Mapping data to aid response to humanitarian emergencies in post-conflict Iraq

Oladipo Akinpelumi, UN Volunteer GIS Officer, Iraq
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The humanitarian crisis in Iraq remains one of the most volatile in the world. Although the conflict ended in 2017, some 8.7 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance and two million are internally displaced. UN Volunteer Oladipo Akinpelumi (Nigeria) joined the Information Management Unit of UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Erbil, Iraq, as a Geographic Information Systems Officer in 2016. In this role, he is constantly integrating information to aid response to humanitarian emergencies.

Serving with OCHA, UN Volunteer Oladipo Akinpelumi responds to the demand for vital data to coordinate humanitarian response. He combines expertise gained from his previous work as a GIS analyst in Nigeria and his two master’s degrees: one in Geographic Information Systems, and another in International Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid.

UN Volunteers break language barriers to support the protection of refugees in Niger

UNV partnering with UNHCR
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Niger currently hosts tens of thousands of refugees. Since the end of 2017, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) launched a new life-saving programme known as the Emergency Transit Mechanism (ETM) to evacuate vulnerable refugees from detention centres in Libya. The evacuees from Libya mainly include Ethiopians, Eritreans, Somalis and Sudanese. In its mission to protect the refugees in the region, UNHCR strongly recognizes and appreciates the support of United Nations Volunteers. They are active in several areas in the organization, ranging from protection, registration or program officers and especially interpreters.

In Niamey, 10 UN volunteers serve in UNHCR offices as interpreters. Thanks to their commitment, capacities in languages and communications as well as linguistic and cultural proximity with the refugees, they improve the quality of protection and assistance provided to refugees, facilitate interviews, registrations, medical services etc., to better guarantee their rights and well-being.

Gabriela Fana Kidane, a young Swedish interpreter of Eritrean origin is an international UN Volunteer with UNHCR in Niamey, Niger.

Resolution on 'Volunteering for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development' formally adopted by UN General Assembly

New York, USA
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Resolution on 'Volunteering for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development' formally adopted by UN General Assembly

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Youth-to-youth connection in the State of Palestine: let's talk about sexual health!

Nour Hamayel, UN Youth Volunteer Y-PEER Coordinator, UNFPA
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In many societies, subjects relating to sexual and reproductive health and early marriage are considered sensitive, private or taboo. The support of UN Youth Volunteers allows UN Agencies like UNFPA to better reach young people, and provide advice, education and support in a youth-friendly, innovative way.

UN Youth Volunteer Nour Hamayel is 26-years-old and has just completed a two-year assignment with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in her home country, the State of Palestine.

As national UN Youth Volunteer, Nour’s primarily role was Y-PEER coordinator – facilitating conversations and activities in the State of Palestine on sexual and reproductive health and HIV prevention on behalf of the UNFPA-funded Youth Peer Education Network.

Enabling ex-combatants to transition to peaceful civilian life in Darfur

Newton Mutunga, UN Volunteer DDR Officer with UNAMID
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Meet Newton Mutunga (Kenya), a former UN Volunteer who served with the African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), Sudan. His task was counseling the ex-combatants on their transition into civilian life, after years of war. Some of them were child soldiers.

The African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) is transitioning from peacekeeping projects to peacebuilding and development. Through its Governance and Community Stabilization Section (GCSS), UNAMID is supporting Darfuri civilians with a wide number of projects aimed at increasing security and reduce violence.

UN Volunteer with UNMISS protecting human rights amidst civil war in South Sudan

Thakur Chapagain, UN Volunteer Human Rights Officer, UNMISS
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Thakur Chapagain has been serving as a UN Volunteer Human Rights Officer with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) in Torit, South Sudan since February 2014. He contributes to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan’s efforts to monitor and investigate human rights.

South Sudan has been at civil war since December 2013, claiming the lives of tens of thousands of civilians and forcing more than four million people to flee their homes. The United Nations hosts about 200,000 of those who have been displaced   in Protection of Civilians sites across the country.

UN mission in Mali celebrates 'The Voices of Courage' through a photo exhibition featuring women volunteers

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UN mission in Mali celebrates 'The Voices of Courage' through a photo exhibition featuring women volunteers

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Volunteerism to empower women and prevent gender-based violence in Guatemala

Carlos Rivera, UN Volunteer with UN Women in Guatemala
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Gender-based violence is prevented through a comprehensive approach and interaction between the political, economic and physical autonomy of women, for the exercise of effective citizenship that ensures the sustainability of all actions. Through volunteerism, I can contribute to empowering women and building resilient communities in Guatemala.

According to the National Employment and Income Survey (ENEI), in Guatemala, 58.6 per cent of women live in poverty and 22.8 per cent in extreme poverty.

Poverty is greater in the rural population, particularly in the Maya, Xinca and Garífuna peoples, communities that live under a constant condition of injustice and deprivation of their basic rights, affecting their women, girls and adolescents with greater ferocity.

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