During an official two-day visit to the Republic of Korea on 12 and 13 October 2026, UNV Executive Coordinator Toily Kurbanov is meeting government representatives and international organizations. The visit takes place during the International Volunteer Year and will focus on how volunteer action can further strengthen solidarity and cooperation while responding to global peace and development challenges.

In 1999, a cyclone struck Odisha in eastern India.Mukeshkumar Prajapati was thousands of kilometers away in Jamnagar, Gujarat, completing his medical training in pediatrics. When a call went out for medical specialists willing to help, he volunteered. His dean hesitated to send him alone. Mukesh never made the trip. But something had already revealed itself, something that would repeatedly shape the next quarter-century of his life—the impulse to step forward.

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.