Alexandra Palmquist, UN Youth Volunteer in Environment and Climate Change with UNDP Bolivia Alexandra arrived in Bolivia six months ago and works on environmental management, monitoring activities, assessing outputs, and preparing reports.

I arrived in a country where nearly all public infrastructure and most private houses were destroyed. Timor-Leste at that time was a country without a state—a nation where most civil servants had withdrawn. The UN, through the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), was there to fill an empty space. As UN Volunteer District Field Officer, I was the face of the UN administration in the sub-district of Laclo. I was responsible for delivering basic public services. Over time, it quickly became apparent that there was much more to it than that.

My name is Ouedraogo Mohamadi. I am an international UN Volunteer working as an information analyst at the Joint Mission Analysis Centre (JMAC) of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). I started in Kidal but now work in Gao, Northern Mali. My role is to collect and analyse data as part of MINUSMA's mandate. I also assist the Head of the Mission in Gao. I help ensure that the mission's mandate is carried out.

My arrival in Bolivia at the end of 2015 coincided with two important milestones for the country and for the organisation I came to serve. On the one hand, Bolivia was looking forward to its first Justice Summit, as a result of a long and comprehensive process of reflection and consultation on the reform of the country’s justice system. On the other hand, UNODC was on the verge of developing a new multiannual assistance framework for the period 2016-2020 that needed to fully take into account Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development.

I had decided on my career path in international development during my studies in Korea and Spain. What became apparent though was that I desired to work in the field, to be closer to the lives we aim to impact. I started searching.

There are 27 volunteers serving in the Jonglei region for the United Nations Mission in South Sudan. They decided to make their special day about others rather than themselves in the spirit of volunteerism, which is all about giving.

With 17 national UN Volunteers assigned to field duty stations, UNV Kenya is well embedded in the host agency, UNDP programs and projects on the ground. Under the umbrella of the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA), Mr. Nahashon Lotaruk, a national UN Volunteer in the arid Turkana-county, is working closely with local communities on income generating activities to help improve livelihoods.

The event, under the title “Volunteers as First Responders in Times of Crisis: Volunteers for resilience and solidarity,” kicked off International Volunteer Day (also called IVD) worldwide. The event aligned with the IVD global campaign to promote volunteers as first responders in times of crisis and instability, helping people to rebuild their lives in the immediate aftershock of tragic events. UNV Executive Coordinator Mr. Olivier Adam acknowledged the efforts of the Nepali people after the devastating 2015 earthquake:

A team of United Nations volunteers have come together to touch the lives of the people they serve in South Sudan by embarking on a special personal donation drive to mark International Volunteer Day in Jonglei.

Since the ambitious group of young women and young men was brought together in June 2016, UNV and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are supporting the network of youth and volunteers by facilitating knowledge-sharing and assisting young leaders to engage in regional and national initiatives. Throughout the initiative, UNDP and UNV have organized capacity-building webinars, arranged opportunities for young leaders to share their opinions in multi-stakeholder conferences at regional and country-level, and collaborated in online and offline activities.