launching ceremony. Mr. Wang Jiarui, Chairman of China Soong Ching Ling Foundation, Mr. Hang Yuanxiang, Executive Vice Chairman of the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation, Mr. Olivier Adam, UNV Executive Coordinator, Mr. Zhang Yi, Deputy Director General of CICETE and Mr. Devanand Ramiah, UNDP China Deputy Residence Representative jointly launched the project.
Janvier Okpo is a national UN Volunteer Protection Officer with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), deployed since June 2018 in Tanda, a small town located at 350km east of the Ivorian capital (Abidjan). In his daily work he meets with community members, local authorities, state agents and institutions established in the area to discuss and raise awareness about statelessness, an issue that affects many people.
Today, over 25 million people worldwide live outside their countries to escape violence and persecution. Refugees leave nearly everything behind to seek safety: their homes, their jobs, and sometimes even their families.
Countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea have witnessed some of the highest levels of migrations over the past few years, leaving millions of migrants and refugees in need of critical assistance and life support.
This year, UNV has jump started initiatives to give refugees, particularly youth, the opportunity to volunteer for their communities. In partnership with UNHCR and IOM, UNV provides learning and career opportunities to refugees, through this new UN Refugee Volunteer modality.
This year, in addition, UNV is providing young refugees in
Many people in Latin America and the Caribbean currently become volunteers to support the Venezuelan refugees and asylum seekers. Sonia Silva, a former international UN Volunteer who served in Lago Agrio, Ecuador with UNHCR, shares how volunteering facilitates the adaptation of families on the move.
According to UNHCR and IOM’s latest report, the number of Venezuelans leaving their country has reached 4 million. Globally, the report also reveals that Venezuelans are one of the single largest population groups displaced, with a number of refugees and migrants that has increased by one million since November 2018.
Since 2018, UNV has partnered with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Bangladesh to provide humanitarian assistance to refugees coming into the Cox’s Bazar region. To date, four national UN Volunteers have been mobilized to work with IOM on site management for Rohingya refugees at the camp and surrounding areas.
In August 2017, the humanitarian situation in the Rakhine State of Myanmar triggered a large influx of Rohingya civilians to cross into Bangladesh to Cox's Bazar. Since then, an estimated 655,000 Rohingyas refugees have crossed into Bangladesh, increasing the total Rohingya population residing in the Cox's Bazar area to over 866,000. The speed and scale of the refugee influx has resulted in a critical humanitarian emergency that is being handled by UN agencies, other humanitarian partners and volunteers.
Kakuma refugee camp, located in the Northwest of Kenya, plays host to approximately 191,000 refugees from 20 different nationalities, with the majority being from South Sudan and Somalia. Under the guidance of UNHCR, UNV and other developing partners have developed a pilot volunteer initiatives with refugees in the camps. These activities enhance community security and refugee protection through refugee engagement, with a particular focus on women and girls. Grace Oonge has been working as a national UN Volunteer for the project and shares with us her story during this year's World Refugee Day.
On 21 June 2017 Ojulu, a refugee from Ethiopia, first arrived in the Kalobeyei settlement. The move was part of a camp consolidation and closure exercise that saw the relocation of non-Somali refugees from the Dadaab complex to the Kakuma refugee camp in Turkana County.
“When I first arrived in Kalobeyei everything was new. I left my work, family, friends in Dadaab and was entering a new place,” Ojulu explains.
Joyce Matua Bakoko is an International UNV Specialist currently serving with UNFPA’s humanitarian crisis response for Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar. She has been providing capacity building and advocacy in areas of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights for women and girls.
It was a normal sunny day when I was going through my center unit visits. The birth center, popularly known as Kutupalong Registered Camp (RC), was unusually filled with a rowdy gathering of male outside the center and filled with women inside the labor room.
On seeing me, the midwives on duty rushed me inside the center’s labour room only to find a young first-time mother in extreme labour. They confirmed that the mother’s situation was dire, complicated and life threatening.