The Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of the most malnourished countries on earth, with over 4.6m children acutely malnourished, including 2.2m children suffering from severe acute malnutrition. The country is also facing an epidemic of sexual violence. Spiraling humanitarian needs and the rapid escalation in grave protection violations against women and children in the  DRC should be of concern to everyone.

From May to December 2012, UN Volunteers in Juba deployed to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) through the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) were active in an Emergency Return and Reintegration Operation of South Sudanese Returnees.   The two part operation successfully achieved the emergency return of 12,000 returnees and the emergency reintegration of 1,600 returnees to South Sudan.

Guatemala City, Guatemala: I have been working as a UNV Nutritionist with the World Food Programme (WFP) in Guatemala since February 2009. I fell in love with Guatemala - its people and extraordinarily beautiful landscapes - already 16 years ago, and I have been living here since then. I am very grateful to my home country, Finland, for funding my assignment as a UN Volunteer. I feel privileged to be able to share all the knowledge I acquired in Finland and to help other people have more opportunities in life.

How does the recruitment of UN Volunteers add value to WFP?As an efficient, speedy and diverse talent solution for UN partners, UN Volunteers serve with UN entities to bring people to the forefront of development, peace and humanitarian issues. UNV manages a pool of over 350,000 talented and qualified UN Volunteers who can be deployed to bolster the delivery of WFP’s programmes and support the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.