On a summer day in 2019, Zoe Rimba was standing in front of the UNICEF Headquarters in New York as a graduate. She had just completed her studies in international and community development, and was about to return to Indonesia. At that very moment, a thought crossed her mind. What a great honour and privilege it would be to work for the cause of children across the globe!

I joined UNHCR Kenya as a UN Volunteer in June 2018 and have just concluded my volunteer assignment. During this period, I worked closely with my colleagues at UNHCR Kenya in promoting sustainable cities and communities. Our aim has been to help and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities and stateless people.

Indonesia is a vast country with more than 17,000 islands. This geography makes for considerable logistical challenges for the COVID-19 recovery.

At the end of July 2021, deadly floods and landslides had a devastating effect on those living in Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh. Initial reports estimated that 2,500 shelters were damaged or destroyed, affecting more than 12,000 refugees within 24 hours alone.

A UN Volunteer's journey in south-eastern Mauritania Sitting by the window on my first flight with the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) en route to Bassikounou, in the south-eastern part of the country, all I could see was the vast Sahara Desert. As I got off the airplane during a stop-over in Kiffa, heat blew into my face. The sand was playing with the wind. There was no shade. And it was about 45 degrees Celsius. The question on my mind was: how can people survive — and thrive — in a desert?  

Paolo Marengo (38, Italy) is a UN Volunteer Project Associate supporting the UNEP Regional Office for West Asia, in Manama, Bahrain. Paolo began serving with UNEP in February of this year and is already contributing to the implementation of the Global Opportunities for Sustainable Development Goals (GO4SDGs) initiative.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Niger is currently conducting a study to identify, qualify and quantify the effects of environmental changes on mobility patterns.  Driven by the motivation to support the project with a design-thinking strategy for humanitarian response, Nupur Gurjar joined the initiative as an Online Volunteer. 

I have always loved to help people, to see the sick get better, and to make a difference in the lives of others. I am Ugandan, and I worked in South Sudan with Doctors with Africa CUAMM before joining UNDP.  I always quote Maya Angelou. ‘Be the rainbow in someone’s cloud.’ I have always loved to help people to see the sick get better, to make a difference in lives. --Leila Mirembe, UN Volunteer Medical Doctor

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.