A friendship match bringing together young refugees into the fold of opportunities—was one of the highlights of Shuhei's assignment. Uganda hosts the largest number of refugees in sub-Saharan Africa, with 80 percent of the refugees across 13 districts.

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.

UN Volunteer Machiko Kitagawa played a pivotal role in engaging adolescents and youth with UNICEF in Nepal. Her primary focus was to oversee the implementation of Generation Unlimited (GenU) in Nepal, devising strategies, bolstering country frameworks and forging crucial partnerships to empower Nepalese youth. Machiko's assignment was fully funded by the Government of Japan, under the Human Resource Development Programme for Peacebuilding and Development.

For Zambians, food insecurity is an urgent issue. Around 18 per cent of the country’s rural population require urgent action to protect their livelihoods. A further 15 per cent are only marginally able to meet their food needs, while three per cent of the country’s 17.8m people are already facing considerable food gaps.

In supporting decent work and economic growth with IOM, I took the lead in youth entrepreneurship and expanded opportunities for young people's skill development. This was an important part of reducing the flow of irregular migration and improving Sierra Leone's economic development.

The DRC has faced myriad challenges, ranging from significant humanitarian assistance needs and chronic underdevelopment to political instability and protracted armed conflict in the Eastern part of the country. Humanitarian, development and peace actors are all present to support the government and the population with its recovery and development pathway.

The volunteering opportunities were with the UN Development Programme (UNDP), UN Population Fund (UNFPA), UN Human Rights (OHCHR), UN Women and UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). They aim at building the women UN Volunteers capacities, while raising their awareness of gender and protection concepts. They also promoted their participation in recovery efforts and increased their resilience, particularly as many were affected by the May 2021 escalation in Gaza.

Atsuhito Nakata was deployed as a UN Volunteer Electoral Supervisor with the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) and supported the first general elections in the country. On 8 April 1993, Atsuhito was tragically ambushed and killed, together with his Khmer interpreter, Lek Sophiep, in the province of Kampong Thom.

The children of Timor-Leste face many barriers to living a full and prosperous life. Poverty, malnutrition and poor access to healthcare mean that many children are unable to thrive. Only one in four children aged 3-5 years have access to pre-school and the others start schooling directly in grade 1, leaving them at a disadvantage that may impact subsequent years of their education.

My name is Kana Endo; I hail from Japan. I embarked on my volunteering assignment last September and I will serve until February 2023. I am one of the three international UN Volunteers serving with the United Nations in Mongolia, together with another national UN Volunteer. Looking back on my childhood, I enjoyed learning new things but at the same time was very shy and introverted. However, I was very passionate about learning English and cultures in different countries. Therefore, I chose a high school with English course.