In January 2023, seven women began their 12-month UN Volunteer assignments with UNICEF in Iraq and Jordan under the Young Arab Women Talents initiative. The areas of service are communications, social and behavior change, water, sanitation and hygiene, talent acquisition, and gender inclusion. These UN Volunteers are between the ages of 24 and 32 years. They bring diversity and increase the representation of women in UNICEF's regional workforce.

Following the successful implementation of the first phase, the AWHC initiative continues its mission of placing young African women professionals aged between 22 and 35 years as UN Volunteer health champions across WHO Country Offices in Africa. Through the initiative, WHO-AFRO and UNV commit to improving health for people on the continent, expanding opportunities for African public health professionals, and nurturing the next generation of women health leaders in Africa, while contributing to gender parity for the WHO workforce.

Cultural barriers and social norms limit women's access to the digital sector in general. This is especially so in Burundi where technology jobs are scarce, particularly for women." In 2019, I started as an IT intern. Now, I am a UN Volunteer with Monitoring and Evaluation, and the Digital Unit. I give technical support to UNDP staff on new digital platforms.

Digital transformation brings new possibilities where we can measure the sustainability, track detriments such as green house emissions and maximize use of our existing resources. This is part of UNEP's Medium Term Strategy, the outcomes of which I support.  

Giovana Urquizo and Luisa Luna Choque are among the nine UN Community Volunteers. Giovana is from Chuquisaca Department in the center south of Bolivia and Luisa is from La Paz, the third most populous city and the seat of the government of Bolivia.  

Kawtar Abendag is a UN Youth Volunteer serving with UN Women in Morocco. She is a Gender Responsive Budgeting Programme Assistant for Communications and Knowledge Management. Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) ensures an equitable distribution of public resources for the benefit of all. It does not mean that there should be a separate budget for each gender rather it means that gender equality is mainstreamed throughout the public budget cycle. From planning the budget, to spending the resources, and to the final audits.

UN Volunteers have played invaluable roles in UN humanitarian assistance from the first days of war in Ukraine and UNV is committed to staying and delivering in support of millions of displaced people.

Forum and UNV share a common purpose, and both organizations recognise the importance of responsible, impactful volunteering in delivering the SDGs. This MoU sets out a new phase in our collaboration with UNV in which we will launch new research and new conversations on volunteering, and promote the voices of volunteers. We look forward to working closely with our colleagues in UNV in this exciting new phase," says Heather Shapter, Chair of the Forum Board.

Nabin supports refugees through durable solutions and community-based protection. This includes counseling refugees, and serving in areas of child protection and prevention, and gender-based violence.  My innate passion for serving displaced people, particularly refugees, motivated me to work in this area and to be a UN Volunteer,” says Nabin.

Beatriz was looking to resume her career path. She had been out of a job for some years due to family reasons. It was early 2021 when she found a breakthrough in the form of a UN Volunteer assignment in data analysis and GIS.  I was researching information on the involvement of the United Nations in development and environmental protection when I came across this volunteering opportunity," says Beatriz. She explains why science is so important for sustainable development.