I don’t carry a stethoscope or deliver food. I don’t build shelters or distribute clothing. I work with something less visible; but just as urgent. I listen. My name is Urvashi and I am a UN Volunteer with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Somalia.
As a Refugee Status Determination Officer, I help people fleeing war, persecution, and violence find protection. I meet them at their most vulnerable, often just after they’ve crossed a border or survived a life-threatening journey. My job is to hear their stories and help decide if they qualify for refugee status. In simple terms, I help them access safety through the law.
I have worked in Ethiopia and now in Somalia.
Every day, I sit with people who have lost everything. Some have fled bombings. Others escaped political violence or persecution for simply being who they are.
They come to me not just with papers or pleas, but with pain. And I listen. Carefully. Because behind every case number is a human being hoping someone will believe them.
I remember one woman in particular. She had been sitting for hours outside our office with her child, under the scorching sun. She wasn’t speaking to anyone. When I approached her, I saw not just fatigue, but despair. She didn’t want food. She didn’t even want solutions. She just wanted to talk. So I sat with her. I left my other meetings, put down the paperwork, and listened for a full hour.
She told me her story through an interpreter. I listened. I nodded and I smiled. Later, the interpreter told me she was shocked, someone had smiled at her. Someone had heard her. That day reminded me: sometimes solidarity doesn’t look like big systems or bold plans. Sometimes it looks like a chair, a smile, and one hour of undivided attention.
This is what volunteering means to me. Yes, we work within legal frameworks and international mandates. But at its core, our job is deeply human.
We are not here to save anyone. We are here to walk with them, to hold space for their pain, and to help them find a path forward.
Volunteering through the United Nations has helped me grow, not just professionally, but personally. It has opened doors, built skills, and shown me how powerful empathy can be in crisis zones. It has also inspired others, colleagues who now ask me about how they, too, can become UN Volunteers.
The theme for World Refugee Day is Solidarity with Refugees. It is not just a slogan. It is a reminder that the world doesn’t need more heroes. It needs more listeners.
And if there’s one thing I have learned, this is it: being present, being open, and being human. That is where real change begins.
Urvashi Bundel served as a UN Volunteer with UNHCR in Somalia till 2024.