Serving as an international UN Volunteer in UN Peacekeeping Missions in Africa has been an overwhelmingly positive experience for me.
News
![Green light from volunteer, we are ready for take-off](https://monusco.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/styles/380x220/public/field/image/voluntarism_is_team_work-rev.jpg?itok=YFZgiSCg)
Lauri Hukkanen (Finland), second from left, posing with colleagues in the Entebbe International Airport in Uganda (Lauri Hukkanen, 2014)
![World leaders pledge to eliminate sexual exploitation and abuse; UN chief outlines course of action](https://monusco.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/styles/380x220/public/field/image/guterres_-_high-level_meeting_on_sea.jpg?itok=-7o4mcSD)
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres addresses the High-Level meeting on the Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, at United Nations headquarters, Monday, Sept. 18, 2017. Photo: Richard Drew, AP
![UN Secretary-General's address to High-level Meeting on UN Response to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse](https://monusco.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/styles/380x220/public/field/image/732889-guterres-sea.jpg?itok=XW1Nx1wU)
Secretary-General António Guterres (2nd right) delivers his remarks at the high-level meeting on the Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse. UN Photo/Evan Schneider
New York, 18 September 2017
Over the years, I have been haunted by my many encounters with women and children scarred by sexual violence and further stigmatized sometimes by their own communities.
![The Secretary-General condemns the killing of a Tanzanian peacekeeper serving with the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO)](https://monusco.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/styles/380x220/public/field/image/condolences-ae8wch_0.jpg?itok=jRcmzioc)
![Use political weight to eliminate sexual exploitation and abuse, UN official urges global leaders](https://monusco.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/styles/380x220/public/field/image/09-15-2017-20170824_kavumu_0.jpg?itok=eQitxWil)
United Nations work with local communities in Kavumo, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to sensitize the population on prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse. Photo: MONUSCO/Alain Likota
![MONUSCO chief condemns deadly clashes involving Burundian asylum-seekers in South-Kivu](https://monusco.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/styles/380x220/public/field/image/sidikou_at_unsc_cufu8ouweaateam_1.jpg?itok=1fRAAU8F)
MONUSCO chief condemns deadly clashes involving Burundian asylum-seekers in South-Kivu. Photo MONUSCO