In 2020, there has never been a more urgent need for members of our community to step up and support the health and safety of neighbours and friends as we united to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. United Nations Volunteers have assisted in sharing information and personal protective equipment (PPE), particularly to the most vulnerable – women and children experiencing violence.

In my role as a Health Communication for Development (C4D) Officer, I work with communities, nurses and the Government to strengthen communication for maternal and child health and nutrition.  I am based in Suva, and cover multiple Pacific island countries, including Kiribati, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. I began my assignment as an international UN Youth Volunteer in January 2020.

Online volunteers have been crucial to upscale the impact of Youth Co:Lab’s regional programmes. Coming from different countries and ethnicities, these online volunteers bring a variety of skills to the table. They have applied their skills and knowledge through a range of activities, including proofreading and translating communications materials, conducting research supporting COVID-19 related efforts. 

In 2019, over 600 UN Volunteers took part in onsite trainings designed to build a community and grow the skills and competencies that are key to serving with the UN. From February onwards, COVID-19 restrictions made in-person workshops impossible. Hence, it was clear we wanted to create a virtual space to facilitate learning and enable exchange among volunteers.

The workshop explored the role of volunteering in contributing to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and enhanced the knoweldge and leadership of participating UN Youth Volunteers, especially in the COVID-19 context. Welcoming the participants via a video message Kyoko Yokosuka, Chief of UNV's External Relations and Communications Section, highlighted the importance of UN Volunteers serving with pride, awareness and ethics.

The IVD 2019 theme, "Volunteer for an Inclusive Future", is a reminder that volunteerism strengthens solidarity and inclusiveness and provides the opportunity for all to participate in the improvement of their communities. In his welcome speech, Prof. Dr. Vimane Phoummavong, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, highlighted the importance of the theme, and Alberto Cuomo, UNV Programme Officer in Lao PDR, reiterated that volunteerism is a universally accessible powerful equalizer that can reduce inequalities worldwide.

In Colombo, Sri Lanka, UN Volunteer Alex Suwitra acted to anchor the engagements of UN agencies, international partners, NGOs and government and safeguard the immediate and longer term disaster response to the needs of communities in distress. The unique geography of the country that makes it more susceptible to the effects of climate change creates a very contrasting situation – floods and landslides in the southwest parts and drought in Sri Lanka’s north and east regions.  

Young people gain professional, technical, and soft skills (creativity, leadership, critical thinking) that are crucial for employability through their volunteering activities.

UNV and the crocodile skin industry? This surely was different from what most UNV assignments revolved around. Jerome Montague’s description of assignment reads as follows: To fully understand what this assignment is about, one must look at the bigger picture. Papua New Guinea achieved independence from Australia in 1975 and was needed to establish its own economy.

  The Voluntary National Reviews confirm firstly that volunteers remain important partners for implementation of the SDGs across diverse contexts. For example, Andorra, Guinea, Jamaica, Malta and Vietnam discuss volunteer efforts in the context of disaster risk reduction and environmental protection; ¯ˇLithuania, Saudi Arabia and Togo highlight the role of volunteers in education, employment and poverty reduction; while Bahrain, Bhutan, Kiribati and Lebanon link volunteering to community engagement and social cohesion.