Q.  What is your take on gender equality in the region?

To celebrate International Volunteer Day (IVD), we will have a fun walk. This will start from Motael church in Dili to the Dili Centre, which is the venue of our IVD event. We are happy to partner with the Timor-Leste Red Cross Society, National Scouts Association of Timor-Leste, Australian Volunteers International, Volunteer Services Abroad, Peace Corps, Pateo in Dili Centre, MOVE (Portuguese NGO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), World Health Organization (WHO), UN Women and the UN Resident Coordinator's Office.

Last night I wrapped up my visit to Brazzaville. It coincided with the announcement of the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Today I am traveling back to my office in Dakar and I could not be more motivated and determined for the UN Volunteers porgamme (UNV) to support the Congolese Government, population and WHO in bringing an end to the spread of this deadly Virus.

Stronger partnership UN Volunteers have operated through various assignments in the health sector with WHO, since the beginning of the partnership in 1973. The engagement of UN Volunteers in WHO health programmes has increased steadily since then, as a result of UN Volunteers’ professional input to the preparation and implementation of emergency response plans to disease outbreaks, such as Ebola in West Africa, which remains a threat.

Fanara Bunyadzada, national UN Youth Volunteer, joined the WHO Communications team in Azerbaijan at the beginning of this year, motivated by her belief that "volunteering is the best way to make a positive impact in the society," and by her desire to help people to be more aware about health-related issues.

As part of the Expanded Programme on Immunization a nationwide measles follow-up vaccination campaign was conducted from 15-27 Oct 2018 by the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (MoNHSRC) and the Government of Pakistan. WHO provided the technical assistance to respective provincial health departments and district health management teams. The objective of the campaign was to vaccinate children from six-months to five years with one dose of measles vaccine, irrespective of their previous vaccination status and illness.

I served as a UN Volunteer at the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean in Cairo, Egypt, from May 2016 until May 2017. This was a fantastic opportunity for me, both professionally and personally.

Nicaragua suffered a terrible civil war in the 1980s. The city where I was born was one of the main centres of the conflict. Consequently, I grew up amidst political instability and economic hardship. Witnessing the vast unmet needs of our population inspired me to volunteer for several projects committed to improving health and sanitation in remote communities of Nicaragua.

In 1999, two large humanitarian crises were unfolding: Kosovo and East Timor. The United Nations was tasked to support local authorities in both places to establish administrative and governance structures.