Sanou Ardiouma Brice is 42. He is a national UN Volunteer with UNODC in Burkina Faso and serves as a Legal Assistant for prison affairs at the Bobo Dioulasso Prison and Correctional Facility in the Hauts Bassins region.

Beatriz was looking to resume her career path. She had been out of a job for some years due to family reasons. It was early 2021 when she found a breakthrough in the form of a UN Volunteer assignment in data analysis and GIS.  I was researching information on the involvement of the United Nations in development and environmental protection when I came across this volunteering opportunity," says Beatriz. She explains why science is so important for sustainable development.

In Niger, in response to an urgent call for assistance in dealing with an overwhelming number of suspects detained on terrorism charges, UNODC recruited and trained ten lawyers as national UN volunteers to assist in improving access to justice and providing legal assistance to detainees associated with Boko Haram or affiliated to the Islamic State.

In Niger, in response to an urgent call for assistance in dealing with an overwhelming number of suspects detained on terrorism charges, UNODC recruited and trained ten lawyers as national UN volunteers to assist in improving access to justice and providing legal assistance to detainees associated with Boko Haram or affiliated to the Islamic State.

UNV has developed a successful partnership with the UNODC Regional Office for West and Central Africa based in Dakar, especially in the mobilization of youth volunteers.  Over the course of three years, 21 UN Volunteers and UN Youth Volunteers have supported UNODC in Senegal in the fight against illicit drugs and transnational organized crime in the region. They especially contribute in the cross-cutting areas such as programme management, communications and monitoring & evaluation.

I lead the implementation of an Alternative Development Project launched by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Lao PDR. Through such projects, UNODC works with communities to develop ‘alternative’ sources of income that are both sustainable and licit.

How does the recruitment of UN Volunteers add value to UNODC? As an efficient, speedy and diverse talent solution for UN partners, UN Volunteers serve with UN entities to bring people to the forefront of development, peace and humanitarian issues. UNV manages a pool of over 350,000 talented and qualified UN Volunteers who can be deployed to bolster the delivery of UNODC’s programmes and support the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.