After the military coup of April 2012, all the socio-economic indicators of Guinea Bissau experienced a setback. Strikes in crucial sectors such as education, health care and transportation paralyzed the country. More than two months of strikes were registered in 2013 in all the schools of Guinea Bissau.

Following the momentous political transitions that swept the Arab region in recent years, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme’s groundbreaking Arab Youth Volunteering for a Better Future regional project is building trust between young people, their communities, and governments in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia and Yemen.

Last week, the Volunteerism Caravan in Cambodia rolled into Kratie province, where the UNV Field Unit took part in a community activity at the Kratie Krong High school. The UNV Field Unit in Cambodia launched the Volunteerism Caravan in June 2014 to travel to different provinces in the country, inspired by a similar activity organized in Tunisia as part of the Arab Youth Volunteering for a Better Future project.

Prishtina, Kosovo:  From my very first day working as a UN Youth Volunteer as part of UNDP’s Inclusive Growth Team in Kosovo, I started to realize that all the statistics showing high levels of unemployment, particularly among youth, are hiding the true and disturbing extent of this issue. With more than 35 percent of young Kosovars neither having a job nor going to school, they grow impatient, pessimistic about their chances to have a decent life, and frustrated with not being heard.

Dushanbe, Tajikistan: As a UN Volunteer Social Work Specialist, I started to work for UNICEF in Tajikistan a year ago. Even before that, for a year I was a volunteer with VSO (Volunteer Service Overseas) in the South of Tajikistan.

On Saturday 16 August 2014, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and the UNSG’s Envoy for Youth, Ahmad Alhendawi, visited Nanjing, China to attend the opening ceremony of the Nanjing 2014 2nd Summer Youth Olympic Games. Representatives of the UNV China Field Unit, including UNV Programme Officer Eirene Chen and national UN Volunteer Wang He (Amy), joined the UN China team to accompany the Secretary-General’s delegation. 

 

By day, UNV Field Engineer Officer Magloire Buffalo-Bill provides all manner of  engineering support and services to the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) and its clients. Managing a staff of 20, he plans, designs and carries out new construction, and renovates, rehabilitates and alters existing facilities on demand and now, as required by mission downsizing.

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: The International Conference on Youth Volunteering and Dialogue opened on 3 December 2013 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. More than 200 young volunteers from over 33 different countries attended the Conference, along with delegates of UNESCO, the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Education and the King Abdulaziz Center for National Dialogue. The three-day event provided young volunteers, experts and practitioners with the opportunity to discuss, display and evaluate ‘best practices’ in the field of volunteerism.

On the occasion of International Volunteer Day, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme has launched a report gathering findings, perceptions and recommendations on youth volunteerism in Arab states, as part of its regional project, Arab Youth Volunteering for a Better Future. The report is the fruit of twelve months of field work, focus groups, questionnaires, desk reviews and national workshops carried out in 2012 in each of the project’s target countries: Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia and Yemen.