According to my mother; Miriam Palma, when I was one year old, I was diagnosed with retinoblastoma. At the age of four, I completely lost my sight. My family was in shock by my situation, they did all that they could, and there was no option for surgery. I have had to deal with my condition my entire life. "Today, I can say that I found the way to reach my full potential," says Antonio Palma, UN Volunteer serving for the UN Resident Coordinator's Office.

It’s different when you have suffered from discrimination yourself and when you are part of a minority. These life experiences help you develop more empathy towards those who need assistance. --Alfonso Zabaleta, UN Volunteer Humanitarian Affairs Access Officer with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Venezuela

"Working with MINUSMA has allowed me to deal with many challenges and to learn a lot about the Malian culture. My experience is a commitment to the vision of UN Volunteers which is to be  "l’inspiration en action" . All the work involved with heritage protection had to be invented and developed during the last three years."

Dakar, Senegal:  In my assignment as an international UN Volunteer for the Regional Humanitarian Program for the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) for West and Central Africa in Dakar, one of my duty is to make sure that humanitarian actions incorporate issues of gender and diversity. This process aims at ensuring that the needs of women, girls, men and boys of all ages are taken into consideration during Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) and the actual execution phase itself.