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Creating an inclusive global environment for achieving the SDGs

In 2016, 156 persons with disabilities have volunteered their skills and time online through the UNV Online Volunteering service.

03 Dec 2016
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The International Day of Persons with Disabilities is celebrated annually on 3 December. This year, it coincides with the 10-year anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. And as 2016 is also the first year of the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the day highlights the role of these goals in building a more inclusive and equitable world for persons with disabilities. 

On December 3rd, International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we celebrate the invaluable contributions UN Online Volunteers with disabilities are making to the work of organizations in the areas of sustainable human development. In addition, organizations across the globe working for the rights of persons with disabilities engage UN Online Volunteers in their projects for a variety of tasks, from providing technical input to projects, editing and translating documents to researching donor organizations.

“We have found keen, dedicated and accountable professionals who have submitted high quality work that was really needed and appreciated in our organization,” says Martine Levesque, Programme Director for Handicap International in Bolivia. UN Online Volunteers translated a range of documents that Handicap International uses in its programmes, trainings and advocacy campaigns.   

UN Online Volunteers have also helped to connect the Unique Light Foundation, a grassroots NGO supporting disadvantaged women and children in central Ghana, with a global network of volunteers, donors and partner organizations. They developed communication materials and a social media strategy, and provided strategic input to the organization’s work in inclusive education and the elimination of avoidable blindness.

In 2016, 156 persons with disabilities have volunteered their skills and time online through the UNV Online Volunteering service and collaborated with a range of organizations for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Team

  • Delphine Duquenne de Solliers

    France

    Delphine works as a professional translator and volunteered online as translator, including for the Representation at the UN of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie for documents used during the post-2015 development planning process and the formulation of the SDGs. She is living with a particular case of adrenal insufficiency.

    “Any person with a disability, whether born with it or having acquired it, needs to feel useful to feel alive. There is nothing more gratifying than knowing you are worth a lot as a volunteer.”

  • Usukhbayar Sainjargal

    Mongolia

    Works as a lawyer and volunteered online as a translator for UNV Mongolia, including articles, press releases, materials for International Volunteer Day and official UN documents.

    “Don’t be afraid, just sign up and start contributing! Physically challenged people can do more than you think.”

  • Jeremie Kamano Papa Pluss

    Guinea

    Teaches English at a private school and volunteered online as translator for 13 NGOs and UN agencies of materials related to ICT training, humanitarian aid, peacebuilding, inclusion, and more. His right thigh was broken in an accident and did not heal.

    “Online volunteering helps me have an objective and achieve it. It helps me schedule my time well, gain experience and work in teams”.

  • Selena Ramic

    Serbia

    Has a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Minnesota and an M.A. in Human Rights and Humanitarian Action from Sciences Po in Paris. Selena contributed as an online volunteer researcher to the UN E-government Survey 2016 for the UN Division for Public Administration and Development Management, and as translator of materials that the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction used to train Croatian government officials.

    “Volunteering enhances the employability of persons with disabilities, which is of paramount importance, especially in developing countries where the economic situation is unstable, funds for healthcare are low and discrimination is often high.”

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