UNV and the International Labour Organization (ILO) will partner on the deployment of UN Volunteers in support of the organization's work, following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding. Moussa Oumarou, ILO Deputy Director-General for Field Operations and Partnerships, and Olivier Adam, Executive Coordinator of UNV, signed the agreement on 9 March 2020, at ILO headquarters in Geneva.

The agreement was signed in Geneva, Switzerland, by Tim Martineau, UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director, Management and Governance, a.i., and Olivier Adam, UNV Executive Coordinator. "Volunteers have played a critical role in the response to HIV since the earliest days of the epidemic," said Tim Martineau, UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director, Management and Governance, a.i. "UNAIDS recognizes their importance, values their engagement and will continue to support their contribution in joining global efforts to end AIDS."

Being volunteer gave me, as an indigenous woman, the opportunity to be an agent of change, coherent with my community’s cosmovision. Volunteering is an ancestral treasure that should be transmitted from generation to generation. This guarantees good living, with respect and harmony between humanity and nature. Let’s boost our communities to gain awareness of gender equality, as a pre-condition to progress towards sustainable development. --Ingrid Sierra, UN Volunteer with UN Women

Viktoriia Unuchko started as a UN Youth Volunteer Administrative and Communications Assistant. She supports the Sustainable Development and Environment Portfolio within the UNDP/Global Environment Facility project "Removing barriers to increase investment in energy efficiency in public buildings in Ukraine through the ESCO modality in small and medium-sized cities".

This undertaking aims to develop young women’s leadership capacities to become agents of change for their communities, contributing to social cohesion. I strongly believe in the solidarity and connection between women. Young women need just a bit of support to experience big changes. --Aleksandra Jovanović

Growing up in an open and forward-thinking environment, I am grateful for the fact that no one ever told me what to do, or what not to do, simply because I was a girl. For me, women are definitely strong enough to play crucial roles beyond the stereotypes that define them otherwise. My gender identity has, and should, never limit my potentials or aspirations.

One billion active volunteers worldwide are already making important contributions across all SDGs. In July 2020, governments and their partners will come together at the Global Technical Meeting on Reimagining Volunteerism for the 2030 Agenda to discuss what we know about the transformative potential of volunteering, and to reflect on how to maximize the impact of volunteering under the 2030 Agenda.

The Government of Bangladesh will fund these UNV assignments. With this agreement Bangladesh becomes the first country to enter into an agreement with UNV, to deploy civil servants. Bangladesh is also the first South Asian country to be a signatory to the Fully-Funding partnership with UNV.

This Portal will feature an Evidence Library that will synthesize evidence products from partners focusing on cross-cutting thematic areas such as youth, gender, climate change and inequality and other on-demand topics that will help enhance our understanding of the contribution of volunteering to a specific development topic. It will contain links to carefully curated evidence products – research, findings, case studies, policy briefs, and platforms on volunteerism.