A UNV-supported initiative in 2015 empowered young men and women from the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian (RAE) community in Kosovo to start their own social entrepreneurship initiatives and advocate for community needs as “Changemakers”. 

“Quite simply put – the UN could not deploy, and Security Council mandates could not be delivered, without UNV.” These were the comments of Assistant Secretary-General Hubert Price of the UN Department of Field Support, speaking on behalf of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Department of Political Affairs. Speaking at the annual session of the Executive Board of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in New York on 9 June 2016.

Two national UN Volunteers working for a UNDP project in Zimbabwe saw their efforts pay off when the livelihood of a local community they were supporting started improving. What these two national UN Volunteeers were not expecting was that their contribution brought to them something in return that was even more valuable: a feeling of joy and a connection to other people.

N'Djamena, Chad: We are Alladoum Assidjim and Laura Rutishauser, a national UN volunteer aged 33 and an international UN volunteer from Switzerland aged 29, working together to provide Chadian youth with local volunteering opportunities. In order to do so, we are supporting the set up of Chad’s National Volunteering Programme (CNVP), with our partners the UNV programme, UNDP, the French Embassy and France Volontaires, at the request of the Chadian Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports.

Manila, Philippines: My name is Alma B. Sevillano, I am from the Philippines and I work as a UN Volunteer for the Haiyan Response and Recovery programme.  

Following the devastation of tropical storm Ida in November 2009, a unique, triangular South-South partnership was initiated with the governments of Brazil and El Salvador and the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme.

How does volunteering make a difference? These days, we are trying to do development differently: to partner with less usual suspects for outside insights, and tap into local energy and initiatives. The ethos of volunteerism is exactly the same – it is not a supplement to the work we do; it is a natural component within it. And with whom do we partner up to do this? The answer, of course, is young people. They are the natural choice.

How does volunteering make a difference? These days, we are trying to do development differently: to partner with less usual suspects for outside insights, and tap into local energy and initiatives. The ethos of volunteerism is exactly the same – it is not a supplement to the work we do; it is a natural component within it. And with whom do we partner up to do this? The answer, of course, is young people. They are the natural choice.

On International Youth Day, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme supported an event organized by all United Nations agencies in Brazil, along with the Brazilian Government, to celebrate the date and discuss the theme Black Youth and Peace. Through this event, the United Nations promotes a debate about the challenges faced by black young people in Brazil regarding violence, and access to more choices and opportunities.

On 25 September, United Nations representatives, Goodwill Ambassadors, members of the Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, and representatives of civil society organizations from around the world gathered in New York to publicly announce the winners of the MY World Partner Recognition Awards.