To support UNHCR in delivering its mandate, more than 310 UN Volunteers have served with in the Arab States during the period 2016-2019, over 50 per cent of them women. This group of diverse and well-trained practitioners strengthened UNHCR’s capacity to provide protection and critical emergency assistance for refugees, instilling hope and trust in hard times.

A total of 185 women UN Volunteers have served with UNAMID since 2008 and UNISFA since 2012 in a multitude of fields, including medicine, health, engineering, finance, technology and supply chains. Comprising no more than 25 per cent of the total UN Volunteer workforce supporting these two missions, women have been handling challenging tasks and benefiting the communities they serve. Irene Haroub (Zimbabwe), a UN Volunteer HIV/AIDS Trainer/Counselor with UNAMID, hopes the impact of her work will benefit mothers and communities in Darfur for many years to come.

Sudan is currently hosting over one million refugees from South Sudan, Eritrea, Syria and other countries. While there have been no reported cases of refugees who have tested positive for COVID-19 so far, the high density of refugee dwellings, coupled with limited health care and WASH facilities, makes them particularly vulnerable to the pandemic. Based in Kosti, White Nile State, Alemayehu Gebremichael (Ethiopia) is a UN Volunteer serving as a Health and Nutrition Officer within a programme that caters to the needs of nearly 160,00 refugees in nine camps.

Over the past two years, more and more UN Volunteers have been serving with WHO in support of its operations in the Arab States (from 8 in 2018 to 50 in 2020). Today, these UN Volunteers are part of the organization’s efforts to support an effective COVID-19 response by governments of the region, serving in functions varying from technical support and public information, to general administration, financial and personnel management.

And so I did, I joined the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Morocco as a UN Volunteer Associate Programme Manager in Democratic Governance and the experience was more than just professional. By promoting the values of volunteerism for peace, I discovered that the UNV programme was designed to help us grow in a unique way. No one is going to tell you what is the best path for you and on the contrary people are going to try to tell you to stick to the reasons that got you there.

On World Cities Day, we highlight the contributions of two UN Volunteers serving in support of UN-Habitat’s crisis recovery efforts in Lebanon and Iraq, where property loss and mass displacement have created complex urban environments.

Newton Mutunga served as a UN Volunteer Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) Officer in Darfur. Recruited in 2015, he was posted in the Marra Mountains (Jebel Marra), where armed conflict persists and increasing numbers of people have been forced to leave their homes. You can read more about Newtons’ UN Volunteer experience in Sudan here.

In total, around 206 UN Volunteer teachers were deployed over the course of 3 school years, to provide quality, inclusive and equitable education services to both 31,231 Palestinian refugee children already living in Lebanon and 5,318 Palestinian refugee children who newly arrived from Syria. The support of UN Volunteer teachers was extended to UNRWA schools for the academic years 2016-2017 and 2017-2018.

International Volunteer Day 2019 will be celebrated with a series of series of events, our main event will be on sunday 8th december where we will jointly with red cross Society, support the local football school, and organise additional workshops during their training. The school gathers children of different background (disabled children and children from different social status), who are trained by volunteers..