Lucy A Tilley, in collaboration with another Online Volunteer, Abdul Mustafazade, supported AccLab by designing communication materials, visuals and social media posts on collective intelligence, solidarity and crowd-mapping. AccLab disseminated these materials on the UNDP website and social media platforms. This helped raise awareness on climate action, sustainable development and sustainable water management while also increasing the participation of local people.

Every action makes a difference. At times, a very small action can have a huge impact. 

Through concerted efforts in Central Asia, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) aims to expand the opportunities for women and girls, promote positive social norms by engaging men and establish comprehensive systems and mechanisms for women and adolescents. Héloïse Versavel, UN Volunteer Gender-Based Violence Specialist supports UNFPA in Kazakhstan. She has a background in Human Rights Law. 

When the war started on 24 February 2022, Hanna couldn’t believe this was happening to her country. The conflict was so sudden that nobody, including Hanna, was ready. After she realized the severity of the situation, she volunteered to help others.“It is a great grief when children suffer, when rockets hit residential buildings and not only houses, and at night, when people are sleeping.” Hanna Chepil, UN Community Volunteer with UNDP Moldova

Collaborating with people with Down syndrome is very rare or almost never happens in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Non-governmental organizations estimate that slightly more than a thousand people with Down syndrome live in Bosnia and Herzegovina, while only three to four of them are permanently employed.

Vangel joined UNICEF already equipped with a strong set of skills and understanding of social inclusion issues: his educational background, his previous experience in the private sector and with NGOs and his work at the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy had provided him with a comprehensive understanding of the challenges faced by persons with disabilities and the importance of changes at the policy and system levels.

Nazlı is a passionate Turkish volunteer who discovered her love for voluntarism during community service projects, where she tutored at a village school. With her background in teaching English and a Master’s in Social Policy, Nazlı’s dream was to combine her desire to serve #foreverychild and her evidence-generation skills. She would later describe volunteering as “devotion, sharing and impactful”.

"Immediately following the earthquake, the emotions I felt compelled me to actively participate in fieldwork and contribute in any way possible," says Velat. After the earthquake struck Türkiye on 6 February, Velat left Spain, where he was pursuing his master’s degree and came back to his home country, Türkiye, to help.Velat serves as a national UN Volunteer Humanitarian Affairs Officer. OCHA’s motto is to bring humanitarian partners together to tackle humanitarian emergencies – which they certainly did during their earthquake response.

The project sustaining peace and social cohesion in Bosnia and Herzegovina through enhanced inter-municipal and inter-entity cooperation on local services is implemented by UNDP in nine locations acorss the country. It engaged 18 UN Community Volunteers within their communities. At the beginning, two of them shared their positive stories and experiences about their volunteer engagement.

My motivation to become a UN Volunteer stems from my belief in the power of every individual to effect change and contribute to the creation of a more just and sustainable world. --Naida Spahic, UN Volunteer Grant Investment Package Monitoring Assistant with UNDP, Bosnia and Herzegovina.