Karol Alejandra Arámbula Carrillo (Mexico) has been a Online Volunteer since 2011. One of her motivations to join UNV’s Online Volunteering service was the desire to help organisations in other countries carry out their work, especially in the field of gender equality. 

UNV works to ensure gender equality and the empowerment of women from both an institutional and a programmatic perspective. We wish to use this occasion to feature the rich variety of ways UN Volunteers around the world contribute to SDG 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

UNV works to ensure gender equality and the empowerment of women from both an institutional and a programmatic perspective. We wish to use this occasion to feature the rich variety of ways UN Volunteers around the world contribute to SDG 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

UN Volunteers Roselyn Owour, Epher Welavunuka, Petronila Khagai, Anne Munene and Jennifer Kibicho held a sensitization session with school girls to raise awareness about gender equality, the importance of going to school and not missing classes, and the challenges facing girls around the world. The school - World Hope Academy in the Kawangware slum in Nairobi - has a total student capacity of 400 children, most of them coming from poor families that live in the slums.

Peshawar, Pakistan: My name is Hina Yousafzai and I am from Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in Pakistan. I am currently working as a UN Volunteer supporting the FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) Recovery Project carried out by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the capacity of Reporting & Monitoring Associate based in Peshawar. Since early childhood, my life has been driven by two factors: my love for knowledge instilled in me by my parents, and my efforts at being understood and appreciated.

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.

In recent decades, most Latin American countries have made increasing commitments to gender equality. However, the commitments alone have not been sufficient to fully address gender gaps and inequality, as they require appropriate budget resources to ensure effective implementation. In response to this need, UN Women promoted Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) as a tool for linking women's and gender-equality public policies with budget allocations, and for strengthening the capacity of governments to implement the relevant policies.