Chinenye Anekwe is a UN Volunteer Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Specialist with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) India Office since August 2024. She is a 2018 fellow of GRÓ Gender Equality Studies and Training Programme (GRÓ GEST). 

A retired Indian Army Officer with over a decade of military service, Poonam joined UNICEF in 2022 as a Child Protection Officer. She spreads the word about the negative impact of child marriage on everyone — the child plus society at large. 

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.

Proving joint medical services and emergency response From routine check-ups to critical emergency response, UN Volunteer health professionals within the Joint Medical Services and Medical Emergency Response Team play a vital role in ensuring the well-being of those working tirelessly to support the Afghan people.

What does volunteering mean to you? Volunteering stems from respect and reverence for life itself. Our quality of life is contingent upon the kind of society we create and promote, and volunteerism is that vital link between the individual and society. Compassion and empathy are the fundamental basis for these links because they break boundaries between self and others.

From India, to Uzbekistan and Zambia, the spirit and commitment of volunteerism is alive and well.

Can an individual significantly accelerate the development progress of a country and support its achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? Can a single person strengthen the bond among people from different countries in achieving the goals? At UNV, we know it’s possible. The answers to all the above questions is an emphatic “Yes”, especially when it comes to volunteers working on South-South cooperation.

Thank you, Mr Associate Administrator, for your introduction and your – and the Administrator’s – commitment to volunteerism and your strong support to the United Nations Volunteers programme. Madame President, Distinguished delegates, Mr Associate Administrator, Ladies and Gentlemen:

Law school seemed to be a logical choice for me as I was an avid reader of history and early on in life, I became transfixed by how every positive social change, whether in my own country, India, or the world at large, could be traced to much-needed amendments in legal frameworks.

Identity, to me, is what we share when we introduce ourselves to others. It includes the traditions of our country of origin or the language we speak, our religious practices, family customs, hometown festivals and more. Now, imagine if your very identity was continuously challenged – only because you were forced to flee your place of origin due to precarious circumstances like war, political unrest or climate change. This is the reality that asylum seekers, refugees and anyone unwillingly displaced from home, face every day.