According to UN Women, one in three women and girls experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, mostly by an intimate partner. The situation has deteriorated since the outbreak of COVID-19. Calls to helplines reporting violence have increased five-fold in some countries, and in Lao PDR, the Women’s Union Counselling and Protection Centre have reported a significant increase in the number of calls they have received. COVID-19 has not only increased the likelihood of violence, but has strained essential services, making it even more difficult for women to get support.

What motivated me to serve as a UN Volunteer was my desire to learn and to contribute to the important work of the United Nations. It is inspiring that the programme provides such opportunities to young and emerging professionals like me.

In Benin, UNFPA has established a network of Youth Champions committed to fighting gender-based violence. They serve with a project that targets gender-based violence prevention, protection and empowerment of girls and women in times of the COVID-19 pandemic, and is funded by Canada.

My primary role is to spearhead disability inclusion at the Nigeria Country Office. I manage the inclusion of women and girls with disabilities and the youth in UN Women's activities in Nigeria. I have pioneered a Disability Inclusion toolkit tailored to the ongoing programmes in the country. This toolkit simplifies the steps for programme managers and partners to provide access to women and girls with diverse disabilities to contribute, participate and benefit from development programmes.

When I first arrived in Rwanda, the country went into lockdown as COVID-19 had reached its peak in the country. Hence, I was first deployed to support Rwanda’s National COVID-19 Command Post Centre in Kigali, which coordinates the entire country’s COVID-19 response. I was part of the Technical Advisory Group, where representatives from different partner organizations met and discussed technical responses, including decisions on the number of COVID-19 tests and vaccination roll-out.

UNV’s partnership with the Scouts provides an opportunity to promote youth volunteering through joint advocacy events and sharing of research on youth volunteering. It also provides opportunities to engage youth volunteers in high-level fora and collaborate on an enabling environment for youth volunteering.

Having experienced discrimination herself, Chavia has always felt the need to dedicate herself to tackling challenges faced by persons with disabilities. For as long as she can remember, volunteering has always been her passion. During her university years at Aleppo University, Syria, Chavia founded an advocacy organization for persons with disabilities. "At the time, I was fortunate enough to have my father’s support, so I was able to fully dedicate myself to improving the everyday lives of persons with disabilities in my home country," she recalls. 

It’s different when you have suffered from discrimination yourself and when you are part of a minority. These life experiences help you develop more empathy towards those who need assistance. --Alfonso Zabaleta, UN Volunteer Humanitarian Affairs Access Officer with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Venezuela

When I got the opportunity at UNDP in 2019, I was working at the university as a teaching assistant. I thought UNDP would give me a chance to grow and also contribute to everything that I wanted to do in society. I was already interested in inclusive development, inclusive governance, social justice, climate change, and I wanted to play a part in addressing social inequalities.

Florent serves in the locality of Kousseri in the far north of Cameroon. In this area, conflict and instability are triggered by extremist groups such as Boko Haram. To prevent violent extremism, UNDP focuses its interventions on conflict prevention, inclusive governance, social cohesion and the creation of economic opportunities.