"My experience as a UNV has helped me immensely with my personal and professional development"
Samia Aboni, a UN Volunteer working in WASH at UNICEF Cox's Bazaar Office, shares her experience with Volunteerism during the COVID-19 pandemic
Meet Samia Aboni, a UN Volunteer (UNV) working with UNICEF Cox’s Bazar Office in the WASH Sector Coordination team. Samia is a Knowledge Management and Reporting Officer for the Rohingya Response. Already during her first year as a UN Volunteer, she was considered by her colleagues and partners as a valuable member of the team in the WASH response coordination mechanism.
My team always encourages my enthusiasm, skill and positive spirit and gives me important and impactful tasks. I am involved with projects which bring positive change in my office and refugee community. One such project is my work in research, coordination and advocacy for habitable and culturally adaptive bathing environments and integrated WASH facilities for females in the refugee camps in collaboration with multiple stakeholders and partners.
I believe I have become more aware about the rights of women, children and vulnerable groups of the society. Working for the Rohingya Response, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, has made me much more grounded and self-aware.
Additionally, in order to highlight and promote innovations within the camp, especially during the country wide lockdown in 2020, I organized various online trainings and webinars for WASH Sector Partners to highlight the innovations related to the COVID-19 response and WASH, which can be exemplified for the Rohingya Community.
I constantly advocate for other UNVs in my organization, motivate and empower them. Recently I became associated with the ‘Office Improvement Committee’ of UNICEF Cox’s Bazar office, where I try to speak for WASH Sector to other colleagues, as well as UNVs at the UNICEF office. Additional to this, I am contributing to and advocating for improved office space design.
My experience as a UNV has helped me immensely with my personal and professional development. I believe I have become more aware about the rights of women, children and vulnerable groups of the society. Working for the Rohingya Response especially during the Covid-19 pandemic has made me much more grounded, and self-aware about the impact of my work. I feel empowered and confident, and closer to my dream of working for the UN, learning from my experienced national and international colleagues. I look forward to a career in the humanitarian and development sector after the experience I have gained as a UN Volunteer.
