UN Volunteers: agile, hardworking, grounded

Dima Al-Khatib, UNDP Resident Representative in Moldova and former UN Volunteer
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Whether we speak of the COVID-19 pandemic, frozen conflicts, or any other type of crisis, we need competent human capacity. Effective deployment of such expertise to shoulder our efforts and services, as well as our country offices, exists in the UN system – in the form of the UN Volunteers (UNV) programme.

We shall, as one UN organization, keep promoting the principle of volunteerism and integrating it into our thinking and daily aspirations. Whether we are UN Volunteers or UN staff of any agency, we are practicing and promoting volunteerism in what we do and what we work for.

Whether it is about new ideas, initiatives, contributions, coaching others, spending additional working hours or operating in hardship conditions – you name it – we volunteer without noticing, because it is part of our value system.

Protecting human rights in the time of COVID-19

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UN Volunteers Celine Rabbat, Line Bayram and Zein Ayoub are supporting Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) as Associate Human Rights Officers with the Regional Office for the Middle East based in Beirut, Lebanon. They conduct media monitoring and research to document the measures countries have taken to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent impact of these measures for vulnerable groups. In addition, they report incidents such as hate speech, which have increased in recent months, particularly towards migrants.

Worldwide, over 65 million people have contracted the COVID-19 virus and 1.5 million have lost their lives. In the haste to contain this pandemic, resources for many community-based programs and supportive services have been reduced, halted or reallocated toward the emergency response. Lockdown measures and travel restrictions have also been mandated.

Volunteering as an Africa Woman Health Champion in Congo Brazzaville

Dr Esther Njinembo, UN Volunteer Technical Officer with WHO Congo
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My name is Dr Esther Njinembo, from Cameroon. I am engaged as a UN Volunteer Technical Officer with the World Health Organization (WHO) in the team for tobacco and reduction of other non-communicable disease risk factors. I serve as an African Woman Health Champion* in Congo Brazzaville.

The scope of my work is centered on preventing non-communicable disease risk factors, which include tobacco consumption, alcohol abuse, unhealthy diets and physical inactivity. These all contribute to the increasing prevalence of non-communicable diseases like diabetes, hypertension and cancer, to name just a few. People who suffer most from the complications of COVID-19 are those with non-communicable diseases. Thus, I am determined to help countries prevent these diseases.

Challenging stereotypes in pursuit of peace in Sudan

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At a point where the world strives to respond to the threat of COVID-19 and recover from its impact, calls for gender equality are at the core of efforts to building back better. In response to the crisis, there is an emphasis on having more women in leadership as a key to achieving an equal future. This article highlights how women UN Volunteer Peacekeepers in Sudan continue to challenge stereotypes while they combat the pandemic.

Ekram Fator is a Sudanese woman serving as a national UN Volunteer Warehouse Assistant with the UN-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID). She works in the transport warehouse where she supports the overall management of stock. By choosing to serve in such a role, traditionally seen to be more fit for men, Ekram is breaking social barriers and challenging gender stereotypes.

UN Volunteers coordinate pandemic response in Venezuela

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UN Volunteers Rosana Jimenez and Yasmin Lapeira began serving with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Venezuela during one of the most difficult moments in recent times. Both UN Volunteers took up their assignments when the pandemic hit South America last spring. Yasmin was deployed in Venezuela thanks to the Special Voluntary Fund (SVF), of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme with funding from a number of donors.  

Rosana and Yasmin’s assignments focus on understanding humanitarian needs in the states covered by the Maracaibo Field Coordination Hub (Trujillo, Falcón, Lara, and Zulia). Rosana is based in Lara and Yasmín covers all the states of Maracaibo. Through conversations with the local communities and local organizations on the ground, these two women UN Volunteers track humanitarian assistance requirements in each area.

IVD 2020 livestreams

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Together We Can: experiences of volunteers responding to COVID-19 in the Arab States.

Thursday 3 December 2020, 13:00 to 15:00  UTC+2:00 - Live-streamed on @UNVArabStates Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/UNVArabStates 

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme and the International Federation for Red Cross and Red Crescent in the Middle East and North Africa (IFRC MENA), are pleased to invite you to join us online for the virtual Blue Room talks for IVD2020.

Learning gamification: using game design and fun to build digital transformation skills

Avetis Avagyan, DT Project Manager, and Stephen Brightwell, HR Specialist
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"Digital transformation is less about technology and more about people. You can pretty much buy any technology, but your ability to adapt to an even more digital future depends on developing the next generation of skills, closing the gap between talent supply and demand, and future-proofing your own and others’ potential." This perspective, from the Harvard Business Review resonates with us at UNV, where we recognize that in order to deliver on our highly ambitious Digital Transformation project, skilled digital professionals are indispensable.

Digital readiness is key to our success. i.e. building and refining of capabilities and culture to perform and transform. According to the Institute for Digital Transformation, "The more prepared or ready an organization, the more likely it will achieve its desired outcome. 'Digital readiness' is being prepared for the disruption of Digital Transformation." 

Launching the new UN Partner Toolkit for hosting UN Volunteers

Online
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The UN Partner Toolkit is designed to guide you through the UN Volunteer journey and the various stages you and the volunteer will experience together during the assignment, from the beginning, until the end.

This toolkit will become your central reference point, where you can get the relevant information you need on-demand, at any time and from anywhere: policy, processes, checklists, templates, tools, guidance and resources.

Volunteers at the UN: the rich human talent countering COVID-19

Toily Kurbanov, Deputy Executive Coordinator
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Collaboration has always been the heart of UNV. The extraordinary demands brought about by COVID-19 have put to test UNV’s role as an enabler of joint action by the United Nations and volunteers. Almost a year into the pandemic, it is time to recap and reflect: How well did UNV pass the test? What have we learned? And finally, where do we go from here?

From the onset, the pandemic disrupted how we bring volunteers to the UN. Travel lockdowns made international recruitments almost impossible. At the same time, the need for volunteers in the UN system increased. In a matter of a few weeks, UNV’s job changed and we had to brainstorm:

Beyond averages: do gender disparities exist in volunteering?

Katrina Borromeo
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In 2019 and 2020, UNV reported achieving a 50-50 gender balance among its men and women volunteers. This is an admirable feat and sets a good foundation for moving towards gender equality. But the work does not end there. We also need to look at the hidden figures and go beyond averages to better understand and uncover intersectional disparities. 

Are these numbers more or less the same across regions, age groups and types of volunteering work? Are women and men volunteers getting the same recognition for the same types of work? And how can disaggregating such data help us better address gender differences in volunteering?

What do the hidden figures tell us?

Looking beyond averages will tell a slightly different story about how we fare with achieving gender balance in volunteering - at UNV and at the global level. 

For example, if we disaggregate data on UNV gender averages, we will see that in some regions such as in Western and Central Africa, the average drops to 40-60 in favour of male volunteers, whereas in Latin America, the number of women volunteers tend to be higher. 

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