A friendship match bringing together young refugees into the fold of opportunities—was one of the highlights of Shuhei's assignment. Uganda hosts the largest number of refugees in sub-Saharan Africa, with 80 percent of the refugees across 13 districts.

Ana Lucia began her assignment with UNDP a little more than a year ago in August 2023. She supported the pipeline development and management of UNDP climate environment programmes such as the Tonga Coastal Resilience Project — centering on the long-term resilience of vulnerable coastal communities.

“It was stressful as I was far from my family, and we didn't know how intense the aftershocks were going to be,” recounts Cameroonian, Desiree Gertrude Etobe, an Associate Protection Officer on the challenges encountered on both personal and professional levels due to the earthquake. Professionally, rapid response was crucial.

Nesrine Kammourieh is a Digital Communications Associate with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Lebanon. She manages the organization's social media accounts, creates impactful content and manages the digital campaigns. She also monitors the performance of various digital platforms. 

Christophe joined the World Bank in August 2022. He has since then contributed to some 15 World Bank-funded projects, one of which, was the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in Senegal. As part of the project, he published the State of the Transport Sector Report and also supported documenting new strategies for enhancing road safety in Dakar. 

Katrin Hermanek is an international UN Youth Volunteer fully funded by Switzerland. She serves as a Gender Equality Programme Analyst with UN Women in Lebanon. Her grassroots-level community service helps identify needs of women and girls. In coming up with solutions, a major emphasis is to ensure women get a decision-making role in their communities.

The Community UN Volunteers were selected from 22 unions under Bandarban and Rangamati districts representing the marginalized group of ethnic minorities descending from tribal groups in the hard-to-reach terrains of Hill District Regions - 58% women. The volunteers began their assignments in December 2023 to support the multi-donor Local Government Initiative on Climate Change (LoGiC).

UN Volunteer Machiko Kitagawa played a pivotal role in engaging adolescents and youth with UNICEF in Nepal. Her primary focus was to oversee the implementation of Generation Unlimited (GenU) in Nepal, devising strategies, bolstering country frameworks and forging crucial partnerships to empower Nepalese youth. Machiko's assignment was fully funded by the Government of Japan, under the Human Resource Development Programme for Peacebuilding and Development.

For Zambians, food insecurity is an urgent issue. Around 18 per cent of the country’s rural population require urgent action to protect their livelihoods. A further 15 per cent are only marginally able to meet their food needs, while three per cent of the country’s 17.8m people are already facing considerable food gaps.

The Swiss Embassy and the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) in Tunisia are launching a programme that will offer 185 young Tunisians the opportunity to gain professional experience through inclusive and impactful volunteering assignments within the United Nations Agencies, Funds, and Programs in Tunisia. These assignments will last from six to twelve months and will undergo a competitive recruitment process, led by UNV.