I was motivated to apply for the Talent Programme primarily because I was fascinated by the fact the UN is involving people with disabilities as volunteers to contribute to their country and community. The programme helps the inclusion of young people with disabilities in the workplace and offers valuable opportunities for professional development.

To date in 2019, 33 UN Volunteers have been serving in Kazakhstan, 25 of them on national and eight on international assignments. They are placed with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UN Children's Fund, UN Population Fund, UN Refugee Agency, UN Resident Coordinator's Office, UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and UN Environment Programme. An additional 14 Kazakhstanis serve on international assignments abroad.

I serve as a UN Volunteer with UNDP, as part of the Armenia National SDG Innovation Lab, which supports the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the country.  I came to Armenia in February 2019 with high expectations, keen to learn more about data analysis and big data. 

Volunteer assignments foster youth engagement by providing a transformational experience that allows young people to build knowledge and develop skills. In Azerbaijan, Gunay Karimova and Rustam Jabbarov have served as Youth Advocates for Private Sector Engagement and Technology, Youth and Innovation since 2018.

As an international UN Youth Volunteer fully funded by the Czech Republic, Tereza dedicated most of her time at MiLab to designing technology-based solutions to address development challenges in the country. Her work involved projects such as digital education for Moldovan children, using behavioral science to reduce plastic and energy consumption, utilizing Big Data for urban development, and introducing blockchain-based solar power solutions for public institutions.

Having volunteered for various causes over the past 10 years, from working in animal shelters to supporting playgrounds for disabled children, Polina quotes Mahatma Gandhi to explain her motivation: The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. These words of Gandhi describe my attitude towards volunteering. --Polina Listopad, UN Volunteer with UNICEF, Moldova

Growing up, Ann Kamunya witnessed first-hand egregious violations of human rights — in particular, against women. This completely changed her perspective of and outlook on life, and what she wanted to do with hers. "I went to school with so many girls who were forced into arranged marriages at a very young age or had to go through genital mutilation," she says. "Witnessing these injustices and being surrounded by people who couldn’t speak up for themselves, I always knew I wanted to be a lawyer and represent the marginalized and the least privileged people."

The joint UN project Empowering Youth for a Peaceful, Prosperous, and Sustainable Future in Kosovo* is implemented through a synergized effort among the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and UN Women and is funded by the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund (PBF). The project aims to engage youth with shared interests and concerns belonging to underserved communities to become active changemakers and catalyze peace and trust-building energies in Kosovo.

Over the course of the past five years, the UNMM has mobilized a cumulative total of 18 UN Volunteers to support the delivery of its mandate at the border between Turkey and Syria. UN Volunteer Thevanathan Nadesapillai (Sri Lanka) joined the UNMM in Turkey in June 2018 as a UN Volunteer Monitoring Officer. His assignment is to inspect the relief consignments that are loaded at the border and monitor their passage across the border.