Francis Kariuki Muigai hails from Kiambu, Central Province, in Kenya. Currently, he is employed as a United Nations Volunteer (UNV) Water Treatment Engineer with the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), known as MONUC. Read

Parvati Sharma (Bhutan) is a nurse and midwife. She studied in India, and during her more than 20 years of experience in health education and training she has visited most Asian countries. She is about to finish her UNV assignment in Kampong Cham and Stung Treng. In the following article she reflects upon her time as a UNV in Cambodia. Read

In early 2003 Tariq Mohammed completed his service as a UN Volunteer under the UNITeS initiative in Uganda. The former Harvard research assistant Tariq Mohammed helped Ugandan students learn how to use information and communications technology (ICT) under the Cisco Networking Academy Programme. The following article is a reflection of his trials and triumphs during his stay in Uganda. Read

Wahid Omar left Afghanistan in the late 1970’s. Over the next several years, he spent time teaching in Pakistan, France and the United States. In 2003, he returned to his homeland, as a UN Volunteer under the auspices of the Transfer of Knowledge through Expatriate Nationals (TOKTEN) programme. Under the TOKTEN initiative, qualified expatriate professionals from developing countries return to their countries of origin to share their knowledge and skills gained during their residence in elsewhere. This is Wahid’s story. Read

The Pacific Sustainable Livelihoods Project has undertaken a new project called Fiji Retail Enterprise Engine or "FREE" craft shop which is a business incubator, the first of its kind in the Pacific. It provides an affordable retail option for artists working at home, while at the same time providing them the necessary business training and facilities to effectively grow their business. It is designed to support self-employed artists and crafts people, of which two-thirds are women. Read

I joined the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) as a UN Volunteer two years ago. One of my first and most memorable experiences was a helicopter flight over the beautiful terrain from Asmara, capital of Eritrea, to Adigrat, a small town in Ethiopia near the Eritrean border. Read

The Experimental Center for the Development of the Small and Medium Rural Companies is a non-governmental organization (NGO), formed by indigenous and non –indigenous women and men, with the objective to improve the quality of life for rural families of the Western Highlands of Guatemala. Read

Being in West Africa for the first time excited me and more than that, working on something I enjoyed doing was even more exciting.As a UN Volunteer, I have had both good times and bad times. Read

In Congo, the war has cost women dearly. The widespread practice of sexual violence against women and girls, is a violation of human rights, international humanitarian law, international criminal law and Congolese law. Read

The story of Christine is a story lived by many women and girls in Congo, a post-conflict country where fighting between militias and factions has largely ceased but civilians became the consistent target for killing, rape, looting and an array of harassments. Read