What are the key highlights of your assignment, and who do you interact with in your daily work?

Coming from Colombia, this was my first assignment in a UN Mission and my first time in Africa. Before this, I had worked in Guatemala protecting human rights defenders, an experience that informed my passion for human rights work.

My role in the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is an interesting one. I lead the Media Relations Team for the mission’s Communications and Public Information section. My day begins bright and early at 5:45am, when I compile the day’s media monitoring report, highlighting key political, economic and social issues, both in South Sudan and internationally.

UN Peacekeeping is one of the largest United Nations partners of the UN Volunteers (UNV) programme. In 2019, more than 2,000 UN Volunteers served with UN Peacekeeping in 17 different missions around the world, contributing to protection and peacebuilding efforts and promoting volunteerism across the United Nations system.

"Volunteers are links between communities and peacebuilding stakeholders, so it’s important they continue coming because they bring a lot of motivation," said Olga Zubritskaya-Devyatkina, Chief of the Volunteer Solutions Section.

"Volunteers are links between communities and peacebuilding stakeholders, so it’s important they continue coming because they bring a lot of motivation," said Olga Zubritskaya-Devyatkina, Chief of the Volunteer Solutions Section.

With a particular focus on the protection of civilians, all my efforts were geared towards communicating with parties to the conflict and identifying ways forward, while simultaneously managing and preventing conflicts. I met many people – from the opposition, the towns and the villages, government representatives and ‘monyomiji’ (youth) from different tribes – to discuss the peace process and the problems faced by the communities while maintaining peace and working on the development of their respective communities at the same time.

I have a law and human rights back ground, and I strongly believe that bullets have never been a source of peace in any setting. 

In my youth, I often volunteered with orphanages and animal rescue organizations in my country. Although I felt that I could and should do more to help build a better world, I didn’t know where to start. This was until I delved into the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I then realized that what I wanted was a volunteer assignment within the United Nations system, particularly in a place where I could advocate for equality, respect for diversity and peace and development. I applied for a UNV assignment and was accepted as an Air Operations Assistant with UNMISS.

South Sudan has been at civil war since December 2013, claiming the lives of tens of thousands of civilians and forcing more than four million people to flee their homes. The United Nations hosts about 200,000 of those who have been displaced   in Protection of Civilians sites across the country.