There comes a time in your life that, for personal or professional reasons, you need your work to count more than the number of drunk drivers, or chest pains seen in one hour... When you are on a personal and professional path that includes volunteer work, that path is never complete without the UN, so I volunteered with UNV simply because it made sense. Read

I am constantly approached by both state prosecutors and defence counsel for advice... and I am always on the move, speaking to rape victims and their families to come to court to help the state to prosecute alleged rapists. Read

The printer crackles, winding on the first regional reports. Regional offices in the North, the Grand Anse, the West, and the South too send breaking news to the central Office of Civil Affairs. Read

The UN's International Literacy Day falls on 8 September. UNV is helping to improve literacy around the world, for example by supporting The Times of India newspaper's ambitious 'Teach India' campaign. Here one of the national UNV volunteers working on the project gives an insight into his role. Read

"Whoever drinks from the Nile will always return." Working with the Sudan Information Campaign for Returnees in Khartoum I saw that, one day, everyone must come back. Read

I make sure that everything is ready for the following day's aircraft movements in and out our mission's area of responsibility (AOR). Any time cargo or people have to move from one location to another, we provide the service. Read

Policies are being made to streamline measures on respective Environmental Acts of African governments that will eventually form the backbone of the continent's economic activities. This has been done through the support of UNEP and I have been fortunate to be part of this campaign. Read

Air pollution is a global challenge, and for developing countries limited scientific data and policies on air quality affects how air pollution is managed... I support conferences and national activities on air quality management across Africa. Read

The working atmosphere in the mission is quite different from other organizations I have worked for. In general, I have encountered two types of work here: one type is planned, regular tasks and the other is emergency tasks. These need immediate action, meaning working under pressure.< Read

Acting as an organizational and communications focal point in the country for the field offices, regional UNHCR offices and headquarters in Geneva, I often feel like Shiva incarnate, my four arms at the ready as I multi-task with the various reporting and public relations tasks on my plate. Read