In partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) deployed 41 national and international UN Volunteers, 5 of them UN Youth Volunteers, to serve in environmental initiatives in Africa. Youth volunteers are the backbone of environmental action, raising awareness on climate change, responsible consumption and production, and preservation of land, forests and water resources.

Fostering participation and social justice in conflict-affected communities

When I was accepted for the assignment to develop content about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Colombia, I was very excited. For 17 weeks, I was expected to create social media posts about each of the 17 SDGs, share information, facts, photos, statistics and/or videos about SDGs in Colombia. Since I am Mexican, I also included content from my own country.

The report includes examples of how empowered Cambodian youth make a difference in their communities. It presents volunteering models that helped Cambodia recover from the decades of war and contributed to the country’s development, some of which can be replicated across the world. According to the results presented in the report, volunteer programmes in Cambodia have made a difference in reducing poverty, eradicating illiteracy, improving health, promoting gender equality, and protecting human rights and the environment.

Nadeen participates today in the side event "Harnessing the Power of Volunteering to Achieve the 2030 Agenda" organized by the International Forum for Volunteering in Development (Forum) in New York, in the framework of the High-Level Political Forum for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Syria, seven years into the crisis and counting. Over 13 million Syrians need humanitarian assistance, and of these six million are internally displaced and five million fled to other countries. Majority of people affected by the crisis are children and youth; some children have no memories of life before the conflict.

Damascus, Syria. / Mr Kurbanov will meet with United Nations entity partners to discuss the United Nations humanitarian and development response to the crisis in Syria and its impact in the region. While in Lebanon and Jordan, Mr Kurbanov will also meet with some of the 222 UN Volunteers deployed as part of UNV’s Syria crisis response across the region (in Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey and Egypt.)

Damascus, Syria. / Mr Kurbanov will meet with United Nations entity partners to discuss the United Nations humanitarian and development response to the crisis in Syria and its impact in the region. While in Lebanon and Jordan, Mr Kurbanov will also meet with some of the 222 UN Volunteers deployed as part of UNV’s Syria crisis response across the region (in Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey and Egypt.)

Volunteerism enables youth engagement, leadership and participation Within Latin America and the Caribbean, young people between the ages of 15 and 24 account for 20 per cent of the population. This is the largest percentage of youth in this region, ever.  The statistics are dire: 35 million of these young people never attended school, 39 per cent live in poverty and 25 per cent are unemployed.

My name is Isabela, I am 23 years old, and I am of American and Ecuadorian nationality. I left the United States in July of 2016 to join the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme to explore how youth are contributing to the development of my second home, Ecuador. This is how I got to participate in the First Regional Meeting of Youth Volunteer Networks in Cuenca, where I had the opportunity to interact with young volunteers from Latin America and learn how volunteering contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the region.