Volunteerism as building blocks for peacebuilding, how does that work? For starters, volunteerism generates forms of social capital that are indispensable to peacebuilding and plays an important role in strengthening the development of national civilian capacities to address peacebuilding issues.

Volunteerism as building blocks for peacebuilding, how does that work? For starters, volunteerism generates forms of social capital that are indispensable to peacebuilding and plays an important role in strengthening the development of national civilian capacities to address peacebuilding issues.

For the past 25 years, UN Volunteers have supported peace processes in multiple societies and countries in complex political transitions around the world. Over 14,000 UN Volunteers have been deployed to support peace processes in more than 40 different peacekeeping and political UN missions, as well as UN peacebuilding offices around the world.

Bentiu, South Sudan: I am serving as a UN Volunteer Relief, Reintegration and Protection Officer with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). I had been a UNV intern sponsored by the Government of Italy in 2004 in Sudan with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), after which I worked for an NGO.

For the first time the world agreed that youth empowerment is a way to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This presents enormous opportunities and expectations on young people. How can the UN support, empower and prepare youth to be the driving force for the SDGs? In Asia and the Pacific, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme, jointly with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), are developing a regional partnership with and for youth to deliver on the SDGs by 2030.

Port-au-Prince, Haiti:  After working for the Spanish government, several media outlets, EU institutions and NGO networks, I decided my future was working for the United Nations. The UN represents all the values I believe in and could specifically focus on human rights and migration issues.

“We can change the world and make it a better place. It is in your hands to make a difference”. Building on these words by Nelson Mandela, UN Volunteers celebrated Mandela Day 2016 in Sudan by trying to improve life for kids in the Jaffar Ebn Aouf Pediatric Hospital in Khartoum.

“We can change the world and make it a better place. It is in your hands to make a difference”. Building on these words by Nelson Mandela, UN Volunteers celebrated Mandela Day 2016 in Sudan by trying to improve life for kids in the Jaffar Ebn Aouf Pediatric Hospital in Khartoum.

Between Friday 8 July and Sunday 10 July, heavy fighting broke out in Juba which had consequences for the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and the Agencies, Funds and Programmes active in the country. A ceasefire was declared on Monday 11 July 2016. At least 272 people have been killed in the recent violence. Two peacekeepers and one United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) staff lost their lives while several other peacekeepers have sustained injuries. 

Between Friday 8 July and Sunday 10 July, heavy fighting broke out in Juba which had consequences for the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and the Agencies, Funds and Programmes active in the country. A ceasefire was declared on Monday 11 July 2016. At least 272 people have been killed in the recent violence. Two peacekeepers and one United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) staff lost their lives while several other peacekeepers have sustained injuries.