I enthusiastically joined the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), sub-office Gambella, as an international UN Volunteer to contribute towards addressing the plight of persons of concern and provision of protection services which is the core mandate of UNHCR. Since December 2015, I have been the ‘boots on the ground', managing and coordinating the fleet and transport facilitation for UNHCR staff.

A public affairs specialist, Tommaso was working with the UN Regional Information Centre (UNRIC) in Brussels – after stints in The Hague and Rome – when he decided to upload his profile into the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) database. One night, while walking home with a colleague, he received an email asking if he was interested in joining OCHA’s sub-office in the North Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). "I wasn’t convinced I could make it to the end of the selection process," Tommaso shares.

In Niamey, 10 UN volunteers serve in UNHCR offices as interpreters. Thanks to their commitment, capacities in languages and communications as well as linguistic and cultural proximity with the refugees, they improve the quality of protection and assistance provided to refugees, facilitate interviews, registrations, medical services etc., to better guarantee their rights and well-being. Gabriela Fana Kidane, a young Swedish interpreter of Eritrean origin is an international UN Volunteer with UNHCR in Niamey, Niger.

South Sudan has been at civil war since December 2013, claiming the lives of tens of thousands of civilians and forcing more than four million people to flee their homes. The United Nations hosts about 200,000 of those who have been displaced   in Protection of Civilians sites across the country.

According to the National Employment and Income Survey (ENEI), in Guatemala, 58.6 per cent of women live in poverty and 22.8 per cent in extreme poverty. Poverty is greater in the rural population, particularly in the Maya, Xinca and Garífuna peoples, communities that live under a constant condition of injustice and deprivation of their basic rights, affecting their women, girls and adolescents with greater ferocity.

For Firmin Sindaye, a native of Burundi, his motivation to serve as a UN Volunteer was fuelled by his desire to serve the cause of human rights wherever he is. Holder of a Master’s Degree in international and European human rights, Firmin has 15 years of national and international experience with local human rights organizations and the United Nations in the area of human rights protection, reporting and advocacy. 

Volunteerism, as a universal social behavior, is a critical resource for community resilience. Mutual aid, self-help, and reciprocity are important coping strategies for isolated and vulnerable communities.   In the absence of wider provisions and services, volunteers can help marginalized groups meet their needs.

Prior to the thematic solution forum, H.E. Serei Chumneas, Under Secretary of State, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Kingdom of Cambodia, spoke about the development results of the IBSA project at the 15-year Anniversary Celebration and Report Launch of the IBSA Fund.

The idea that UN Volunteers work only in humanitarian or relief fields is far from the truth. Julie – a 28-year-old volunteer – has been supporting a UNODC project aimed at developing forensic services in Palestine.

"I was born in Gaza and I have always lived in the Strip," Alaa explains. "I was aware of the situation that civilians are facing here, as I have experienced it in my daily life. But through my volunteering experience with OCHA, I became acquainted with a large amount of data, statistics, and reports that have deepened my knowledge of the problems affecting the Strip: from unemployment to the shortage of electricity, water, drugs, and so on."