Facilitating safe returns with IOM Toema Ibrahim (Egypt, 24) is a UN Volunteer Migrant Protection Assistant with the International Office for Migration (IOM) in Cairo. In his work, he is facilitating the safe return of individuals from diverse nationalities to their countries of origin, and he has worked actively on IOM’s Sudan response assisting people to their countries of origin.

International UN Volunteer Kyoreh Yoo serves as Project Coordinator with UNICEF. Based in Batticaloa, Kyoreh supports implementation of Child-Friendly Cities Initiative (CFCI) in the Eastern province of Sri Lanka. A UNICEF-led initiative, CFCI first launched in 1996 to respond to the challenges of children's rights in an increasingly urbanized world.

Bobae Lee is a Regional Gender and Climate Change Expert serving with UN Women Asia and the Pacific Regional Office. Her assignment is fully funded by the Government of Korea. 

Olga Tsaplina has joined UN-Habitat in Kenya as a Junior Officer for sustainable urbanization in August 2020. She has a background in political science and international relations and studied in Russia and Germany. UN-Habitat Human Rights and Social Inclusion Unit is responsible for the inclusion of the vulnerable urban population groups into programming and various other activities of the agency. Olga has been supporting the unit on several workstreams like developing the project documents, concept notes, reports and sometimes weekly event publications.

What motivated you to become a UN Volunteer? Led by a strong and innate desire to contribute to making a better world, I have dreamed of working for the UN since I was a child. The UN Volunteers programme provided me with a great opportunity to be a part of the organization and fulfill that dream.

UN Volunteers serving with WFP make a difference every day. They bring their expertise and experience to the table, while helping the organization work towards its goal of zero hunger. 

UN Volunteers Frans Elinder (Sweden), Sohee Lee (South Korea), Usitha Rajeevan, Prabuddha Boralugoda, Sanaaree Manoratna, and Sathsara Deyalage (Sri Lanka), are from different countries and regions but have one thing in common: they are all serving with the World Food Programme (WFP) in Sri Lanka.

Manitra Raoliarisoa, former UN Volunteer Local Support Specialist with the United Nations Development Programme in Madagascar For over five years, I had the pleasure of serving as a national UN Volunteer with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and contributing to the development of my country – Madagascar. Time passed so fast, but the fond memories have stayed with me.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made clear the importance of food security like never before. UN Volunteers are playing an important role in fighting hunger during the global crisis. Currently, there are 51 UN Volunteers serving with FAO globally, including 12 UN Volunteers in Europe and Central Asia region.

UN Volunteer Giada Rubina supports a specialized OHCHR unit in Honduras that promotes dialogue and provides technical assistance. She is particularly concerned with strict lockdown measures that have decreased access to legal aid, limited rights awareness and the movement of rights activists.