The forest fires started on the coastal area on Sunday 16 July 2017, and spread quickly due to strong winds and dry weather. In Croatia, several villages around Split in Dalmatia were threatened by the fire, and many houses were left without gas and electricity. One person was killed in the fire and more than 3,500 square meters of forest area were destroyed.

For COP 23, UN Volunteers has recruited more than 650 volunteers to support a wide range of operational tasks throughout the event. They all attended a full-day training on October 30. Follow the involvement of volunteers during COP 23 here (hover over the image and scroll down):

Korea is a model at the industrial, human and educational levels. They are at the forefront of international peace...

The ILO Department of Statistics and the UN Volunteers have joined forces to scale up efforts to improve the global availability, quality and use of statistics on volunteer work. Starting this month, the ILO-UNV partnership will focus on assessing the current status of volunteer work statistics around the world; engage directly with countries to identify good practices and challenges in volunteer work data collection and analysis; and develop practical survey approaches and tools to support countries’ efforts.

These events have multiplied over the last ten years, just when the planet has reached its all-time temperature records, blurring the difference between human-made and purely natural catastrophes.

SEE THE UNV HISTORY IN FULLSCREEN

SEE THE UNV HISTORY IN FULLSCREEN

UNV Executive Coordinator Mr. Olivier Adam spoke today at the IVCO Conference in Seoul in a panel discussion on global advocacy to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 17 on revitalizing global partnerships for sustainable development. The need to establish an enabling environment for volunteerism “to fully contribute to the realisation of any future sustainable development agenda” was the overarching theme of this year’s IVCO.

UNV Executive Coordinator Mr. Olivier Adam spoke today at the IVCO Conference in Seoul in a panel discussion on global advocacy to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 17 on revitalizing global partnerships for sustainable development. The need to establish an enabling environment for volunteerism “to fully contribute to the realisation of any future sustainable development agenda” was the overarching theme of this year’s IVCO.

Volunteers are the first to respond when crisis strikes, effectively responding to humanitarian emergencies everywhere. Often members of affected communities themselves, they help people to rebuild their lives in the immediate aftershock of a tragic event, and be better prepared to face uncertainty in the future.