2018 State of World Volunteerism Report shows that volunteering is a fundamental coping strategy for communities in crisis
2018 State of World Volunteerism Report shows that volunteering is a fundamental coping strategy for communities in crisis
2018 State of World Volunteerism Report shows that volunteering is a fundamental coping strategy for communities in crisis
Today, the UN Volunteers (UNV) programme in the Arab States, Europe and CIS is launching a flagship report demonstrating how local volunteers across the region are strengthening their communities.
Paving over the cracks: helping refugee women and children begin a normal life in Russia
One of the goals of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) office in Moscow is to provide help for refugees seeking asylum in Russia. Before acquiring legal status, asylum seekers have no access to protection from the government. And this is where Yulia Gershinkova, a national UN Volunteer Community Based Protection Assistant with UNHCR in Moscow, steps in. Together with UNHCR partners, Yulia works to provide refugees legal support, social counselling, food aid, free health services and limited financial assistance.
Yulia graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Oriental Studies from the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE) in Moscow and a double Master’s degree in Public Policy and International Relations from HSE the University of Bologna.
UN Volunteer in Malawi fights poverty by promoting local products
The 'Buy Malawi' strategy, an initiative by the Government of Malawi supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is encouraging local enterprises and people resident in Malawi to increase production and consumption of local goods and services to support the country's economic growth. One UN Volunteer, Lena Lungu, is actively supporting the communications, information and technology infrastructure behind this national initiative.
As the world commemorated October 17th as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, key 'Buy Malawi' strategy stakeholders recognized the initiative as pivotal in tackling poverty in Malawi. Like most developing countries, a large proportion of the population generally prefer imported products and services to local ones.
Volunteers support efforts against malnutrition and hunger in Yemen
Volunteers in Yemen are on the front line in the fight against malnutrition and hunger. Needs are immense. The case of Farah, a 10-months-old infant affected by malnutrition, is not isolated. The country is on the brink of a famine, if the war doesn't stop.
Farah is only 10 months old. Her pain cannot be expressed by words: only through tears. Farah spends nights and days crying because of her unimaginable suffering from malnutrition. She lives with her parents in Ash Shamayatayn district in Taiz Governorate. “There is nothing that I can do” her father told us. Although he is a college graduate, he has not been working since the war started – RDP staff, Yemen
How community volunteers support livelihoods in Lesotho
Living in a mud house together with her 21-year-old son, Mafusi, suffering from mental illness, and two orphans, Malefu and Lehlohonolo, whom Tso'sane adopted at a young age, life has never been an easy journey. With the possibility for shelter, through a United Nations programme, Tso-sane and her family can start to lift themselves out of poverty.
With support from the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme and Lesotho’s Ministry of Gender, Youth, Sports and Recreation (MGYSR), a decent two-roomed house was built and handed over to Ts’osane family in the Butha-Buthe district where the Ts’osane family lives. Youth volunteers and the community members assisted with the construction of the group of houses.
Helping the World Food Programme ship food into war-torn Syria
Eight long years of war in Syria have left 11 million women, children and men unable to survive without lifesaving aid. They rely on humanitarian aid to meet their basic needs – food, water shelter. Bashar Shehadeh is a Syrian UN Volunteer Logistics Officer from Damascus volunteering with the World Food Programme (WFP) in Lebanon. With six years of experience in logistics, he is helping to speed up the delivery of life-saving food to conflict-ridden areas inside Syria.
In Syria, 3.5 million of 6.5 million food-insecure Syrians receive food rations every month from the World Food Programme. Every month, WFP uses over 4,600 trucks to deliver emergency food assistance to more than 1,300 distribution points in all of Syria’s 14 governorates.
National UN Volunteers support the e-governance initiative of the Government of Nepal
Panch Dev Bhatta is serving as an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Expert, based in Surkhet, Nepal, at the Provincial Support Unit of Local Governance and Community Development Programme (LGCDP). The LGCDP Programme aims to improve local governance for effective delivery and citizen empowerment, which contributes towards poverty reduction through better local governance and community development.
Following Nepal's recent constitutional transition to a federal structure and many new provincial offices being established to foster Nepal’s process to E-Governance and transparency, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme supported the LGCDP II project under the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration by deploying national UN Volunteer ICT Experts to the different provinces.
Marking International Volunteer Day and celebrating volunteer impact
International Volunteer Day (IVD) is a worldwide celebration of the many ways in which volunteers work tirelessly to create better societies. Through this International Day, that was mandated by the General Assembly on 17 December 1985, volunteers are recognized across the globe, and the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) ensures that the potential of the day is fully realized.
The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme selects themes and campaigns to provide special meaning to IVD, creating a unifying concept for those who wish to join. The IVD 2016 campaign “#GlobalApplause – give volunteers a hand” cheered on the efforts of volunteers in peace building and sustainable development. The IVD 2017 campaign “Volunteers Act First. Here. Everywhere.” recognized the work of volunteers on the ground in times of crisis through events and celebrations in a display of solidarity.