LocationsPhoto: UNV
5 December 2018 – Volunteers in Eastern Europe and Central Asia play a key role in tackling the region’s key development issues, including migration, exclusion and environmental degradation, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) said today.
Across the region, informal volunteers – i.e. those who do not belong to a formal organization - make up over 73 percent of the total volunteering workforce in the region. Women constitute a majority of that population.
In Armenia, Greece, Russia and Turkey for instance, volunteers have been helping protect the rights of refugees and integrate them into host communities.
In Uzbekistan, 2,000 volunteers are training medical professionals in areas bordering the Aral Sea. The inland salt lake dried up under the influence of farming and climate change, sending dangerous pesticides into the air.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, volunteers are helping to protect natural areas in collaboration with local communities and government bodies.
On International Volunteer Day, the world is paying tribute to over one billion people who volunteer and dedicate time and effort to save lives and help others. Volunteers are the fifth largest workforce globally.
Contact for further information: Ayuna Batoeva, Communications Associate for Europe and Central Asia, ayuna.batoeva@unv.org
https://www.unv.org/internationalvolunteerday2018
