When the war started on the 7th of October 2023, there was a total of 61 UN Volunteers serving in the State of Palestine, of which 18 were stationed in the Gaza Strip. Before the war, United Nations Volunteers (UNV) in the Gaza Strip provided humanitarian and development support to seven UN agencies. Even then, living conditions for Palestinians were bleak. 
 

UN Volunteers support the efforts of the World Health Organization (WHO) to ensure that health can be accessed by everyone equally. This year, World Health Day was observed with the theme - 'My Health, my right' - adding emphasis to health as a basic human right and as such amplifying its urgency.

Looking back on his experience of working with and managing dedicated UN Volunteers for more than 25 years, Jamshed has more than one story to tell of his encounters with volunteers as national change agents, first responders, women rights advocates and above all, agents of change. My first engagement with UN Volunteers was as a manager in UNDP offices in Ethiopia and Lao PDR, and what impressed me from the beginning was their dedication, resilience, and creativity in moving our work on advancing the SDGs forward.