Tshepiso steps back and admires his handiwork. As part of his contribution to Mandela Day, he has painted the interior walls of a corrugated iron shack that serves as a crèche for young children in an informal settlement in Johannesburg. In the spirit of ubuntu, he regularly ferries his elderly parents, aunts and uncles to hospital or assists them with shopping. Just last weekend he repaired a broken kitchen cabinet door for his neighbour, Mrs Potts.

Women in South Africa give birth to 2.3 children on average translating to a population growth of 1.6 per cent. While South Africa’s fertility rate is substantially lower than those of other African countries (in Ethiopia, for example, women have an average of 4.2 children), it is also considerably higher than in countries of the Global North where most countries show rates of below two children. At the same time, teenage pregnancies are prevalent with nearly 7 per cent of 15 to 19-year old girls giving birth (in comparison, the UK rate is at just over 2 per cent).

To commemorate the International Day of Peace, the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Pretoria partnered with UN Volunteers and the African Centre for Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) to educate learners on peace and its link to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The day began at Curro Independent School in Roodeplaat where primary school learners were informed and quizzed about their knowledge of the UN and what peace means to them with many saying that peace “is to not fight and to find solutions to conflicts.”

A dentist and an airplane pilot? Yes! It’s possible! Victor Raul Wiche-Meza is living proof. A native of Peru, Victor has been practicing both professions for 25 years; first in the Air Force, and then in business for himself in his hometown of Arequipa in the Andes mountains. You’re probably asking yourself why? “When I began my studies in dentistry, I joined a flying club so I could become a private pilot.

The 2014 theme was civic participation and active citizenship. The program started with some educational activities on eco-citizenship in Mwanga College aimed at raising the students’ awareness about the importance of protecting and respecting the environment. Among other activities, participants swept the playground, installed a trash bin installed, repainted walls and planted trees.

On the right bank of the Congo River in Kisangani, thirteen women weed and plough a piece of land that you can see from the road. Small rows of all kinds of vegetables have been planted side by side - eggplants, green beans, tomatoes, cabbage, amaranth, and sweet potatoes, among many others.

Peacekeeping troops of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) must be ready to take action at any time and under any circumstances, if necessary, under the peacekeeping mandate of the United Nations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Three UN Volunteers make sure this is the case. Deployed with the Contingent-Owned Equipment (COE) section of MONUSCO, four times per year they inspect its bases in Katalé, Tongo, Kiwanja, Nyamilima and Ishasha.

This summer UN Volunteers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) organized volunteering initiatives aimed at improving people’s lives. After a call for projects by the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme in DRC, several initiatives were put forward, each very different from the other, but all with one common objective: to improve the quality of life in the communities.

In July, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme called on all UN Volunteers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to propose small-scale initiatives for the benefit of the local communities. Seven projects were put forward by UN Volunteers, all with the common goal to improve the quality of life of the local communities.

“We often forget that child labor is behind certain consumer goods such as cocoa and mobile phones. One of the main challenges is to fight against the ills of globalization,” responds Luca when questioned about his motivations to become a UN Volunteer.