Through community interviews, group activities, and dialogue sessions, I often gain insight into the unique mental health and psycho-social needs of community members, many times in dire situations. These interactions not only inform our programming but also foster a sense of belonging and support within the community.  

The impacts of climate change on people's lives and ecosystems cannot be ignored and are being felt in every corner of the globe. Not simply an environmental issue, it's a humanitarian crisis.  Shockingly, over the last five years alone, approximately 1.59 billion individuals have been affected by climate and weather-related disasters. As a result, around 130 million people have been forced to leave their homes and have become internally displaced.

Covid hit. Everything shut down. I had a job in Egypt but wanted an international perspective, so I started looking for opportunities, and then one day I landed in Somalia. It was April 2021 and amidst the ongoing unrest in the country around that time, I thought to myself – my international volunteer experience is going to end before it begins. A feeling of risk started to settle in. I made sure that my runaway bag was ready.

Binod Chand, Bikas Jha, Kushal Limbu, Madhusudan Ghimire and Shraddha Thapa are UN Volunteer Infrastructure Asset Management Associates. They serve with the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), in Nepal. While engaging with key stakeholders and elected officials, the group of five invest time to fully understand the impact of existing policies, laws and regulations on municipal asset management and areas of reform and improvement.

The objective was to live up to the wellbeing of UN Volunteers stationed with UN partners across the country. The outcome was informative and inspiring, in every sense of the word.

Giovana Urquizo and Luisa Luna Choque are among the nine UN Community Volunteers. Giovana is from Chuquisaca Department in the center south of Bolivia and Luisa is from La Paz, the third most populous city and the seat of the government of Bolivia.  

With her knowledge, Johanna motivates young people to keep tradition alive by teaching them the art of weaving. The toquilla straw hat is woven from fibers of palm trees characteristic of the Ecuadorian coast. Pile, Johanna's hometown, is a coastal community and the toquilla straw hat is part of cultural heritage.  

Maissa Abdellaoui is an international UN Volunteer with a French Algerian background who serves with UNICEF in Senegal. Under the Gender and Exclusion programme, Maissa provides technical support to women teacher networks, menstruation hygiene kits or best referred to as 'dignity kits' for schools and girls, and organization for support groups for girls. 

To address the commune's difficulties in mobilizing resources, Denis recommended a new strategy to the local council: to engage non-resident nationals to recover taxes and strengthen economic development.

Since poverty has been rising in Mongolia over the past 20 years, the National Volunteering Programme has been encouraging local communities to be active in helping their own citizens, build capacities of their own and work towards development. With the assistance of NGOs, international and local volunteers have initiated awareness-raising campaigns on volunteerism to better inform the government, ministries and local communities about its benefits.