Years later, she did something few people do. She returned—not to her own safety, but to instability. This time, not as someone needing help, but as someone ready to carry weight.

“I proactively engaged external stakeholders, including the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and private sector partners, to explore collaboration,” 

Sára's real work happens far from meeting rooms. She’s in Chișinău. Listening to refugees. She is part of protection working groups advocating for people who’ve been uprooted, broken, and forgotten.“I help organizations speak up for refugees. I make sure help gets where it’s needed—fast.”

After she graduated, Yoojeong discovered that being a Korean national, she could apply for the fully funded UN Volunteer opportunities with the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). She sent in her application for the role of a UN Volunteer Operational Data Management Associate with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). 

My name is Zahra Vaziri. I am from Iran. I serve as a UN Volunteer Associate Programme Officer with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Malawi. My role is to help ensure that humanitarian projects are not only implemented, but that they bring dignity, opportunity, and hope to both refugees and the communities that host them. I also make sure that the projects we design and fund are not only implemented but also carry meaning for the people who live here. 

Long before the UN Volunteer role, I was already doing volunteer work. I grew up volunteering—joining community initiatives, working with refugee-led organizations, and offering support where I could. In 2015, I became an interpreter for UNHCR. That experience opened my eyes. I saw what was happening behind the scenes in humanitarian response. I saw how systems worked—and sometimes, how they did not. I saw spaces where I could contribute more meaningfully. 

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. 

In early 2024, as violence escalated near Goma, dozens of civilians and soldiers found refuge in UN compounds. Supporting them, Souleymane Diallo, UN Volunteer Legal Adviser from Burkina Faso with the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO). He quickly helped organize a response. Drawing on his legal training, he and his team created a simple code of conduct for the shelter sites and translated it into French and Swahili so everyone could understand it. 

United Nations Volunteers (UNV) collaborated with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the Ecuadorian government to deploy more than 250 UN Volunteers in Ecuador. The government ministries, namely the Ministry of Economic and Social Inclusion, the Ministry of the Interior, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility, played a vital part in making this happen. 

Muteeb Al Hamdan, once an English teacher, now serves as an interpreter with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.. Describing his journey as “a passage from despair to hope, from terror to safety, one that felt like an ending but became a new beginning”, he found in his assignment an opportunity to use his translation skills to make a difference. With a diploma in humanitarian translation, he assists refugees and visiting delegations, ensuring seamless communication across languages and cultures.