As peace gives impetus for Iraq to move from a crisis context to development, United Nations Volunteers (UNV) looks forward to working with the Government of Iraq and integrating volunteers into the country's sustainable development agenda. --Kyoko Yokosuka, UNV Deputy Executive Coordinator
These were the words of Ms Kyoko Yokosuka, UNV Deputy Executive Coordinator, as she addressed the audience at the high-level International Volunteer Day (IVD) event in Baghdad.
Ereny Elea Hanna Zarif is from Egypt. She is an international UN Volunteer Electoral Field Coordination Specialist with United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM). She started her UN Volunteer assignment during the pandemic. For Ereny, volunteering is a way for her to be in solidarity with people from the same continent.
Covid hit. Everything shut down. I had a job in Egypt but wanted an international perspective, so I started looking for opportunities, and then one day I landed in Somalia.
It was April 2021 and amidst the ongoing unrest in the country around that time, I thought to myself – my international volunteer experience is going to end before it begins. A feeling of risk started to settle in. I made sure that my runaway bag was ready.
Your Excellency, Minister of Youth and Sports, dear friends and colleagues,
The person speaking on the video like a robot was me.
The message was to the global audience.
Today I would like some personal remarks for you, UN Volunteers in Somalia.
I came here to present personal greetings not only from myself, as the Executive Coordinator, but also from 13,000 UN Volunteers around the world. We know of you, we hear about you and we appreciate all what you do.
Urvashi Bundel is from India and serves as an international UN Volunteer Associate Refugee Status Determination Officer with UNCHR in Somalia. Through her volunteering, Urvashi has experienced a lot, she says, something that people get to encounter much later, she has, at quite a young age. She tells her volunteering story.
With nearly ten years in the United Nations system and some eight years working directly with vulnerable refugee and asylum-seeking populations, I value my service to UNHCR's international protection mandate.
UNHCR in Somalia works with government and stakeholders to provide humanitarian assistance, and advance peace and development in priority areas of return and reintegration.
Hana Abdi Salad is a national UN Volunteer Specialist Youth and Innovation Associate. She is based in Garowe, Somalia with UNICEF. She says the best part of her volunteering assignment is to interact with young people and support their aspirations. This is her story.
I am the focal point of UPSHIFT with UNICEF. which aims at youth social innovation.
Deny Beryan Saputra is an international UN Volunteer Specialist. He is from Indonesia and serves as Associate Operational Data Management Officer in Somalia since April 2022. Deny says volunteering allows him to utilize his skills while also helping him to gain broader experience and contribute to his career growth. Below is his volunteering story.
Everyone has the power to make a difference in the world. Driven by this conviction, I started my UN Volunteer assignment with the UN's Refugee Agency, UNHCR in Somalia.
The humanitarian context grapples with multiple displacement complexities.
I am stationed in Hargeisa in Somaliland.
I am deeply involved in the collection, management, and analysis of data on persons of concern, including asylum seekers, refugees, returnees, and internally displaced people.
