I am a lawyer by profession but I have chosen to be a diplomat and an advocate for the rights of children. My passion to be a UN Volunteer is a motivation since it enables me to contribute towards making a difference in people’s life and most importantly to me, children.

When I arrived in South Sudan in August 2017, I knew very little about the country, its people and culture. But I came with an open mind and absolute willingness to learn from the experience as I began my new role as a Child Protection Officer serving with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan in the Western Equatoria region.

Farah is only 10 months old. Her pain cannot be expressed by words: only through tears. Farah spends nights and days crying because of her unimaginable suffering from malnutrition. She lives with her parents in Ash Shamayatayn district in Taiz Governorate. “There is nothing that I can do” her father told us. Although he is a college graduate, he has not been working since the war started – RDP staff, Yemen

The training was implemented through UNV Regional Capacity Development and Learning Facility (CDLF), a facility developed to support UN Volunteers' learning needs. The participating UN Volunteers enhanced their managerial and leadership skills for success in their assignments and contribution to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) while facilitating learning and experience sharing between UN Volunteers from different locations. The participants also utilized UNV’s online learning system, eCampus, as a platform for off-site engagements among themselves.

Under-Secretary-General for Management Ms Jan Beagle signed the agreement with UNV Executive Coordinator Olivier Adam.  This umbrella agreement facilitates the deployment of UN Volunteers to a variety of UN operations that fall under the auspices of the Secretariat and will help to streamline the deployment of UN Volunteers, both in the field and at headquarters locations, as well as the engagement of UN Online Volunteers.

In communities hardest hit by conflicts, such as Bambari, Bangassou and Ndelé, UN Volunteers are at the heart of social cohesion, awareness raising, the restoration of state authority, capacity building activities or access to economic opportunities for populations suffering from the crisis.

The case of these two doesn’t stand in isolation. According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), 31 people are displaced every minute across the globe.

For about four years now, 16 UN Volunteers have been helping build local capacities for lasting peace in 12 regional clusters across Kenya through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). UN Volunteears are serving under UNDP's Deepening Foundations for Peacebuilding and Community Security project and the joint programme for Strengthening National Capacities for Conflict Prevention of UNDP and the UN Department of Political Affairs (DPA).

During my internship at the UNV Arab States Regional Office this summer, I was tasked with a large project and a daunting amount of work. To be able to complete the project in two months and ensure high quality, I decided to employ the help of UN Online Volunteers.