Imagine a mother holding her newborn, dreaming of a safe, bright future. Now picture that same mother on a Pacific Island, watching as the rising sea swallows her home. Or in an Indian city, where pollution clouds her child’s future.  Though worlds apart, these places share a common plea to future generations—to leave the world better than we found it. 

Tell us more about your role at UNMISS. UNMISS is one of the world’s largest peacekeeping missions. The South Sudanese nation is a young one having been declared independent in July 2011. As a staff counsellor, I often work behind the scenes — supporting the well-being of frontline staff. Still, I often get the opportunity to interact directly with communities, training hundreds of people on healthy lifestyles and many other health-related matters, in particular those related to stress reduction and its benefit to overall health.     

Ana Lucia began her assignment with UNDP a little more than a year ago in August 2023. She supported the pipeline development and management of UNDP climate environment programmes such as the Tonga Coastal Resilience Project — centering on the long-term resilience of vulnerable coastal communities.

My name is Sadoscar Hakizimana. I am from Burundi. I am a medical doctor by profession. I started my volunteer assignment roughly two years ago — in August 2022.

A national of Nepal, Sanjeev Roy joined WHO in 2022. He has previous experience in working with malaria infection in his native Nepal, which has seen considerable success in eliminating the life-threatening disease.

The volunteer organization of the United Nations is United Nations Volunteers, in short – UNV, which provides grassroots-level response in emergencies and local-level support to peace, humanitarian and development initiatives.

Thibault's volunteering journey with the United Nations spanned from end of 2022 to early 2024. He supported, “Leveraging Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to Achieve net-zero emissions and climate-resilient Development, in Response to the Climate Emergency,” a project implemented in partnership between the Government of Japan and UNDP’s next phase of the Climate Promise: From Pledge to Impact.

Karuna began her volunteer assignment in November 2022. She helps build the resilience of personnel and says, “My goal is to significantly impact the lives of those affected by various crises. Through personalized counseling sessions, I help individuals and groups manage their mental health and effectively cope with their challenges.”  I take pride in positively impacting Afghan women which has given me new perspectives and insights that continually help me to grow as an individual." -- Karuna Kunwar, UN Volunteer Staff Counsellor with UNAMA.

Proving joint medical services and emergency response From routine check-ups to critical emergency response, UN Volunteer health professionals within the Joint Medical Services and Medical Emergency Response Team play a vital role in ensuring the well-being of those working tirelessly to support the Afghan people.