Since the end of the civil war in 2004, Liberia has faced many challenges, the most recent ones being the management of the Ebola epidemic, the closure of the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Liberia (UNMIL); and a historical democratic transition after the elections. Through all of these, UN Volunteers have made significant and effective contributions to peace and development in the country. 

UN Volunteer Lucy Tabot Akabum is a Human Rights Officer at the UN Joint Human Rights Office of MONUSCO in Bukavu, in eastern DRC. She was one of ten UN Volunteers who contributed to the Volunteer Initiatives for Peace and Development (VIPD) project to provide clean water for 39 orphans. 

In 2019, over 1,500 UN Volunteers are assigned to peacekeeping operations worldwide, of which 1,317 are serving in Africa. In West and Central Africa specifically, they play an active role to protect the most vulnerable, through various assignments in Human Rights, Civil Affairs, Political Affairs and Logistics. In addition, a significant number of UN Volunteer Movement Control Officers and Air Operations Assistants provide technical support to facilitate and coordinate the movements of peacekeepers and civilian personnel of the missions. 

Mariagiovanna Costa is a UN Volunteer of Italian nationality serving at the sub-office of the World Food Program (WFP) in the Mopti region. She visits the internally displaced families of the ‘CAN 2002 Socoura’ camp, named after the former training football stadium of the African Cup of Nations.

By joining the United Nations as a volunteer, Dany, as his patients call him, hopes that his medical expertise and day-to-day contributions will help promote peace in the country. 'When I arrived, I first assessed the health risks related to the region and set up the clinic with care services for the patients," says Dr. Daniel. Ndele is one of the regions of CAR with a small government presence, including police and security forces, and where MINUSCA's priority is to gradually restore the state of authority by facilitating the conditions for their redeployment.

Stronger partnership UN Volunteers have operated through various assignments in the health sector with WHO, since the beginning of the partnership in 1973. The engagement of UN Volunteers in WHO health programmes has increased steadily since then, as a result of UN Volunteers’ professional input to the preparation and implementation of emergency response plans to disease outbreaks, such as Ebola in West Africa, which remains a threat.

Last year in West and Central Africa, 54 UN Volunteers out of 230 globally contributed to UN Women’s missions towards reducing discrimination against women and girls, empowering women and achieving equality between women and men.

The DRC is a beautiful and rich country with lots of human and natural resources. Let me congratulate the Congolese people who, in spite of the ordeals facing the country, continue to work for peace. I joined MONUSCO as a UN Volunteer in March 2016. I am the Contingent-Owned Equipment (COE) Database Assistant, responsible for managing and updating comprehensive electronic files/records on day-to-day activities relating to field units and their inspections to the e-COE databases.

Grace Otieno, a UN Volunteer who serves as an Air Operations Planning Officer at the MOVCON aviation section of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO).  Posted in Goma, Grace is working in a largely male-dominated sector. Her everyday tasks include planning for daily flights, coordinating ramp activities for smooth and timely flights and briefing the crew on their daily route requirements as per UN procedures. 

It’s in Maradi, approximately 550 kilometers from Niamey, the capital of Niger, that Sani Garba conducts different missions to deliver legal aid to the vulnerable people. Born in Niger, Sani serves as a national UN Volunteer Legal Advisor with UNDP. As the second largest city of Niger, Maradi is exposed to many challenges due to climate and food security threats, as well as migration issues, as the town is on a migration route for many young Africans.