The initiative will deploy a first cohort of 50 UN Volunteers as Community Mentors for returned migrants in Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Senegal and The Gambia. Most mentors are former migrants themselves, better positioned to provide guidance to people navigating the challenges of returning home after difficult journeys.

I stood among the community and colleagues from the Mission and across the UN agencies, watching hope return. My work often happens behind a desk—drafting reports, shaping data, telling South Sudan’s story. But moments like this remind me: the words I write carry the weight of real lives. And this is why the work matters. 

The political transition in Syria, which started in December 2024, presents a historic opportunity today—promoting justice, reconciliation, and sustainable peace. During my recent mission to Damascus, I couldn’t help but think of the millions of Syrians who crossed in the opposite direction over the last decade, forced to leave their homes in search of safety and dignity. And today, a shift gradually unfolds. Signs of cautious political stability, and with it, new opportunities for return, for recovery, and hope.

Abdelmohsin Elzair and Elsadig Saeed are international UN Volunteer Experts from Sudan. They serve as Supervising Engineers mainly in Ninewa located in northern Iraq. Among their shared accomplishments - construction of residential complexes, the rehabilitation of houses, and the establishment of public infrastructure including portable water networks. Elsadig leads and manages various construction and infrastructure projects through all phases in various areas in Ninewa Governorate.

From May to December 2012, UN Volunteers in Juba deployed to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) through the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) were active in an Emergency Return and Reintegration Operation of South Sudanese Returnees.   The two part operation successfully achieved the emergency return of 12,000 returnees and the emergency reintegration of 1,600 returnees to South Sudan.