"I wish I could go back to Syria but what would I find there? Has my home survived? Would I be able to find a job?" These worries are expressed by many Syrian refugees who knock at the door of UNHCR in Amman, Jordan, seven years after the war began in Syria. UN Volunteers Anja Ingabire and Apoorva Sharma support UNHCR’s Refugee Status Determination Unit, interviewing asylum seekers to determine whether they meet the legal criteria to be recognized as refugees according to the 1951 Refugee Convention, and therefore are in need of international protection.

I enthusiastically joined the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), sub-office Gambella, as an international UN Volunteer to contribute towards addressing the plight of persons of concern and provision of protection services which is the core mandate of UNHCR. Since December 2015, I have been the ‘boots on the ground', managing and coordinating the fleet and transport facilitation for UNHCR staff.

In Niamey, 10 UN volunteers serve in UNHCR offices as interpreters. Thanks to their commitment, capacities in languages and communications as well as linguistic and cultural proximity with the refugees, they improve the quality of protection and assistance provided to refugees, facilitate interviews, registrations, medical services etc., to better guarantee their rights and well-being. Gabriela Fana Kidane, a young Swedish interpreter of Eritrean origin is an international UN Volunteer with UNHCR in Niamey, Niger.

There are more than 240,000 refugees and asylum seekers currently registered with UNHCR Egypt. Many are women and children. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) provides registration, refugee status determination, and protection assistance to refugees and asylum seekers from 58 nationalities, in coordination with national and international NGOs.

International Volunteer Day (IVD), mandated by the UN General Assembly, is marked annually on 5 December. It provides volunteers and organizations with the opportunity to promote their contributions to development at the local, national and international levels. This year’s theme, "Volunteers Build Resilient Communities", celebrates volunteers who improve the resilience of communities in the face of natural disasters, economic stresses and political shocks.

Yulia graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Oriental Studies from the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE) in Moscow and a double Master’s degree in Public Policy and International Relations from HSE the University of Bologna.

Prior to my UNV assignment, I worked with the UNHCR representation in Ghana as a national staff member, thus UNV presented an excellent opportunity and platform to further develop a career in programme management in that it afforded me an opportunity to work and learn from more experienced colleagues. I was also particularly excited about international UNV as it was a platform where I could gain experience and knowledge of humanitarian response within the UN, particularly UNHCR.

Hadijah works with important stakeholders like the Parliament of Uganda, Electoral Commission, Equal Opportunities Commission and coordinates the drafting of work plans and reporting progress of the programme activities. I became a volunteer wanting to support communities in achieving the Agenda 2030, reduce discrimination and improve women’s political participation, and have gotten a wealth of experience from my work, coupled with the satisfaction of being able to impact the lives of many.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is leading the timely provision of international protection and life-saving assistance to DR Congolese refugees in Nchelenge, with remarkable support from UN Volunteers. Fortunatus Kambaragwe and Dr. Jonathan Calbayan are both international UN Volunteers based in Nchelenge, Northern Zambia, working as Associate Programme Officer and Public Health Coordinator respectively.

Maria was a team leader for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) team at the Skaramangas site. Skaramangas was the biggest refugee camp in the Attica region, hosting around 3,400 refugees including several unaccompanied and separated children. UNHCR had a regular presence on the site, focusing on protection monitoring activities. Maria’s day-to-day duties involved identifying persons with specific needs and other vulnerable cases, and referring them to the relevant services, such as medical and psychosocial treatment.