“Our awareness campaigns reached 1.4 million people through schools and social media, promoting safer online and offline environments for children,” Sonoko noted.Kazakhstan began establishing Child Rights Protection Departments at oblast and district levels with dedicated social workers to improve access to protection services for vulnerable children and families. 

As part of my volunteer assignment, I travelled to five communities—Otuan, Ayamasa, Ikebiri 1, Ekowe and Ekeremor—to help produce a documentary about UNODC’s work. Some require hours of travel by road, while others are accessible only by water. Ikebiri 1, I was told, lies close to the Atlantic Ocean.

A good harvest still needs a buyer

For Francesca, the winding road showed much of what she had learned about service. You do not always know the way. You cannot assume you have all the answers. Sometimes, the only way forward is to listen to the people who know the area.Francesca came to Lesotho from Italy as a UN Volunteer Social Policy Officer with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). She had worked in a country office before, but she wanted to move closer to the work in the field.