Some of the recommendations include:

The Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) is a global initiative under UNDP that currently operates in 41 countries to create sustainable financial solutions that not only protect biodiversity, but also let it flourish. As part of the initiative, Joshua Mabeta, a national UN Volunteer Research Assistant with UNDP, has been working to achieve the broader biodiversity conservation goal by developing the Biodiversity Finance Plan.

Online Volunteers are valuable assets in implementing projects that require data analysis and digital technologies. The SDG AI Lab at UNDP Istanbul International Center for Private Sector in Development (IICPSD) brought together over 100 Online Volunteers from 45 countries under its Volunteer Data Scientists initiative, a partnership with the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme. 

Azhar Sholgami, Mid-fielder of Al-Diffa Team / UN Volunteer with UNDP Sudan To me, there is no greater feeling than winning a tournament. The cheering fans, your teammates, friends, and family in the crowd. It brings people together like nothing else.

No two days are alike for Isabel. Her work in the environmental field involves the development of projects that promote sustainability and collaborative work with the local community, including the mission’s civilian and military staff.

I have always been interested in women's rights, gender equality and volunteerism. My first volunteer experience goes back to my undergraduate days when I joined the university's official volunteer programme, Ugnayan ng Pahinungod, which nurtures volunteers working with the Philippines' local communities. I also worked as an intern for the Huairou Commission in New York, which provided me with ample exposure to women's rights issues and an understanding of key global issues.

We’re talking of literally thousands of people, as I reflect upon 31 years. I served for two years in the early 1980s as a US Peace Corps co-sponsored volunteer in rural Liberia working for a UNDP Self-Help Village Development Project. Then in 1986, four years as the UNV Programme Officer at the Colombo office of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), where I oversaw the UNV Domestic Development Service volunteer programme in Sri Lanka.

This group of UN Volunteers (six women and nine men) was part of a team comprising one thousand personnel during the peak period of the elections – described as "the biggest electoral assistance mission in the history of UN’s practice worldwide," according to Dr Aamir Arain, Director of UNAMI Electoral Assistance and UN Principal Electoral Advisor. However, these volunteers "were a significant part of this undertaking, serving in both substantive, technical and administrative aspects of the complex electoral assistance programme," adds Dr Arain.

According to the 2018 Latinobarómetro report, more than half of Latin Americans (56 per cent) do not trust the media, and the democratic support is only 48 per cent. In addition, information contamination (or info-pollution) and bad information are tools that cause political polarization and misinformation and undermine democracy.

The award comes as the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme celebrates its 50th anniversary and on the 2021 International Volunteer Day. Recipients of the Volunteer Service Awards are acknowledged for the impact of their volunteer efforts in the community; for the challenges they have overcome and for their inspiration to others. From over 130 nominations, the 14 winners across UNHCR’s seven regions are celebrated and acknowledged for going the extra mile in making an impact in their communities (video below).