No red carpets, no smooth paths, just purpose—a blog from Yemen

Abdullah Al Duraibi, UNV Country Coordinator of Yemen
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In June 2018, I stepped once again through the doors of the United Nations Development Programme building in Sana’a. It wasn’t unfamiliar territory—this marked my fifth role there since 2002. But something about this return felt different.

“You’ll be hired when a project is born, and released when it ends." Words of my professor from the University of Bradford are etched in my mind from a couple of decades ago. A thought that has stayed with me ever since. Over the years, I moved between roles at United Nations entities, international organizations, and Islamic Relief—always ready for new beginnings. Between 2002 and 2012, I worked in areas related to reducing poverty, empowering youth, and advancing governance-related programmes. By the end of that decade, I thought I had seen it all.

Looking back at my thirty years with the UN

Stephen Kinloch Pichat, former UN Volunteer and UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina
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Time flies! After more than thirty years of service, I have recently retired from the United Nations. Not something I could do easily, but there is a time for everything. 

I joined the UN in 1992 as a UN Volunteer in Cambodia, just after the Cold War ended. A UN Transitional Authority was being set up in Cambodia, the largest UN endeavour since the UN operation in the Congo in the 60’s. Amidst 20,000 personnel, military and civilians, 465 UN Volunteers—including myself—were deployed as District Electoral Supervisors. Despite the Khmer Rouge boycotting the elections and the ongoing civil war, we organized elections in a Khmer Rouge-controlled area.

Making knowledge count from Bangladesh to the Blue Pacific

Anamul Haque, UN Volunteer Knowledge Management and Monitoring Officer with UNICEF
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The Pacific is a region of breathtaking beauty and deep geographic complexity—14 island nations scattered across the vast ocean, each with its own culture, challenges, and hopes for development. It’s here, in this vibrant yet vulnerable part of the world, that I found my calling. I’m Anamul Haque, and in July 2024, I joined the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Pacific as UN Volunteer. My mission? To help ensure that every child—no matter how remote their island—has access to health, education, and protection.

As a Knowledge Management and Monitoring Officer, I work behind the scenes to make sure our programmes across 14 island nations that are part of UNICEF’s Pacific Multi-Country Office are smarter, faster, and more impactful. I lead efforts to simplify how we collect, share, and use information across the region.

Writing a chapter of migration in Ecuador

United Nations Volunteers
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Migration regularization is the process by which a country grants legal status to non-nationals living there without proper documentation. This process aims to protect their human rights—in particular, to reduce exploitation, and further to improve data accuracy on labour markets and migration. In Ecuador, volunteers played a crucial role in the registration and regularization efforts for migrants.

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. 

Kazakhstan establishes the first National Committee for the International Volunteer Year 2026

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The committee was formally launched in Astana on 12 May 2025, in a meeting attended by government officials, civil society representatives, private sector, and Toily Kurbanov, Executive Coordinator of United Nations Volunteers (UNV).   

Change your perspective—disability is not inability

Gustavo Aparicio, UN Volunteer Legal Assistant with IOM
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Disability is a human condition that can touch anyone's life at any moment. For me, it began at birth with a physical and motor disability. But the truth is, disability can emerge at any stage of life, altering the course of one's journey. The real obstacles we face are not rooted in medical conditions—they are woven into the fabric of our society, culture, and structures. This powerful message is part of the outreach at the International Organization for Migration (IOM), where I am a UN Volunteer. And I hold it close to my heart: disability is not inability.

Human rights and protecting vulnerable people have always been my focus, especially as someone living with a disability. My experience in labour and administrative law helps me fight for fairness and inclusion.

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