Volunteerism opens doors and impacts peace and development throughout local communities as well as on a national and global level, according to the chief of UN System Affairs and New York Office of UN Volunteers (UNV). 

Particularly for those excluded, it provides a concrete way to “impact their own lives and play a constructive role in their communities”, Naoual Driouich said, in an interview with UN News ahead of International Volunteer Day.

She knows her way around the UN system, having previously served with UN Women and the UN Development Programme, UNDP, in Iraq, Yemen and other hotspots, seeing “first-hand” the difference volunteering can make.

Ms. Driouich began by telling Liz Scaffidi what the UN Volunteers programme is all about.