The agreement was signed in Geneva, Switzerland, by Tim Martineau, UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director, Management and Governance, a.i., and Olivier Adam, UNV Executive Coordinator. "Volunteers have played a critical role in the response to HIV since the earliest days of the epidemic," said Tim Martineau, UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director, Management and Governance, a.i. "UNAIDS recognizes their importance, values their engagement and will continue to support their contribution in joining global efforts to end AIDS."

On World Cities Day, we highlight the contributions of two UN Volunteers serving in support of UN-Habitat’s crisis recovery efforts in Lebanon and Iraq, where property loss and mass displacement have created complex urban environments.

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.

Why volunteering? Because I strongly believe in the values of volunteering. To me volunteerism is an authentic form of expressing motivation; it is an occasion to get deeply invested in a mission, to be able to contribute with our skills and competencies where really needed. Volunteering is about being part of the change, it’s an occasion for our human side to prevail upon our personal interests.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM), is committed to humane and orderly migration to benefit all migrants and society. As an inter-governmental body, IOM acts with its partners to support governments in meeting the operational challenges of migration; advance understanding of migration issues; encourage social and economic development through migration; and uphold the human dignity and well-being of migrants.

It’s half past midday in Kawama Village in Northwestern Zambia and Mildred Kikwanda is busy preparing 'Nshima' – the staple maize meal – with chicken stew and vegetables, using a non-traditional means of cooking – a wood-saving, earth-block stove popularly known as the energy-saving stove. Beaming with a smile, and with a blue colourful ‘chitenge’ (wrapper) tied around her waist, she takes some ‘mealie meal’ (maize flour) from a sachet and sprinkles it into a boiling water while briskly stirring it with a cooking stick to make it thicker.

Tasuku Matsumura, a HRD UN Volunteer from Japan arrived to commence his assignment with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Khartoum as the protracted humanitarian crisis in Sudan became compounded by new emergencies. An influx of South Sudanese refugees, suspected cases of Acute Watery Diarrhoea and high malnutrition rates in newly accessible areas placed new demands on already stretched humanitarian agencies and further imperilled the survival, growth and development of the country’s children.

It takes two hours to cover the 60 kilometers between Batouri, the capital of the Kadey department to the Lolo refugee site. Near the border with the Central African Republic (CAR) in the commune of Kentzou, the camp hosts a population of over 13,000 refugees from CAR. Fleeing a war-torn country, these vulnerable communities, predominately Muslims, settled at the site from the beginning of 2014.