Orphée landed her internship with the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme in Panama "auf Umwegen", as she says in German, or in an unanticipated way. Initially, she was assigned to a different duty station, but when that assignment was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, her fluency in Spanish qualified her for Panama. "I wanted to contribute to peace and development and felt a direct connection to volunteerism," Orphée shares.

Giovana Urquizo and Luisa Luna Choque are among the nine UN Community Volunteers. Giovana is from Chuquisaca Department in the center south of Bolivia and Luisa is from La Paz, the third most populous city and the seat of the government of Bolivia.  

Alexandra's UN Volunteer assignment is fully funded by the Government of Sweden through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). 

UNDP’s primary mandate is to eradicate poverty and reduce inequalities through sustainable development. Charlotte’s assignment is focused on these two mandates, which she examines through a gender lens. She works with gender mainstreaming and gender-responsive climate finance under the Sustainable Development Finance workstream.  

Their presence contributes towards the gender mainstreaming strategy of the United Nations system, which integrates the experiences of women in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes, with the aim of ensuring gender equality.

It’s different when you have suffered from discrimination yourself and when you are part of a minority. These life experiences help you develop more empathy towards those who need assistance. --Alfonso Zabaleta, UN Volunteer Humanitarian Affairs Access Officer with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Venezuela