The critical role of volunteers as first responders in emergencies and crises was the topic of a side event that was held on 23 May on the sidelines of the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul. The panel discussion was jointly held by the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). 

UN Volunteer Abdullai Sheriff (Liberia) told us his experience working on gender-based violence in South Sudan, live from the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul.

The Volunteer Talk – UNV Knowledge Sharing Webinar with the theme “Organising learning events for Volunteers: the Capacity Development and Learning Facility (CDLF)” was organized on 11 March 2015. The webinar featured experiences from the field presented by Ulla Gronlund, former UNV Programme Officer in Turkey and Katalin Kaplár, UNV Administration Officer in the UN Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO). Photographs by: UNV DR Congo and Turkey Video edited by: UN Online Volunteer Amy Ozeri

Ankara, Turkey: Coming to Turkey in May 2013 has been literally my first experience as a UN Volunteer. No long preparation time after the final “go!”, just getting everything packed and saying (temporary) goodbyes. Of course I volunteered before. In my younger years, in my hometown in Germany, I was involved with environmental groups and the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA). I helped out at an association to integrate foreign students and promote cultural diversity at my university, doing a bachelor in forestry.