Gabon is green—over 88 percent of its land is forest. Thirteen national parks guard an 11 percent chunk of it. But protecting nature isn’t just about drawing lines on a map. It’s about the people who live there, depend on it, and fight to keep it alive. Twenty-two UN Volunteers, including members of the Pygmy community, one of Gabon’s most underrepresented groups, are at the heart of Transformation of Forest Landscape Governance in the Bas Ogooué – Lower Nyanga Corridor, a six-year initiative backed by the Global Environment Facility and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 

"Could the charcoal smoke from Zibo barbecue be affecting air quality in cities?" This was literally what led me to explore a volunteer assignment with the United Nations, says Haoming Hong from Jiangxi province. At that time, a nationwide trend was sweeping across China: the booming popularity of Zibo-style barbecue. While others enjoyed the trend, Haoming dug into data—using stats to uncover the environmental cost behind the craze. The early exploration turned into a course paper that, in retrospect, laid the foundation for his bachelor’s thesis, The Impact of Air Pollution on Women’s Fertility Intentions in China. 

The first time I walked through Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Malawi, I felt the weight of time. This camp was never meant to be permanent, yet decades later, tens of thousands of people still call it home. Children are born here. Young people grow up here. Families live entire lives here. For many, there is no going back. At the same time, host communities around the camp share the same pressures—scarce resources, climate shocks, and the daily challenge of building a future with too little support.

“I’m a humanitarian at heart and a volunteer by choice.” That’s how I introduce myself—and it’s more than just a line. For over 15 years, I’ve worked in emergency settings, but nothing has been as meaningful as my current role: serving as a UN Volunteer with UN Women in Zimbabwe, where purpose meets passion every single day. 

My name is Kudakwashe Sigobodhla. I am a UN Volunteer.

I come from Cameroon—a place where conflict often casts young people as troublemakers. But I never accepted that narrative. I believed, and still believe, that young people can be peacebuilders. Today, as a UN Volunteer serving as a Human Rights Officer with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), I live that belief every single day.

From Ukraine to Gaza, Sudan to Myanmar, violence continues to uproot lives. In Yemen and beyond, bombs and bullets drown out voices. In 2024, civilian deaths in conflict rose by 40 percent, says the UN Human Rights Office. These aren’t just numbers—they’re people. Each life lost, each family displaced, carries deep pain. Yet, amid the chaos, humanitarians step forward. They deliver aid, offer safety, and defend human rights. On World Humanitarian Day, we spotlight six stories that show the heart behind every humanitarian response and the power of compassion in action.

What began as a simple online application turned into a transformative journey across continents. From advising microfinance banks in Mozambique to managing budgets for multimillion-dollar health programmes in Angola to supporting development initiatives in Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, and São Tomé and Príncipe, and now leading the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) efforts in Kazakhstan, this is my story. And it started off as a volunteer in the United Nations system.