In an increasingly digital world, online volunteers play a significant role in tackling today’s sustainable development challenges. UNV’s Online Volunteering Solution is a doorway for the UN, Government partners, and Civil Society Organizations offering digital solutions to scale efforts in engaging with people of all backgrounds while offering an opportunity for young people from around the world to contribute their passion, skills and expertise to accelerate the Sustainable Development Goals ahead of the 2030 agenda.
At UNFPA alone, over 1,600 volunteers serve in different capacities both online and offline globally.
Beyond this, in 2023, UNFPA specifically collaborated with the UN Volunteers on a campaign advocating for an end to child marriage.
Child marriage remains high in South Asia, with 290 million child brides – the highest number in the world, accounting for 45 percent of the global data. More than one-third of girls are married before the age of 18, and three in four child brides in the region give birth while they are still adolescents. School dropout and financial pressure associated with the COVID-19 pandemic drove many parents in the region to marry off their daughters.
Since 2016, UNFPA and UNICEF have been implementing a Global Programme to End Child Marriage in countries with the highest prevalence within South Asia – Bangladesh, India, and Nepal. The joint initiative aims to build policies, legislation, and programmes to ensure that young girls are empowered, treated equally, and able to realize their potential by transcending the shadows of child marriage.
As part of these efforts, the UNFPA Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific joined forces with the UN Volunteers for the first large-scale Online Volunteering initiative marking International Day of the Girl Child in 2023, which aimed to get volunteers onboard to spread awareness and address harmful gender and social norms that lead to child marriage.
As such, over 150 Online Volunteers were mobilized as part of the #EveryGirlCounts campaign, reaching over 100,000 social media users within two weeks, spreading messages calling for gender equality, girls’ equal right to education, ending harmful practices and strengthening access to sexual and reproductive health services.
Volunteer to volunteer cooperation for impact
Kefan Yang, an international UN Volunteer Specialist from China based at the UNFPA Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific who serves as the Specialist on Gender-biased Sex Selection and Other Harmful Practices, was instrumental in developing and coordinating the #EveryGirlCounts campaign.
Together with his fellow UN Volunteer Anni Annirrahmah, Kefan provided essential training to the online volunteers to strengthen their digital literacy and social media content production skills. Together, they also regularly monitored the communication channels to ensure a more streamlined approach was followed during the content-creation process and the development of key messaging.
“As a UN Volunteer myself, it was fascinating to team up with online volunteers to create social media content in raising awareness on ending child marriage and son preference. This is an innovative approach to combating harmful social and gender norms in digital spaces.” – said Kefan.
But what is it that motivates the Online Volunteers to put their skills to work for a better future for adolescent girls?
Meet the changemakers
Dimpi Lama is from Nepal, a country that has the third-highest prevalence of child marriage, with 41 percent of women aged 20 to 24 married before they turn 18.
During the campaign, Dimpi reached more than 9,000 people online to disseminate targeted messages about harmful gender and social norms that contribute to child marriage in her country. Her motivation to become a Volunteer comes from the notion that “volunteering represents a commitment to myself and humanity, rooted in compassion.” For her, online volunteering provides an opportunity to be part of the positive change.
“I want to see a world where girls like me enjoy their full rights and get equal opportunities as their male colleagues.”
While the rates of child marriage have declined in the South Asia region, India still accounts for one in three of the world’s child brides. These numbers prompted Ananya to become part of taking action.
“This campaign was very effective in reminding the world of the issues that the girl child still faces like child marriage, female genital mutilation and lack of access to sexual and reproductive health services.”
With prior volunteering experience coupled with a strong passion for women's and girls' rights, Ananya put her digital content creation skills to use. Receiving positive feedback from social media users who shared how the campaign helped them understand girls’ rights better, Ananya felt empowered for helping to put out the word that women and girls’ rights matter, and need to be recognized particularly in education, social, and political fields.
There are 38 million child brides in Bangladesh, 13.4 million of whom were married before their 15th birthday. Online Volunteers Mehedi Hasan, Debanjan Gobinda Biswas, and Iffat Rubaiyat, circulate tailored messages on discrimination against women and girls and other challenges that contribute to child marriage. They amplified voices from online action to create real-world impact, which at the same time was also rewarding for them.
As Mehedi Hasan puts it “I am most proud of my role in raising awareness for the International Day of the Girl Child through this UN volunteering project. The collaborative effort, formidable team dynamics, and a shared commitment to the cause helped us navigate challenges effectively, ensuring a smooth execution of our initiatives. It has been an inspiring and fulfilling experience, and I hope to see more initiatives like this in the future to create positive change on a global scale.”
Campaigns like UNFPA Asia-Pacific’s ‘#EveryGirlCounts’ show just how important digital advocacy really is and the power it has in reaching people. It also shows that the true spirit of volunteerism lies within everyone. After all, volunteers are an inspiration in action!
