A United Nations volunteer from Japan has said as a teenager he was motivated by the "passion" of young people he met on an exchange programme to contribute to peace and development initiatives.
Haruki Ume spoke to UN News at the UN Pavilion at Expo 2025 currently being held in the Japanese city of Osaka.
One section of the pavilion features a rotating presentation focusing on a specific UN agency or entity and recently, attention turned to the UN Volunteers programme.
"As a 17-year-old, I travelled to the United States on an educational exchange programme and my main motivation was to play baseball and experience American culture.
I met a lot of other people from Africa and Asia as well as Europe and I was shocked and then impressed by their passion and motivation to support their villages and communities back home.
One boy from Azerbaijan told me he was selected for the exchange from over 100 applicants as the only student from his country. As a result, he said that he had a responsibility not to waste his time and represent all those other applicants and his country to the best of his ability.
It was at this moment that I decided that I wanted to contribute more to society and so I started studying development issues. I travelled as much as I could during my vacations, to places like Cambodia, the Philippines, India, Peru, Egypt and Uganda.
As a volunteer, I supported education and other initiatives during the field missions and was really driven by helping people who were less fortunate than I. I also learnt a lot from these people, so I definitely valued it an exchange of experiences and knowledge.
Understanding the outside world
I was raised in a small town in rural Japan where there were no foreigners. People grow up, work and die there and many do not ever experience foreign cultures or really understand the outside world.
I remember being nervous about speaking English and eating food that I was not used to, but I was keen to break through these personal barriers and broaden my world.
Being open to new experiences has made it easier to adapt to other cultures and this understanding promotes peace and friendship and ultimately international cooperation.
I have been working at the UN Pavilion at Expo 2025 to promote the UN and the work of UN Volunteers. I'm doing this in the spirit of building cooperation and creating positive change in the world.
Expo 2025 is bringing the world to Osaka and is providing the opportunity for Japanese people to discuss how we can work together more effectively to create a fairer and more peaceful world."
The UN and volunteering
- Headquartered in Bonn, Germany, UNV was established 1970 and is active in around 169 countries and territories every year.
- In 2024, UNV deployed over 14,500 volunteers to almost 60 UN entities across the world.
- They serve in diverse roles including: community development, human rights, humanitarian assistance, peacebuilding, medical services and communications.
- 2026 has been designated by the UN as the International Year of Volunteers
- Become a UN Volunteer
