During my one-year assignment in Kazakhstan, there were a few questions with which I became familiar. One of these questions was why I chose to come to Kazakhstan. Being a statistician, I must say that it could be called a chain of random events. From a romantic or determinist point of view, what happened was that Kazakhstan chose me. Read

One of the most exciting things about being a UN Volunteer is having the chance to work across diverse activities which aim to help the Haitian people in a variety of ways. Being the focal point for ten separate Community Violence Reduction events to mark International Day of Peace on 21 September gave me exactly such an opportunity. Read

For a UN Volunteer accumulating data on people's integration for UNDP's Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration program in South Sudan, success stories are the best part of the job. Read

I came from the Czech Republic to work at the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme as an intern at the UNAIDS Country Office in Uzbekistan, in the field of Communication and Advocacy. After three months in the country, I got my first opportunity to speak in public about volunteerism. Read

Before I arrived in Kazakhstan I was intensively involved in volunteering in my home city in Finland. I worked for various volunteer projects and, at the same time, I learned a number of useful skills to promote volunteerism. One of the most enriching experiences of my time in Kazakhstan has been the possibility to use those skills. Read

The goal of this training was to promote the participation of parents with children under two years old who had not been registered yet. Without personal identification documents children have no right to nationality or access to state institutions. This is a common situation in the “bateyes”. Read

“It is gratifying to help local communities in their efforts to achieve democratic consolidation and peace,” declares Jorge Aliaga, a United Nations Volunteer assigned to the Electoral Logistics Support Division for the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) in Bandundu. “It is a long process and there are still many things to do, but we are moving in the right direction.” Read

Read

"Now I look back and feel very fortunate to have been given the opportunity to serve as a UN Volunteer with the GEF-SGP in Nicaragua. Helping local communities face challenges in their everyday lives through the implementation of projects determined by them is, in my opinion, one of the best ways to learn and gather lessons from community-level experiences. It also allows for the sharing of best practices among development aid actors, making an impact on a regional or global scale." Read