Olena Samoilova is a Ukrainian refugee who left her home with her family when the war started in February 2022. She found refuge in Hungary the following month. Driven by empathy and sense of responsibility to support others, she volunteered at migration service centers shortly after she arrived in Hungary.

A group of 40 UN Volunteers belonging to local communities was deployed by WFP in Iraq’s Duhok Governorate, which is located in the Kurdistan Region. In line with the Public Distribution System reform agenda, this group served alongside field enumerators to register Duhok residents. Serving tirelessly for three months, volunteers supported the registration of the newly issued PDS cards and also updated the residents' demographic information in the system - between 50 to 100 family registrations were carried out daily. Volunteers did so by using digital tablets.

More than a year since its launch, In Their Sneakers has been the foundation of projects nurturing creativity in coming up with solutions for forcibly displaced people to effectively integrate into local communities. Serbia, over the years, has seen significant forced displacement both within its borders and among its neighbours in the region. It currently hosts more than 3,000 refugees, asylum-seekers, and migrants.

Dilyara Begalykyzy is a student at Nazarbayev University in Political Science and International Relations. She serves as a UN Youth Volunteer Event Planning Assistant at the UNDP Accelerator Lab.  One of the most meaningful innovations for our society is the family social card. It allows the Government of Kazakhstan to define a family's social category and arrange the relevant social payments. A great example of how innovation can provide digital solutions for social problems," says Dilyara.

In 2013, the Lebanon Host Communities Support Programme (LHSP) was launched jointly by the Ministry of Social Affairs (MoSA) of Lebanon and the United Nations Development Progamme (UNDP) under the umbrella of the country’s response to the impact of the Syria Crisis in Lebanon (Lebanon Crisis Response Plan – LCRP). The Programme targets the most vulnerable communities hosting displaced Syrians and aims to decrease tensions and conflict between host communities and displaced persons.

“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.

United Nations Volunteers (UNV), the UN organization that contributes to peace and development through volunteerism worldwide, partners with governments to deliver essential services, such as education, sanitation, training and health care. Strengthening access to basic social services not only improves every day life, but also moves communities closer to achieving peace and sustainable development.