I was recruited by UNDP in Zimbabwe to provide technical support to the UN Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Spotlight Initiative on disability-inclusive programming and interventions.

Some of them load trucks with big boxes full of food and hygiene items. Others are rushing to distribute printed handouts outlining the basic principles of hygiene in the context of COVID-19. Yet others are sitting in front of their laptops at home or reaching each household in remote and affected areas, assisting health or social workers, delivering food or disseminating the handouts.

We should work at improving aid effectiveness, but overall, aid provides a great tool for moving towards a more inclusive, equal world where social justice prevails. --UN Volunteer with UNICEF, Zambia

The workshop explored the role of volunteering in contributing to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and enhanced the knoweldge and leadership of participating UN Youth Volunteers, especially in the COVID-19 context. Welcoming the participants via a video message Kyoko Yokosuka, Chief of UNV's External Relations and Communications Section, highlighted the importance of UN Volunteers serving with pride, awareness and ethics.

Awareness-raising and dissemination of information materials are paramount for COVID-19 prevention. Therefore, UNHCR, through its civil society partners, is ensuring outreach to refugee communities. As part of a dedicated information campaign for COVID-19 prevention, UNHCR facilitated the printing of information materials and disseminating them through partner organizations in locations where refugees and asylum seekers reside. Posters, for example, depict hygiene measures and restrictions on gatherings and travel, and guide on maintaining social distancing.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and declared state of emergency in Bosnia and Herzegovina, vulnerable children, especially unaccompanied and separated children, are at higher risk of experiencing a disruption of basic social services.

I was initially confused about the kind of support I can provide during the crisis. We had started working from home when I was contacted by a person with the implementing partner who said that most students were feeling anxious about the online learning system and teachers were not sure how to address this matter.   

This undertaking aims to develop young women’s leadership capacities to become agents of change for their communities, contributing to social cohesion. I strongly believe in the solidarity and connection between women. Young women need just a bit of support to experience big changes. --Aleksandra Jovanović

In 1971, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme deployed its first 35 UN Volunteers to serve in Chad, Bangladesh and Yemen with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UN Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Two years later, in 1973, the number grew to 93 UN Volunteers serving for the International Labour Organization (ILO), UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and FAO.

Education is one of six themes at the centre of the GRF, critical to the support of refugees and the countries that host them. The Spotlight Session focused on tertiary education for refugees, through a conversation about how barriers are being overcome, how interventions are improving the quality or expanding the quantity of opportunities available, and ultimately, how higher education pathways can support self-reliance and solutions for refugees.