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  Volunteers' perspectives    
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Making a difference
24 June 2011
UNDP jointly supported UNV by donating desks, chairs, bookshelves and a fridge. Now the children are seated at their desks on the colourful donated chairs. As one child said, ‘finally we have our own school!’ (UNV, 2011)
UNV supported The Ideas Partnership, a local NGO, with text books and stationery for their catch-up classes to Roma children who are preparing for a test to register into formal schooling. Read
Accessible voting at selected polling centres
20 June 2011
UN Volunteer Pascual Remetio from the Philippines (third from the left) is Logistics Adviser in Timor-Leste. He assesses road conditions leading to polling centres, security, lighting and access to phone communication of the centres. (UNV, 2011)
During my six-month stay in Oecusse, Timor-Leste, I travelled to conduct assessment surveys of proposed new polling centres. Due to the frequent rain, most of the polling centres can be reached only by crossing a number of rivers. This is one of the most challenging aspects of my work - the slippery and winding roads and river beds make it dangerous and difficult to drive during rainy season. Read
Countries:  Timor-Leste
Other languages: en français  
Promoting indigenous rights and fighting against racial discrimination in Bolivia
27 May 2011
The international UN Volunteer Arnaud Chaltin, during at a workshop with the Vice-ministry of Decolonization about the international framework for combating racial discrimination. (UNV)
Being an international UN Volunteer enabled me to increase my knowledge about issues regarding the rights of indigenous peoples…  Bolivia is exceptionally rich in culture, with more than 36 indigenous groups facing very different realities and human rights problems. I had the chance to work with many of these people by giving training on human rights, and specifically on the rights of indigenous peoples. Read
More about: Human rights
Countries:  Bolivia
Other languages: en español  en français  
Off-duty volunteering a joy at Sri Lankan charity
20 May 2011
Gloria Kaberia (right), (Kenya) a UNV Associate Community Services Officer in Sri Lanka, and one of the Mother Teresa Sisters of Charity attend to a resident at Karuna Nivasa home for elderly and mentally ill women in Trincomalee. (B.M.M Hassan/UNHCR, 2011)
Gloria Kaberia (Kenya), a UNV Associate Community Services Officer in Sri Lanka, tells us what motivates her to volunteer during her free time at the Karuna Nivasa home for elderly and mentally ill women.    Read
Countries:  Sri Lanka
Hydroelectricity empowers Laotian village
13 May 2011
Seungho Han (Korea), UNV Environment Specialist with UNDP, photograhs the opening ceremony for a new hydro power system at Houay Ngou, Lao PDR. (UNV, 2011)
Seungho Han (Korea), a former UNV Environment Specialist with UNDP in Lao PDR, recalls his last field vist to a remote village where the community joyously launched a small hydro power system they had built themselves.   Read
Countries:  Lao PDR
Mission closure a unique, poignant experience for UN Volunteer
29 April 2011
UN personnel at MINURCAT march for HIV/AIDS prevention in Chad. (UNV, 2010)
German Robles Osuna (Mexico) shares his impressions of the closure of the United Nations Mission in Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT) in Abeche, Chad. Read
Other languages: en français  
International Women’s Day celebrations in Suva, Fiji
19 April 2011
Sesheeni Selvaratnam (right), UNV Programme Officer, sets up promotional material (Andrea Nyberg/UNV, 2011)
UN Women organized an awareness-raising event in UN Park, Suva, where information about various gender issues was distributed from a number of different organizations and UN agencies, including the Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), where I am currently serving as a UN Volunteer. Read
More about: Gender
Countries:  Fiji
Four hours in a bunker: A UN Volunteer in Afghanistan
07 April 2011
Lying on my bed, I got worried.  Would we be brutally injured or killed? At that moment, I realized the sacrifice – serving the vulnerable Afghan community where lives of humanitarian workers could be in danger anytime. Read
Countries:  Afghanistan
Volunteering for children's basic right to communicate
04 February 2011
Maria Rehder (centre) is a Brazilian UN Volunteer working as Communications and Advocacy Officer with the United Nations Resident Coordinator Office in Guinea-Bissau. Here she is surrounded by some of the children who participated in the production of the 'Journal Mural'. (UNV)
After this amazing experience, I decided to return the warm reception with an activity that would make the children aware of their right to communicate, and in some way make them realize the importance of their active participation in the development of Guinea-Bissau. Read
Countries:  Guinea-Bissau
Sensitizing about nutrition
04 February 2011
UN Volunteer Maija Laitinen (left) during a training session about food and nutrition security organized for mothers and children in Totonicapán. (UNV)
My work as a UN Volunteer with the WFP has been very interesting, challenging and rewarding. Guatemala has one of the world’s highest rates of chronic under nutrition in children below the age of five. My work has been rewarding because our efforts do have an impact. Read
More about: Focus on food  HIV/AIDS  Health
Countries:  Guatemala

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What does it mean to be a volunteer? Volunteers talk about their work in their own words, and celebrate those moments that show the spirit of volunteerism.
UNV is administered by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)