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UN Volunteers support a wide-range of UN efforts worldwide to build capacity of women and girls, as well as of communities on gender-related issues. For example, UN Volunteers assigned to UN Women in Quetta, Pakistan, launched a radio project which engaged marginalized women and youth in the establishment of community-based radio programmes for entertainment, information and education.

UNV captures sex-disaggregated data.

There is increasing momentum to address the evidence gap on the impact and effectiveness of volunteerism for sustainable development.  The State of the World’s Volunteerism Report (SWVR) is UNV’s flagship publication, produced every 3 years. The SWVR 2018 considers how volunteerism and community resilience interact across diverse contexts. It adds to the evidence on inclusive, citizen-led approaches to resilience building – including from a gender lense. It examines how wider actors can build from communities’ self-organization in a complementary way, nurturing the most beneficial characteristics of volunteerism while mitigating against potential harms to the most vulnerable, including women and girls.

The largest-ever cross-country study on men and violence in Asia and the Pacific11 was launched by P4P, in September 2013, providing critical new evidence on men’s use of violence in the region. A UN Women, UK Aid and UNFPA-supported study on individual, institutional, legal and policy responses to VAWG in Nepal, was launched on 10 December.

As per its Strategic Framework 2018-21, UNV supports members states in developing policies that promote volunteerism and volunteer action. Emphasis is put on mainstreaming gender into these policies and legislation.

A UNV-supported initiative was underway in Guatemala to enhance national capacity to address gender-based violence in all its forms. The Presidential Secretariat for Women (SEPREM) has been at the forefront of the initiative, which seeks to a) design a comprehensive action strategy, b) ensure implementation of the strategy, focusing on government and civil society efforts, and c)increase the political and operational strength of the SEPREM. UNV supports the three pillars of this strategy jointly with UN agencies such as FAO, UNDP, FAO, WFP, UNFPA and UNIFEM.

As per its Strategic Framework 2018-21, UNV supports members states in developing legislation that promote volunteerism and volunteer action. Emphasis is put on mainstreaming gender into these policies and legislation.

UNV carried out a corporate review of gender mainstreaming (Norrish, 2006) which made recommendations for strengthening performance in this area. As a result, UNV set up a Gender Action Team.

A report “Making a Difference: An assessment of Volunteer Interventions Addressing gender-based violence in Cambodia” has been developed by a national UN Volunteer, analysing interventions where volunteerism plays a significant role in the prevention and response to violence against women.

UN Volunteers are an important component of capacity on the ground in the global pursuit of gender equality. The gender ratio of UN Volunteers improved from 43% female in 2015 to 47% female in 2017.

In Sri Lanka, the UNV Volunteer Information and Coordination Centre (VOICE) has been extended into 2008-2010 to include a Legal Empowerment Volunteers Scheme. This pilot project mobilizes university volunteers to support legal empowerment activities. Legal aid is provided to migrant women workers by 30 volunteers in seven locations. Through the empowerment scheme, the legal volunteers learn about marginalisation and vulnerability in their own society. The legal aid pilot project also concentrates on those affected by gender-based violence to help them attain equal access to justice. The VOICE project is supported by one national and five international UNV volunteers.