Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago:  Halfway through my one-year assignment as international United Nations Volunteer in Trinidad and Tobago, the balance so far is definitively positive. I am in charge of managing a project to develop a National Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy in collaboration with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Investment. Yes, quite a mouthful and definitely quite a challenge.

Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina: The International Organization for Migration (IOM) of Bosnia and Herzegovina has a variety of important and successful projects related to border management, migration, and human trafficking. In early February 2013, I was warmly welcomed as a new intern  with the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme in the Migration Health Programme. This great opportunity brings a new perspective to my previous migration experience.

Zanzibar, Tanzania: As a UN Volunteer working with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Zanzibar, I am involved in activities on sexual and reproductive health, working closely with government institutions. Looking for new innovative methods to raise the awareness of young people is one of the things I have been working on during my assignment with the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme. Theatre is a good way to raise awareness of women-related issues.

Prague, Czech Republic:  The Czech Republic has long been associated with the fight for the protection of human rights, cultural heritage and human development.  In a way, Czech volunteers such as myself who are being deployed by the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme  represent a continuation of the legacy of great Czech leaders such as Tomas Garrigue Masaryk and Vaclav Havel, and their commitment to democracy, peace and humanity.

Astana, Kazakhstan : During my one-year assignment in Kazakhstan, there were a few questions with which I became familiar. One of these questions was why I chose to come to Kazakhstan. Being a statistician, I must say that it could be called a chain of random events. I received the announcement of the volunteer position one week before the application deadline, just when I was about to finish my dissertation.  To my surprise, almost everything in the terms of reference matched to my background.

Port-au-Prince, Haiti:  I have been working in the MINUSTAH Community Violence Reduction (CVR) Section since May 2012 as a Programme Officer in the Project Unit. My role is to identify, select and develop potential projects aimed at reducing violence within communities.

Wau, South Sudan: Everybody likes a story with a happy ending. This is especially true for people working on the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) of ex-combatants and women associated with armed forces and groups (WAAF). As a Management Systems Officer, Prince Isaiah, a UN Volunteer from Liberia, accumulates data on people’s reintegration for the Crisis Prevention Recovery Unit of UNDP’s DDR program in South Sudan. For him, finding success stories is one of the best parts of his job.

Astana, Kazakhstan: The only things I knew about Kazakhstan were from a comedy film, and also that it was a huge country. This was before that evening when I opened my email to discover an offer for a United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme’s assignment at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Kazakhstan.

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic: It was my first assignment as a UN Volunteer in the field representing the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in the Dominican Republic (UNHCR DR). Since the beginning of my collaboration as a UNV Field Analyst for the UNHCR programme I have been working as a focal point focusing on a community-based approach, which has totally changed my perspective.

Port-au-Prince, Haiti:  On February 2012, three UNV Training Officers from the Integrated Mission Training Centre of The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), together with the United Nations Language and Communications Programme (UNLCP) which serves the UN community in New York, organized the Training of Trainers on writing English correspondence and reports in a peacekeeping mission.