The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme is celebrating International Women's Day with our support for the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and their theme for 2016: Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step it up for Gender Equality.   Gender equality and women's empowerment are fundamental principles that underpin the work of UNV.   Volunteerism is an opportunity for everyone to have their voice heard and their actions recognized.

Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire: Sustainable Development Goal 5 aims to “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.” Volunteering offers an excellent way of empowering women, allowing them to show what they are capable of, while acquiring new skills and capacities. Volunteering also allows women to access sectors usually reserved to men, and to take on new roles, especially as leaders and managers. Women volunteers can serve as role models, and inspire others to follow in their footsteps. An additional reason to volunteer!

Nawalparasi, Nepal: Thirty-five years old and married with three children, I am Phool Kumari Giri, from Nawalparasi, Nepal. My traditional family structure and economic situation allowed me to pursue education only till the age of thirteen.

Makueni County, Kenya: Catherine Ngave, a national UN Volunteer in Kenya: I started volunteering at a young age in our community. We would volunteer to clean the market places and also fetch water for the elderly women in the village. I never knew it would lead to national volunteerism.

Quito, Ecuador:  During my one-year assignment in Quito, Ecuador, I supported the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women). I focused on the programmes that aim to prevent violence against women and girls and to ensure the restitution of their rights.    Violence against women and girls is one of the most frequent violations of human rights. Some consider it a pandemic, as no country is exempt from it.

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme is celebrating International Women's Day with our support for the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and their theme for 2016: Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step it up for Gender Equality.   Gender equality and women's empowerment are fundamental principles that underpin the work of UNV.   Volunteerism is an opportunity for everyone to have their voice heard and their actions recognized.

Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire: As a master student in Canada, I studied Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) processes in West African countries. While doing my internship with UNDP in Namibia, a colleague who was a UN Volunteer encouraged me to register online. I did not have a clue what the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme was, but I took her advice anyway. About a year later, I was recruited to serve as UN Volunteer DDR Officer, which was an academic dream come true.

Quito, Ecuador:  Women in all parts of the world suffer violence and discrimination. They are under-represented in political and economic decision-making processes. They lack access to decent work, face gender gaps and are often denied access to basic education and health care. UN WOMEN is trying to address these global challenges.

Kabul, Afghanistan: I am really glad to have had the opportunity to work as a UN Volunteer in Afghanistan since 2012. The time and work here is enriching and words cannot explain the satisfaction obtained from the field experience, whenever I am greeted with not just the warm welcome but the look of gratitude and joy from the very poor, yet very hospitable families in the remote locations of the Northern region of Afghanistan, where up until this year access was not a problem.

In October 2015, the newly formed United Nations Volunteer (UNV) Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific held an event in Bangkok inspired by the TEDx Program to provide a platform for UN Volunteers to illustrate concrete examples of the role and recognition of volunteerism as an essential contribution to the regional efforts for peace and development. The UN Volunteers spoke to UNV partners, i.e. representatives of UN Member States, UN agencies and volunteer involving organizations, about their assignments and the impact they were making within communities in the region.