Supporting the livelihoods of women in South Sudan with UNDP

Stella Vellendi, UN Youth Volunteer, South Sudan
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South Sudan is the world’s youngest country, having become independent from Sudan in 2011 after decades of separatist conflict. Stella Vellendi (Finland), a 27-year-old UN Youth Volunteer with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is helping to support recovery, resilience and livelihoods in three regions of the country.

In 2013, South Sudan entered a civil war – a conflict which continues till today. The impact of insecurity has had a profound impact on people. Poverty has worsened, from 44.7 per cent in 2011 to 65.9% in 2018. Female-headed households (48.6 per cent of all households in South Sudan) experience more severe depth of poverty owing to detrimental social norms, and limited access to education, productive assets and resources.

'Boots on the ground': UN Volunteer manages UNHCR fleet in Ethiopia

Amabel Nagaba, international UN Volunteer, Gambella, Ethiopia
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Volunteering in Gambella, located in western Ethiopia and bordering South Sudan, has been both challenging and very exciting. Gambella region hosts over 402,028 refugees and other persons of concern who arrived in different waves since 1993, in 2012 and following post-December 2013 conflicts in South Sudan.

I enthusiastically joined the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), sub-office Gambella, as an international UN Volunteer to contribute towards addressing the plight of persons of concern and provision of protection services which is the core mandate of UNHCR.

Since December 2015, I have been the ‘boots on the ground', managing and coordinating the fleet and transport facilitation for UNHCR staff.

UNV flagship report sparks wider discourse on volunteering for resilience

State of the World's Volunteerism Report
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Launched in over 40 countries this year, the UNV flagship report, “2018 State of the World’s Volunteerism Report", finds that volunteerism is the thread that binds, enabling everyone to join together and come up with solutions to the problems their communities face. The worldwide launch events featuring esteemed representatives from the government, UN agencies, civil society, and volunteers sparked wider policy discussions and discourse on how to best strengthen the contribution of volunteers in creating communities that are resilient, inclusive and sustainable.

ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

Volunteering engages urban citizens and displaced persons as agents of change

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Volunteering engages urban citizens and displaced persons as agents of change

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2018 State of World Volunteerism Report launched in East and Southern Africa, shows that volunteers build resilient communities in Africa

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2018 State of World Volunteerism Report launched in East and Southern Africa, shows that volunteers build resilient communities in Africa

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In DRC, a young UN Volunteer tries to make a difference in people's lives

Tommaso Ripani, UN Volunteer with OCHA
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Having worked in Europe for the European Union, NGOs and think tanks, Tommaso Ripani (Italy) knew that what he truly wanted was to be part of the UN in the field. "Studying international relations is one thing; putting it into practice is a completely different story," he said.

A public affairs specialist, Tommaso was working with the UN Regional Information Centre (UNRIC) in Brussels – after stints in The Hague and Rome – when he decided to upload his profile into the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) database. One night, while walking home with a colleague, he received an email asking if he was interested in joining OCHA’s sub-office in the North Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). "I wasn’t convinced I could make it to the end of the selection process," Tommaso shares.

State of the World's Volunteerism Report 2018 launched in Fiji and Samoa

Fiji and Samoa
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On 29 November, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme in Fiji launched a flagship report, the State of the World's Volunteerism Report (SWVR) 2018, demonstrating that volunteers across Asia and the Pacific region are a fundamental coping strategy for resilient communities. The SWVR 2018 launch in Suva, Fiji was held on the occasion of the UNV Executive Coordinator's official visit to the Pacific. 

In Jordan, supporting one of the biggest refugee-focused operations ever

Anja Ingabire & Apoorva Sharma, UN Volunteers with UNHCR Jordan
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Anja Ingabire is originally from Rwanda, now a Swedish national. Apoorva Sharma is from India. Both are UN Volunteers serving on the frontline to support UNHCR’s response to the refugee crisis in Jordan.

"I wish I could go back to Syria but what would I find there? Has my home survived? Would I be able to find a job?" These worries are expressed by many Syrian refugees who knock at the door of UNHCR in Amman, Jordan, seven years after the war began in Syria.

UN Volunteers Anja Ingabire and Apoorva Sharma support UNHCR’s Refugee Status Determination Unit, interviewing asylum seekers to determine whether they meet the legal criteria to be recognized as refugees according to the 1951 Refugee Convention, and therefore are in need of international protection.

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