Building peace and social cohesion in Africa

UNV and Peace-keeping
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Of the 1,585 UN Volunteers deployed in different peacekeeping missions around the world, 1,200 serve in Africa. Over 400 serve with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) alone, and close to 800 serve with the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Missions in Mali (MINUSMA) and in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), and with the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO). Until March this year, UN Volunteers also served with the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).

During their assignments with peace keeping missions, UN Volunteers are known to demonstrate an exceptional level of professionalism, dedication and courage.

UN Volunteers with UN Peacekeeping support peace and reconciliation every day

International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers
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This year, the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers is commemorated under the theme “UN Peacekeeping: 70 Years of Service and Sacrifice”. 

The UN system and partners acknowledge the enormous contribution of UN military and civilian personnel to peace and stability through peacekeeping operations.

United Nations peacekeeping is a proven investment in global peace, security and prosperity. --UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

UN Volunteers with UN Peacekeeping support peace and reconciliation every day

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This year, the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers is commemorated under the theme “UN Peacekeeping: 70 Years of Service and Sacrifice”. 

The UN system and partners acknowledge the enormous contribution of UN military and civilian personnel to peace and stability through peacekeeping operations.

United Nations peacekeeping is a proven investment in global peace, security and prosperity. --UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

Service and sacrifice: going back to Afghanistan after the Bakhtar guest house attack

Atsuko Hirakawa (Japan)
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My experience as a UN Volunteer in Afghanistan stands out in my memory as an extraordinary one, on a professional and personal level. I am grateful for the opportunity given to me to serve the electoral process in Afghanistan, to discover the charm and hospitality of the Afghan people, and the immense beauty its land offers. It is also there that I experienced true friendship and great loss.

It was during my university years in the United States that I became more aware of the injustice in the world, by meeting students who had lived in poverty or experienced civil wars as a child, and studying about conflicts happening in different regions. Working to help people became my goal.

A few years later, I was at the United Nations headquarters explaining and promoting its work to visitors from around the world as Tour Guide. By the time I had joined the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, I was eager to go to the field to work directly with the people.

Reporting on UN Volunteers serving with the Global Human Resource Development Programme of Japan

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Reporting on UN Volunteers serving with the Global Human Resource Development Programme of Japan

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UN Volunteers fighting to keep biological diversity in Kenya and Tanzania alive

Dorris Chepkoech and Linda Jonsson
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Some 50 UN Volunteers are dedicated to preserving biological diversity in East and Southern Africa. Serving with UN Environment, they are fighting climate change, conserving natural habitats, reducing unnecessary waste and plastics, and contributing to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals 13 (Climate Action), 14 (Life Below Water), and 15 (Life on Land). UN Volunteers Dorris Chepkoech (Kenya) and Linda Jonsson (Sweden) fight the declining animal populations in Africa through their assignments with UN Environment in Kenya and Tanzania.

Biological diversity, meaning the variety of plants, animals, and microorganisms, is under threat: according to estimates of the World Wildlife Fund, we are losing at least 10,000 species every year – and 99 percent of them are at risk from human activities. In 2016, we reached a record of global tree cover loss with 29.7 million hectares vanishing signifying a 51 percent increase from 2015.

UNV convenes third strategic dialogue with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan

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UNV convenes third strategic dialogue with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan

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A day in my life as a UN Volunteer in Lao PDR

UN Volunteer Monitoring & Evaluation Officer Norah Ngeny (Kenya)
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Contributing to protecting the breathtaking nature of Lao PDR has been a truly rewarding experience for me. Among green landscapes and picturesque roads, visiting fields and communities, my days abound with energy. Together with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and with support of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is conserving ecosystems like the dry dipterocarp forests, a type of forest that are recognized as being of national and global importance. I am a UN Volunteer Monitoring and Evaluation Officer from Kenya, serving with UNDP in Lao PDR. This is South-South collaboration and capacity-building in action. I invite you to travel with me on a monitoring mission and experience the beauty of Lao PDR.

It’s Thursday morning and I have landed in Savannakhet in the south of Laos, on a monitoring mission for our project.The project I work for, SAFE Ecosystems project, targets the reforestation of 1,111 hectares of land, contributing to Lao PDR's target to achieve 70 per cent forest cover by 2020.

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