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 objective was to live up to the wellbeing of UN Volunteers stationed with UN partners across the country. The outcome was informative and inspiring, in every sense of the word.

Dilyara Begalykyzy is a student at Nazarbayev University in Political Science and International Relations. She serves as a UN Youth Volunteer Event Planning Assistant at the UNDP Accelerator Lab.  One of the most meaningful innovations for our society is the family social card. It allows the Government of Kazakhstan to define a family's social category and arrange the relevant social payments. A great example of how innovation can provide digital solutions for social problems," says Dilyara.

At 19, Deborah was forced to join an armed militia to fight ethnic groups in her native village in North Kivu Province in the DRC. Six years of witnessing devastation and the violent consequences of civil war, she decided to surrender weapons and opt for a peaceful life.

EDUCATION AND EMPOWERMENT KEY IN CONFLICT SITUATIONS Hassane Abdoulsalamou has been serving as a national UN Volunteer with IOM since November 2016. He supports a project for the empowerment of youth in Niger (AJPANI), which offers youth at risk of conflict opportunities to develop through socio-economic participation and mechanisms faciliting participation in decision-making and peacebuilding