The Day’s theme for 2016 is “The Sustainable Development Goals: Building Blocks for Peace.” In the last 25 years, UN Volunteers have served in more than 50 UN missions in over 30 countries, supporting peace processes in war-torn societies and countries in complex political transition around the world. UN Volunteers help rebuild the social fabric in post-conflict communities, raise awareness on human rights, accompany the victims of violence in seeking justice, and support the healing process. 

Bor, South Sudan: Mary works for the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), and she does an important job – she makes sure that our office is neat and clean, allowing us to carry on with our duties in a healthy environment. Mary is a widow who lives at the Protection of Civilians site (PoC) adjacent to the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) compound in Bor, Jonglei State, together with her five children, in precarious conditions and unable to leave the camp for fear of her life. We became friends and we started a language exchange.

This year, the theme of the International Day of Peace is “The Sustainable Development Goals: Building Blocks for Peace.” The Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development is the newly adopted plan of action for all countries that seeks to eradicate poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all through a collaborative partnership.

This year, the theme of the International Day of Peace is “The Sustainable Development Goals: Building Blocks for Peace.” The Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development is the newly adopted plan of action for all countries that seeks to eradicate poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all through a collaborative partnership.

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.