Guatemala City, Guatemala:  Guatemala is a young country. According to data provided by the National Statistical Institute, one fourth of the Guatemalan population is younger than 18 years old and one half is between 10 to 30 years of age. Most Guatemalan adolescents live in rural areas, and belonging to one of the ethnic indigenous groups makes them even more vulnerable given the discriminatory practices still existing in the country.

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic:  My work as a UN Volunteer with UNICEF Dominican Republic has been the most challenging experience of my professional career. Before arriving I did not know exactly what to expect from a different country and health system. After only a few months, I was aware of the existing problems and I was ready to contribute my knowledge and skills and work with local actors to achieve a common goal.

La Paz, Bolivia:  My name is Teresa Calderón; I’m a social communicator. I joined UNICEF in 2008 as a UN Volunteer to support community health actions with a focus on nutrition.

La Paz, Bolivia: I have been working as a UN Volunteer in La Paz, Bolivia, since 2009. I work in the Water and Environmental Sanitation section of UNICEF as a UNV Water and Sanitation Officer. Volunteerism and water and sanitation don’t seem to have a lot in common at first sight. However, those who are familiar with water and sanitation projects know that community participation and development – and therefore a certain degree of volunteerism – are key to sustainability.

Lima, Peru: I first became interested in HIV issues a number of years ago when I learned that close friends had acquired the virus. At that time, I was in Peru working on rights, citizen participation and health issues. Soon after, I left for the Netherlands to study. My Master’s dissertation, which focused on citizen participation of people living with HIV, brought all of these issues together.

São Paulo, Brazil:  I have been working as a national United Nations Volunteer Specialist in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) for Cisco Networking Academy since October 2010. This has been an amazing experience which I would like to share. Cisco Networking Academy is a Cisco corporate social responsibility initiative – an educational programme in ICTs. I have been working in expanding this programme’s reach to underserved populations in Brazil by working with local NGOs, mainly in the state of São Paulo

La Paz, Bolivia: My experience as a UNV Human Rights Specialist working with the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Bolivia is, after two years of work, exceptional.

Guatemala City, Guatemala: I have been working as a UNV Nutritionist with the World Food Programme (WFP) in Guatemala since February 2009. I fell in love with Guatemala - its people and extraordinarily beautiful landscapes - already 16 years ago, and I have been living here since then. I am very grateful to my home country, Finland, for funding my assignment as a UN Volunteer. I feel privileged to be able to share all the knowledge I acquired in Finland and to help other people have more opportunities in life.

A Haitian NGO, Aprosifa, started a youth programme in 2007: Les Petits Génies d'Aprosifa. Youth in this project have been responsible for picking up and recycling plastic waste, most notably sachets of water and packaging for chips and spaghetti. This plastic waste will then be repurposed to make bags and other objects. During their free time, students sign up for workshops at Aprosifa where they learn to make different items. Aprosifa also runs educational workshops in schools where students become more informed about environmental problems linked to plastic waste.