A retired Indian Army Officer with over a decade of military service, Poonam joined UNICEF in 2022 as a Child Protection Officer. She spreads the word about the negative impact of child marriage on everyone — the child plus society at large. 

Leyla started her volunteering journey with UNDP as a Project Clerk. She provides administrative support, maintains project documents, and assists communication across many levels. "I am keen to contribute to a culture of inclusivity within the team and ensure that women's voices are heard and valued at every stage of the project." Leyla shares.

I am an international UN Volunteer Communications Specialist from Ghana. My role with UNDP in Zambia involves connecting with people throughout the country to document stories of strife and triumph. What I value most in my work is storytelling and bringing to the fore voices of the ones not heard.

Xiaerbati was part of a team that provided vocational training and entrepreneurship opportunities to women from rural areas in Qinghai Province. These opportunities made it easy to access renewable energy, boosting agricultural productivity and mitigating climate change. “Volunteerism plays a pivotal role in fostering long-term economic empowerment of women by creating sustainable support systems and fostering community resilience,” says Xiaerbati.

This is my first experience serving with UN peacekeeping operations.  My day-to-day tasks include documenting, reviewing and analyzing cases of conflict-related sexual violence. This exercise helps identify trends and patterns to inform prevention and response interventions.

Abiot and Adebukola analyze data as part of their UN Volunteer assignments by reviewing reports, supporting the design of monitoring tools, and providing internal evaluations of UNECA programmes on economic and social development. Monitoring and evaluation ensure sound evidence-based policymaking and reporting.

In Nepal, UNICEF supported the Government of Nepal to ensure widespread measles and rubella vaccination for children. In four key provinces, 281,233 children aged 9 to 11 months were vaccinated.  As a Social Behaviour Change Officer, Ashok Kumar Joshi has brought his expertise to UNICEF’s immunization programme since September 2023. He contributes to raising awareness among mothers, caretakers, and decision-makers on the importance of timely vaccination.

In 2007, I came to the United Nations Volunteers Headquarters in Bonn. I was a Senior Programme Specialist for the Asia-Pacific, Europe, and CIS (APEC) responsible for UN Volunteer management, joint programming, and humanitarian support. This was one of the most rewarding and inspiring assignments of my UN career because I interacted with and directly supported hundreds of (mostly) young women and men worldwide who demonstrated passion and commitment to serve others less fortunate through volunteering with field-based UN agencies.

Six months on, the war continues unabated.  Declared one of the deadliest conflicts in centuries on civilians and infrastructure, the evidence keeps multiplying on numerous cases of international humanitarian law violations, including against humanitarians and volunteers.  

The research paper titled The role of volunteers in leaving no one behind: Supporting United Nations entities and national governments towards realizing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development demonstrates a wealth of data detailing the expansive efforts of volunteers.