I started my career in the UN System as a UN Volunteer from 2007 to 2013, serving in two UN missions. As a former UN Volunteer, I still have the foundation of volunteerism in my profession. I strongly believe that counselling and volunteerism are quite similar, as both help people to counter the effects of stress, anger and anxiety, as well as combat depression.

UN Peacekeeping is one of the largest United Nations partners of the UN Volunteers (UNV) programme. In 2019, more than 2,000 UN Volunteers served with UN Peacekeeping in 17 different missions around the world, contributing to protection and peacebuilding efforts and promoting volunteerism across the United Nations system.

Where are you based?

Lydia Mpeh is on the frontline of the battle against COVID-19 in South Sudan. Originally from Cameroon, the UN Volunteer serves as a medical laboratory technician in the Rumbek region, using her expertise to manage the lab at a hospital operated by UNMISS.

UN Peacekeeping radio stations play a vital role in informing communities in conflict-affected states about the coronavirus pandemic and how people can keep safe. A better-informed public is key to fight COVID-19 and peacekeeping radio is playing its part.  “The stations ability to reach both big urban centers and isolated communities in countries which lack basic communications infrastructure, can play an important role in addressing the disease.” states UN News on March 27th, 2020. 

The main goal of the partnership is to enhance the capacity and engagement of youth from the region as key actors of change in global development issues. A selected number of Mount Kenya University students will be deployed for six months in various UN agencies in Kenya as UN University Volunteers to apply their knowledge and skills in several areas of UN peace and development work. The deployment is a result of the partnership agreement initially signed on 1 November 2019 between UNV and Mount Kenya University.

The activities I am engaged in at the Child Protection Unit are in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically with SDG 16, Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. The unit’s work in Malakal meets one of the major targets specified under this goal, which is to end abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against, and torture of, children. 

I quickly discovered that the mission is a mosaic of diverse characters facing unique challenges and chasing different dreams. For example, in my role as UN Volunteer Public Information Officer, I hoped to use my writing to highlight the collective challenges, as well as accomplishments, of a nascent nation like South Sudan to a global audience. But I never really considered what I was doing as humanitarian work. 

The General Assembly designated May 29th as the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers by adopting resolution 57/129 in 2002. Today, we recognise the more than 88,000 troops and police from 124 countries, joined by nearly 14,000 civilians, who are deployed to UN peacekeeping missions around the world. Over the past decades, UN Volunteers have been part of these important efforts to support peacekeeping operations in war-torn areas. Watch our historic video on UN Volunteers in Peacekeeping to see where and how.

It was all joy in August 2018 when I received an email that I had been selected as a United Nations Volunteer; I would be serving as a Public Information Officer with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). The excitement was palpable! I had been looking forward to working abroad and then out of the blue came this wonderful opportunity to volunteer in South Sudan – a nation with a chequered history, but with such huge potential. I didn’t expect it to be so sudden. Immediately, I started reading about the country, the geopolitical nuances, and my role.