Meet national UN Volunteers with IOM sharing their experiences from three continents

Hassane Abdoulsalamou, Sandra Molina and Rana Elwakeel
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UN Volunteers serving with the United Nations Migration Agency (IOM) uphold the rights of migrants in their volunteer assignments on a daily basis. They carry out monitoring and evaluation activities, contribute to the provision of basic lifesaving services and ensure protection, among other things. During 2017, 22 UN Volunteers served with IOM around the world. Three national UN Volunteers share their experiences in Africa, Latin America and the Arab States.

EDUCATION AND EMPOWERMENT KEY IN CONFLICT SITUATIONS

Hassane Abdoulsalamou has been serving as a national UN Volunteer with IOM since November 2016. He supports a project for the empowerment of youth in Niger (AJPANI), which offers youth at risk of conflict opportunities to develop through socio-economic participation and mechanisms faciliting participation in decision-making and peacebuilding

UNV and IOM strengthen collaboration to serve migrants and uphold their rights

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UNV and IOM strengthen collaboration to serve migrants and uphold their rights

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UNV and WHO sign Memorandum of Understanding to promote health through volunteers

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UNV and WHO sign Memorandum of Understanding to promote health through volunteers

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She who has health has hope; and she who has hope has everything

Silvia Illescas
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My journey as a UN volunteer started when I arrived in Laos in May 2016. The idea of me moving to a small developing country in Southeast Asia to help the World Health Organization fight against HIV, tuberculosis and malaria was not exactly shocking to my friends. They had seen me volunteer for various projects in Nicaragua before.

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.

From UN Volunteer in Timor-Leste to WHO Spokesperson

Tarik Jašarević, Spokesperson, World Health Organization
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I was part of the first group of UN Volunteers that arrived to Kosovo in August 1999. Being from Bosnia and Herzegovina, I had a good understanding of the political context and I was also able to communicate with the population in one of two languages that were widely used. I keep a special place in my heart and mind for UNV. It is a platform that helped hundreds to be a part of the extraordinary work of the United Nations and in some cases such as mine, to define a life-long path.

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.

From Kenya to Turkey: helping refugees regain hope for a better future

Ann Kamunya
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Turkey is the country hosting the largest number of refugees in the world, according to UNHCR. Over 3.5 million registered Syrian refugees, in addition to 365,000 persons of concern from other nationalities, are registered with UNHCR. Currently, 37 UN Volunteers are deployed across the country to support people forcibly displaced due to conflict, violence and persecution.

Ann Kamunya is an international UN Volunteer with UNHCR in Ankara, Turkey, where she she joined as a UN Volunteer Associate Refugee Status Determination Officer in December 2016.

This is not Ann's first volunteer experience. Prior to Turkey, she served with UNHCR as a national UN Volunteer in Nairobi and then in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya, delivering for refugees who had been forcibly displaced from their home countries due to war or persecution.

UN Volunteers stand #WithRefugees

World Refugee Day 2018
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In its Global Trends report, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reports that there were 68 million forcibly displaced persons in the world at the end of 2017, half of whom were under the age of 18.

People leaving their homes for the unknown, in hope of finding a safer and more secure future, are often triggered by the ravages of war, famine, political instability and the deleterious effects of climate change.

UN Volunteers stand #WithRefugees

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In its Global Trends report, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reports that there were 68 million forcibly displaced persons in the world at the end of 2017, half of whom were under the age of 18.

People leaving their homes for the unknown, in hope of finding a safer and more secure future, are often triggered by the ravages of war, famine, political instability and the deleterious effects of climate change.

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