Volunteers in The Humanitarian Reset

Author

  • Toily Kurbanov
    Toily Kurbanov Executive Coordinator UNV
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The humanitarian system cannot keep planning as if volunteers do not exist.

That sounds absurd. Yet it is exactly what we do.

Every major crisis tells the same story. Volunteers are the first to respond. They keep services running when roads are cut off, institutions collapse or conflict blocks access. They are often the last people still standing when international organizations are forced to leave. Yet they remain largely invisible in humanitarian plans, budgets, coordination mechanisms and safeguarding arrangements.

This is not a minor oversight. It is a warning that the humanitarian system is out of step with the way humanitarian action actually happens.

The Humanitarian Reset starts from a similar premise. It recognizes that today’s humanitarian system must become leaner, more locally led and more accountable in the face of growing needs and shrinking resources. That ambition is welcome. Yet it might remain incomplete if it continues to overlook one of the system’s greatest strengths: the volunteers who make humanitarian action possible every day.

The Winding Road to Leadership

United Nations Volunteers
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The road into Lesotho’s mountains offered no comfort and even less certainty. For almost six hours, Francesca Conte and her colleagues traveled to Thaba Tseka, a hard-to-reach community council. The paved road changed to gravel. There were a few signs, and near the end of the trip, they had to stop and ask villagers for directions. Yet as they arrived, uncertainty melted away. Smiling community members welcomed them, and relief swept through the group.

For Francesca, the winding road showed much of what she had learned about service. You do not always know the way. You cannot assume you have all the answers. Sometimes, the only way forward is to listen to the people who know the area.

Francesca came to Lesotho from Italy as a UN Volunteer Social Policy Officer with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). She had worked in a country office before, but she wanted to move closer to the work in the field.

What is COP17's Secret Ingredient?

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The volunteers have been prepared to take on specific duties across four key areas: the Green Zone, Blue Zone, hotels, and transportation. During the training, they were introduced to their assigned work areas and stations, and briefed on their roles, responsibilities, and the essential organizational information needed to support the conference.

 

Stepping Forward, Together

Fatmata Lovetta Sesay , UN Resident Coordinator a.i. and UNDP Resident Representative, Rwanda
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My career has taken me across Africa, working on economic development, sustainable finance and institutional reform. But titles and portfolios have never been the point. What has mattered, from early on, is responsibility. Being entrusted to speak for others. To carry their concerns with care. To understand that representation is not about visibility, but accountability.

That lesson came early in my life. I was young when I was first asked to speak on behalf of others. I remember the weight of it. Not the fear, but the clarity. When you speak for others, your words must be grounded in truth and respect. You must listen more than you talk. That instinct has never left me.

Development begins with dignity

Later, in public service and academia, those instincts deepened. I learned that development is not abstract. It is about dignity. About equity. About whether people feel seen in the systems that shape their lives. Policies matter, but only when they translate into real change.

The Revolution Is Young

United Nations Volunteers
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Forget the idea that young people are only beneficiaries of change. Across the world, they are driving it.
Nearly half of the world's population is under the age of 30, making young people one of the greatest forces for change on the planet. On International Youth Day, the stories of young volunteers are a reminder that instead of waiting for the future, young people are already building it. They are responding where others see problems, leading where others see barriers, and proving that age is no barrier to creating change. Let's meet some UN Volunteers whose stories embody the 2026 theme—Different Contexts, Common Aspirations.

How do young people break the silence?
Changing deeply rooted social norms often begins with conversations many people avoid.

The Invisible Tool Behind Thousands of Volunteer Assignments

David Redondo Flores, UNV Information and Communication Technology
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The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) mobilizes thousands of volunteers around the world; last year alone, more than 17,000. But behind every volunteer assignment is a lot of planning. Teams need to calculate costs, manage contracts, and make sure resources are used wisely. To make this easier, the UNV Information and Communications Technology (ICT) data team has developed a tool that is changing the way UNV plans and budgets volunteer assignments funded through the Full Funding programme and the Special Voluntary Fund. 

Until recently, planning costs across multiple donors, countries, and assignments meant pulling together data from different systems and spending hours on manual calculations. The ICT data team set out to change that. 

Working closely with colleagues across UNV—including administration, finance and more—the data team developed a comprehensive Cost Planning Tool that brings financial, volunteer and planning data into a single platform. 

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