Olena Samoilova is a Ukrainian refugee who left her home with her family when the war started in February 2022. She found refuge in Hungary the following month. Driven by empathy and sense of responsibility to support others, she volunteered at migration service centers shortly after she arrived in Hungary.

Leyla started her volunteering journey with UNDP as a Project Clerk. She provides administrative support, maintains project documents, and assists communication across many levels. "I am keen to contribute to a culture of inclusivity within the team and ensure that women's voices are heard and valued at every stage of the project." Leyla shares.

In an interview at UNV Headquarters, Armen Grigoryan shares, "Volunteering is a growing concept in North Macedonia as it contributes to the improved quality of life through the active involvement of people in social life. UN Volunteers can advocate for the importance of volunteerism in the communities and workplaces especially in the support of public institutions, state bodies, local self-government units and the City of Skopje in many areas, as well the disaster risk management, environment protection issues, good governance and inclusion.

Understanding how climate change affects cities is crucial for finding sustainable cooling solutions with minimal energy consumption and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. This is an area of focus for the UNDP AccLab in North Macedonia — centered on innovation and collective intelligence.

Beyond its globally recognized work on small arms control, UNDP SEESAC advances gender mainstreaming in security sector reform by supporting regional cooperation among the Ministries of Defence of four Western Balkans countries — Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. 

There was no speech therapy service in Bosanski Petrovac says Senija Ferizović, "As someone whose focus is speech therapy, I work with children and adults facing communication difficulties. Due to the high number of similar challenges occurring in different age groups, I have conducted various activities with beneficiaries, gaining new practices from assessment, intervention, stimulation, to individual and group work. This type of assistance and support cannot be obtained in other institutions in our community.

  How to Deploy UN Volunteers To start off the recruitment process, UNV only requires a Description of Assignment (DOA – also called  Terms of Reference or TOR) and confirmation of funding. 

In Poland, WHO faced a major challenge with the influx of Ukrainians fleeing war in their home country. Health aid was needed swiftly and in response, WHO recruited 13 UN Volunteers for two years (2022-23) in Poland. These volunteers integrated into the United Nations' response efforts and contributed to providing health services to refugees.

Lucy A Tilley, in collaboration with another Online Volunteer, Abdul Mustafazade, supported AccLab by designing communication materials, visuals and social media posts on collective intelligence, solidarity and crowd-mapping. AccLab disseminated these materials on the UNDP website and social media platforms. This helped raise awareness on climate action, sustainable development and sustainable water management while also increasing the participation of local people.

Every action makes a difference. At times, a very small action can have a huge impact.