Every year around the world, thousands of volunteers from dozens of professional backgrounds join missions in different UN agencies to work in the field. All volunteers serving across 150 countries and territories are coordinated by an agency called UN Volunteers, or UNV for short.
Guljahan Tanalova has her hands full.
She is raising a son alone, and she is coordinator of a new project providing social services for people with disabilities in the city of Ashgabat, in Turkmenistan. She herself has a disability resulting from a musculoskeletal disorder.
"After raping me, he told me that I was still a child, and he threw me outside. This is the first time I have told anyone because I was scared to say something before." And so, 12-year-old Elisabeth's childhood was forever changed.
The United Nations Country Teams from Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina recently completed a ten-day mission by visiting several communities in the largest dry forest in the world and the second-largest forest biome in South America: the Gran Chaco, which extends over an area of over 1,14 million square kilometres, distributed in central and northern Argentina, southeastern Bolivia and western Paraguay.
Maman Sylvie, who lives in Brazzaville (Republic of Congo), believes that being diagnosed as HIV positive should not be the equivalent of a death sentence, and has dedicated her life to helping people with HIV in the Republic of Congo.
UN teams are tirelessly working with authorities and partners to respond to the ongoing pandemic and other multifaceted challenges across the globe. Today, we highlight some of the coordinated efforts.
Kumkum Patel stands in front of a group of schoolmates and teachers gathered in a classroom in southern Nepal, telling them all a story she has heard. Beyond the story itself – a cautionary tale about choosing one’s friends wisely – it is Kumkum’s confident stance and clear voice that make an impression.
More than a million people in Burkina Faso have been displaced from their homes, victims of ongoing conflict and poverty. Nevertheless, following a recent visit to the central and northern regions of the country, Barbara Manzi, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Burkina Faso, says she met a resilient people keen to find their own solutions, to a better future.
Haitians who were affected by the devastating earthquake which struck the south-west of the country in August have demonstrated their “heartwarming resilience” according to a staff member of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), who has been supporting recovery efforts.
Joseph Chlela, who is from Lebanon, is an emergency coordinator with IOM and has been working in the earthquake zone.
It’s close to midnight on a gloomy Saturday in November. But for Aqida Mokhirova, Tashkent-based environmentalist and soil scientist turned activist and blogger, the day is far from over. She’s busy responding to pleas for help.
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