UNV Kenya

VOLUNTEERING FOR CHANGE A newsletter of the United Nations

Volunteers Programme in Kenya| January/February 2013

INSIDE

:: UNV & UoN Hold Training for UN Volunteers on Youth Volunteering :: UNV Supports UNEP Tunza Youth Conference :: One Year of Volunteerism: Reflections from Nazila Vali

Photo ©UNV UN Volunteers who

participated in the training on youth

volunteering, facilitated jointly by UNV and the University of Nairobi.

UNV Kenya works with the

government, the UN system, civil

society, universities and

other partners to promote youth volunteerism at national level.

UNV & UoN Hold Training for UN Volunteers on Youth Volunteering

UNV partnered with the University of Nairobi to hold a 3-day training for UN Volunteers

involved in working with young people to enlighten them on how to effectively encourage

youth volunteerism within their assignments.

Held at the Safari Park in Nairobi, the training was made possible with funding from

UNV’s Capacity Development & Learning Facility (CDLF) aimed at building capacities

among UN Volunteers.

The training brought together about 20 UN Volunteers from duty stations across the

country, to be given practical skills and promote experience-sharing on youth volunteering,

zeroing in on the role of youth volunteers in contributing to peace as Kenya heads to the

General Election.

The group included 7 new youth volunteers who have just been recruited to support

UNDP’s peaceful elections interventions through the Get Informed, Get Involved project

supported by UNV, as well as several UN Volunteer peace monitors who have already been

working in different parts of the country. There were also UN Volunteers from UN

Women, UNHCR, UNEP and UN-HABITAT.

Speaking at the opening and closing of the event, UNDP Country Director Maria-Threase

Keating underlined the important role that UN Volunteers are playing to ensure peaceful

elections, and lauded the concerted effort to involve young people in UNV programmes.

University of Nairobi’s Johnson Kinyua expressed satisfaction at the partnership between

UNV and the university, calling for continued involvement to support volunteering

programmes within the university and nationally among other academic institutions.

Photo ©UNV UN Volunteers engage with young people in Mathare slums

involved in volunteering for peace at the end of the training on youth

volunteering.

The Annual UNV Retreat brought together 111 of the 145 UN Volunteers serving in the country, as well as colleagues from UV Somalia.

The UN Volunteers enjoyed the training as well, many terming it as ‘going beyond expectations’ in helping them

understand youth volunteering. Mary Ondiek, one of the participants, observed:

“… The training went beyond what I expected. Not only did I get information on how to do my assignment better, I

got practical information on how to engage youth, to understand the global view of UNV on youth volunteering, and

was inspired by stories from people who have already done it.”

UNV drew from different professionals in the volunteer sector for the training, including VSO Jitolee’s Carol

Kiangura who facilitated the main session on Youth Mobilization In Volunteering for Peace and Development, while

University of Nairobi’s Johnson Kinyua led discussions on volunteering within universities and among students.

UNV’s Dmitry Frischin and George Oloo also facilitated sessions, while Gender specialist Tina Stoum, herself an

international UNV with the UNDP country office facilitated discussions on gender mainstreaming within youth

volunteer projects. UNV Peace Monitor in Nairobi Jeremiah Mzee and Tomoya Soejima, UNV Youth Community

Mobilizer with UNHCR at the Dadaab Refugee Camp shared their experiences with colleagues.

On the last day of the training, the UN Volunteers had a unique opportunity to apply their learning with a visit to

Nairobi’s Mathare slums, an area that has experienced violence in recent days, where they interacted with young

people involved in volunteering for peace.

UNV Supports UNEP Tunza Youth Conference

UNEP recently hosted the Tunza International Youth Conference on Environment in Nairobi, Kenya. The five day

conference (10-14 February 2013), held at the UN Complex, was officially opened by Achim Steiner, UNEP

Executive Director. The overall theme was “Health & the Environment”, with four subthemes namely Youth and

the Global Environment, Rio+20 and Post 2015, Youth & Sustainable Consumption and Food Waste. Over 200

delegates from over 100 countries were united by common passion: to share ideas and make the change the world so

urgently needs.

Apart from the participation of UN Volunteers attached to UNEP, UNV supported the week-long meeting with

insights on volunteerism, helping to highlight the role of youth volunteerism in meeting environmental challenges

and promoting sustainable development through presentations and discussions with the delegates.

UNEP is one of UNV’s big partners in Nairobi, with 17 volunteers attached to the agency as of January 2013, 16 of

them nationals.

Photo ©UNEP Delegates at the Tunza International Youth Conference in Nairobi.

Nazila Vali just completed her

one-year assignment as an international UN Volunteer intern

with UNDP’s Governance unit. She gives us her

reflections on the assignment.

One Year of Volunteerism: Reflections from Nazila Vali

Time has flown by since the 1st of February 2012. This date will not ring any bells for you but it marked the

beginning of the UNV adventure for me. I was gazing out of the window of the car that took me from Jomo

Kenyatta Airport, full of apprehension and excitement. Finally, I was back on African soil, more than 7,000 km

from Abidjan la douce where I had my first professional experience.

Outside my window the dark obscurity of the night held my breath for an extra day; streetlights were on sleep

mode like most of the people at this late time. With a hint of fear from this city nicknamed ‘Nairoberry’, I was

abnormally euphoric and happy to be here. Joining the United Nations, that needs surely no introduction, was a

great achievement for me.

I am not going to narrate my UNV year in a flamboyant way. Every experience is singular; mine was very

colorful with exciting and frustrating moments. It is all part of the challenge. Being an international UNV is a

package: the country, the city, the work, the team. You cannot pick and choose and it is also what makes this

experience so rich.

40% Frustration, 60% Fulfillment

Frustration. The United Nations is a massive machine with forms and signatures for seemingly every single

action you want to undertake. It’s a massive machine with a very clear hierarchy to respect, similar to that of a

military system. I exaggerate but you get my point. As UN Volunteers, we approach our assignments

energetically. We think about moving mountains, only to realize that sometimes, the system is the biggest

mountain in itself. This mountain moves in the right direction but can do so at a very slow pace.

Fulfillment. My frustration was balanced by the various successes and fulfillments I encountered. First of all my

numerous trips to the field were all truly life-changing experiences. Driving through Rift Valley or Nyanza,

heading to the most remote areas of Kenya - Turkana, Teso - truly made me understand why I chose this career

path. I conducted civic and voter education with amazing colleagues and partners. I had the opportunity to have

the best chat with deaf youth groups in Mumias. The best chat, because you do not always need words or a large

oxford vocabulary to understand each other. Working with the deaf and persons living with disabilities in

general brings every single atom of your person to life. They never complained and always welcomed us with

the biggest smiles I have ever received. And surely being a youth living with disability is an enormous challenge

in Kenya and anywhere in this world.

Secondly, the UNVs I met from all over the world and with whom I had the chance to work with ended up being

the most knowledgeable, professional and committed individuals. The UNV retreat was exceptional in this

regard; hearing from colleagues in Dadaab and Kakuma, working with UNHCR or any other agency made me

very proud of being part of this family. It is indeed a family. Volunteering is a daily dedication and an allegiance

to a cause; it is giving your time and energy for the less fortunate. I am so grateful to every single person that

made my experience a beautiful one, that I will carry forever.

I will go home with clear ideas. We do not improve ourselves without being critical of our own efforts and the

systems we work in, but the important point is to stay on course and to always remember that we work for the

United Nations, and for the world it seeks to make better.

I wish to end with a poem from a Persian poet, Saadi, which is written at the entrance of the United Nations

headquarters in New York. It is dear to my heart as I carry the legacy of my father’s land, Iran:

Human beings are members of a whole,

In creation of one essence and soul.

If one member is afflicted with pain,

Other members uneasy will remain.

If you've no sympathy for human pain,

The name of human you cannot retain!

Photo ©UNV Nazila Vali (foreground), who until the end of her assignment in February, was a UN Volunteer intern with UNDP

Kenya’s Governance Unit.

For more information on this Newsletter, the UNV programme or to submit stories of your volunteering, contact the UNV Communications Officer in

Kenya George Oloo on george.oloo@undp.org or unvkenya@undp.org or call us on +254 20 762 5540

www.ke.undp.org/un-volunteers UNVKenya @unvkenya