LocationsSometimes even a short conversation can boost someone's day
Volunteering is an activity by which we contribute to personal and community development
September 23, 2023
Volunteering is an extremely important component for personal development. Through volunteering and helping others, individuals gain the opportunity for developing new skills, networks and providing personal contribution for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals at all levels within the community.
The project "Sustaining peace and social cohesion in Bosnia and Herzegovina through enhanced inter-municipal and inter-entity cooperation on local services (SPSC)", which is implemented at nine locations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, engaged 18 volunteers in their communities. At the beginning, two of them shared their positive stories and experiences about their volunteer engagement.
UN volunteer Mirza Muratagić is engaged in the Center for Social Welfare Ključ. Mirza has always had a desire to help others, especially the most vulnerable members of the community. Through previous engagements in non-governmental organizations, he found his way to start volunteering for the UN. For Mirza, volunteering and humanitarian work is a path toward personal improvement and achieving higher goals.
"I am happy that I got the opportunity to become an UN volunteer. The fact that I am contributing to the community where I grew up and where I currently live makes me especially happy and gives me additional honor and pleasure. This is a great challenge for me and an ideal opportunity to learn important things for my future career development. I am sure that the feeling you get through volunteer work should be experienced by every individual. Very often, through different field activities, we can see happiness on the faces of those who fall into vulnerable categories. I would also emphasize the importance of providing psychosocial support to others. Sometimes even a short conversation can boost someone's day.”Mirza Muratagić
Zorica Srdić, UN volunteer engaged in the Center for Social Welfare Glamoč, also spoke about the importance of volunteering. Zorica emphasizes that the biggest reward in this job for her is participating in counseling in the process of overcoming problems in the family with a positive outcome, as well as the priceless feeling of gratitude, both from the people and from the employees at the center.
"I understand my UN volunteer role very responsibly and I am trying to help and contribute to all the segments of this work. The key for working through the project is supporting and including sensitive categories of society and implementing the process of improving social services. Aspects that we must keep in mind when working with social groups are communicativeness, accessibility, but also discretion. My communicativeness has helped me to make new acquaintances, strengthen existing ones, and I am acquiring new skills from my colleagues and employees at the Center every day and master certain specifics of this job, which can ultimately contribute significantly to my personal improvement and further education."Zorica Srdić
The project "Sustaining peace and social cohesion in Bosnia and Herzegovina through enhanced inter-municipal and inter-entity cooperation on local services" is financed by the United Nations Secretary-General's Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) and is implemented by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on behalf of the United Nations in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
