Katleen overlooks a Bedouin community caught between the settlements of the Ma'ale Adumim expansion area on the outskirts of Jerusalem.

“Being a volunteer means working with passion”

When a crisis unfolds – like a tsunami, earthquake or war - volunteers are often in first to help. Volunteers like Katleen Maes, a Belgian national working in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt), truly embody the spirit of humanitarian action.

“Being a volunteer means working with passion,” according to the 34-year-old UN Volunteer. “It’s about keeping assistance and the empowerment of other people at the centre of everything you do.”

Ms. Maes’ works closely with families removed from their homes by force. “Together with a large group of NGOs, UN and international organization partners we highlight the plight of people forcibly displaced and try to provide a timely and appropriate response when, for example, someone's house is demolished.”

“People have nowhere left to turn because of a whole set of policies and practices in place to force them off their lands, demolish their homes, hamper access to basic services and infringe on their basic rights. People's human rights are not protected while it does not have to be this way,” she said.

“It is important to learn about issues affecting the day-to-day life of people which hardly ever make it in the international media, to raise awareness and increase understanding of the situation while, hopefully, providing support that benefits the communities.”

Ms. Maes joined the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ Protection Unit in oPt because “it is frustrating to see people who have lost faith in the future because they are unsupported.”

No stranger to humanitarian work, Ms Maes has worked in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Colombia, Egypt, Lebanon and Yemen. “I used to be a volunteer coordinator for Amnesty International, I was a volunteer translator for the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants, and I did several volunteer activities relating to human rights,” she said.

“I love to interact with people and learn from them, people from all backgrounds and paths of life. It is enriching and challenging to work towards the same goal in different ways and with different outlooks.”

“People often don't believe that everyone can make a difference. Given the right support even the smallest, most vulnerable [people] can make a difference and change something for the better.”