Volunteer assignments foster youth engagement by providing a transformational experience that allows young people to build knowledge and develop skills. In Azerbaijan, Gunay Karimova and Rustam Jabbarov have served as Youth Advocates for Private Sector Engagement and Technology, Youth and Innovation since 2018.

Why volunteering? Because I strongly believe in the values of volunteering. To me volunteerism is an authentic form of expressing motivation; it is an occasion to get deeply invested in a mission, to be able to contribute with our skills and competencies where really needed. Volunteering is about being part of the change, it’s an occasion for our human side to prevail upon our personal interests.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM), is committed to humane and orderly migration to benefit all migrants and society. As an inter-governmental body, IOM acts with its partners to support governments in meeting the operational challenges of migration; advance understanding of migration issues; encourage social and economic development through migration; and uphold the human dignity and well-being of migrants.

It’s half past midday in Kawama Village in Northwestern Zambia and Mildred Kikwanda is busy preparing 'Nshima' – the staple maize meal – with chicken stew and vegetables, using a non-traditional means of cooking – a wood-saving, earth-block stove popularly known as the energy-saving stove. Beaming with a smile, and with a blue colourful ‘chitenge’ (wrapper) tied around her waist, she takes some ‘mealie meal’ (maize flour) from a sachet and sprinkles it into a boiling water while briskly stirring it with a cooking stick to make it thicker.

Tasuku Matsumura, a HRD UN Volunteer from Japan arrived to commence his assignment with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Khartoum as the protracted humanitarian crisis in Sudan became compounded by new emergencies. An influx of South Sudanese refugees, suspected cases of Acute Watery Diarrhoea and high malnutrition rates in newly accessible areas placed new demands on already stretched humanitarian agencies and further imperilled the survival, growth and development of the country’s children.

It takes two hours to cover the 60 kilometers between Batouri, the capital of the Kadey department to the Lolo refugee site. Near the border with the Central African Republic (CAR) in the commune of Kentzou, the camp hosts a population of over 13,000 refugees from CAR. Fleeing a war-torn country, these vulnerable communities, predominately Muslims, settled at the site from the beginning of 2014.

The day the cyclone hit, we accommodated five neighbour families who sought refuge after the cyclone winds destroyed their houses. A total of 33 people sat in our small sitting room and I had to climb up the roof to place stone blocks to prevent the roof of being swept away.

It was a normal sunny day when I was going through my center unit visits. The birth center, popularly known as Kutupalong Registered Camp (RC), was unusually filled with a rowdy gathering of male outside the center and filled with women inside the labor room. On seeing me, the midwives on duty rushed me inside the center’s labour room only to find a young first-time mother in extreme labour. They confirmed that the mother’s situation was dire, complicated and life threatening.

Air pollutants (caused by two coal-fired power plants, the high intensity of road transport, and  household burning of wood and coal), along with poor waste management, abuse of the natural resources and widespread use of fertile land for construction, are seriously threatening the health of Kosovars -  children and elderly in particular. “Healthier Kosovo”, a joint project of UNDP, UNV and WHO, supported by the government of Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, responds to this serious, yet often neglected problem.

This call closed on 9 June 2019. In March and April 2019, Southern Africa was hit by two subsequent cyclones that left a trail of damage and destruction in their path. In Zimbabwe, the floods burst rivers, and mudslides resulted in the loss of lives and livelihoods, severely damaging road networks, water points, bridges, irrigation schemes and electricity infrastructure. UNV is currently working to urgently recruit national and international UN Volunteers to support recovery initiatives by UNDP in Zimbabwe.