Georgina Edwards, UN Volunteer Innovation Analyst with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in South Africa After finishing my graduate degree, I interned with UN-Habitat and that set the stage for my UN career.  Transitioning to a UN Volunteer assignment in 2021 was a turning point, allowing me to step into my dream role as an Innovation Analyst with UNFPA.

Leyla started her volunteering journey with UNDP as a Project Clerk. She provides administrative support, maintains project documents, and assists communication across many levels. "I am keen to contribute to a culture of inclusivity within the team and ensure that women's voices are heard and valued at every stage of the project." Leyla shares.

Xiaerbati was part of a team that provided vocational training and entrepreneurship opportunities to women from rural areas in Qinghai Province. These opportunities made it easy to access renewable energy, boosting agricultural productivity and mitigating climate change. “Volunteerism plays a pivotal role in fostering long-term economic empowerment of women by creating sustainable support systems and fostering community resilience,” says Xiaerbati.

This is my first experience serving with UN peacekeeping operations.  My day-to-day tasks include documenting, reviewing and analyzing cases of conflict-related sexual violence. This exercise helps identify trends and patterns to inform prevention and response interventions.

There are 290 million child brides in South Asia — the highest in the world, accounting for 45 percent of the global data.  Since 2016, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) have implemented a Global Programme to End Child Marriage in 12 of the highest prevalence countries — including Bangladesh, India, and Nepal.

In 2007, I came to the United Nations Volunteers Headquarters in Bonn. I was a Senior Programme Specialist for the Asia-Pacific, Europe, and CIS (APEC) responsible for UN Volunteer management, joint programming, and humanitarian support. This was one of the most rewarding and inspiring assignments of my UN career because I interacted with and directly supported hundreds of (mostly) young women and men worldwide who demonstrated passion and commitment to serve others less fortunate through volunteering with field-based UN agencies.

UN Volunteers Hawzhin Hussein, Noor Alhasany, Hajer Al-Sallami, and Ramia Al-Hakeem promote women's empowerment for a more inclusive and equitable society in Iraq. Throughout the country, including in the Kurdistan region, they coordinate projects and manage initiatives aimed at empowering women across various sectors. Projects include education, healthcare, economic opportunities, and political participation for women. Hawzhin, Noor, Hajer and Ramia emphasize that society cannot progress till dedicated investments are made in women-centric initiatives. 

Through concerted efforts in Central Asia, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) aims to expand the opportunities for women and girls, promote positive social norms by engaging men and establish comprehensive systems and mechanisms for women and adolescents. Héloïse Versavel, UN Volunteer Gender-Based Violence Specialist supports UNFPA in Kazakhstan. She has a background in Human Rights Law. 

Katrin Hermanek is an international UN Youth Volunteer fully funded by Switzerland. She serves as a Gender Equality Programme Analyst with UN Women in Lebanon. Her grassroots-level community service helps identify needs of women and girls. In coming up with solutions, a major emphasis is to ensure women get a decision-making role in their communities.

Although Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 for gender equality and International Women’s Day, instilling the spirit of the goal, do not explicitly focus on women with disabilities, they consistently focus on the empowerment of all women and leaving no one behind.  How do we ensure that we empower all women across the board? For that, it’s important to first look the entire picture.