Bonn, Germany: Volunteers play a crucial role in coping with the aftermath of disasters, as they are often in the frontline to respond and mobilize communities to help each other. Volunteers increase the resilience of rural and urban communities to disasters through raising awareness of risk, better preparedness and identifying early warning mechanisms. Read

Geneva, Switzerland: UNV Executive Coordinator Flavia Pansieri addressed the UNDP/UNFPA Executive Board on 30 June 2010.

"The UNV mandate is very inspiring," she said, "and the UNV programme provides an opportunity for motivated, committed and experienced individuals to contribute substantively to national development goals of programme countries by contributing to the work of UNDP and 22 other United Nations organizations, as well as 19 United Nations peacekeeping and special political missions."

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Bonn, Germany: The United Nations General Assembly designated 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity. As ever, voluntary action will be key to achieving its goals. Read

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme has united with the families of victims of the Haiti earthquake, their former colleagues and friends to express empathy for their grief.

In a memorial service led by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in New York, UNV Executive Coordinator Flavia Pansieri and senior UNV staff attended to express their support for the families of UNV volunteers Nicole Bahaya (30) of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mamadi Conde (43) of Guinea and Nivah Odwori (36) of Kenya. Read

Copenhagen, Denmark: "Volunteers do. Volunteers act. They are doing something about climate change; making things happen and improving lives," said the UNV head at Copenhagen yesterday. Read

Bonn, Germany: Thousands of volunteers around the world have registered more than 1.5 million hours of effort to tackle climate change and other environmental issues, as part of a campaign to promote International Volunteer Day on 5 December.

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme launched the global campaign 'Volunteering for our Planet' to promote voluntary effort for the environment. Read

Monrovia, Liberia: An eclectic group of UN personnel came together on International Volunteer Day to inaugurate a new fence at Monrovia's School for the Blind - built entirely through volunteer action. Read

Bonn, Germany: This year UNV celebrates International Volunteer Day (IVD) on 5 December with the theme ‘Volunteering for our Planet’. UNV wants to highlight how important it is for people everywhere to get involved as volunteers in finding solutions to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Read

Monrovia, Liberia: Liberians and the international community headed for the beach today – not to relax, but to volunteer for our planet. The International Volunteer Day event brought people together from across Liberia and across the world. Read

Monrovia, Liberia: Environmental action will be essential to Liberia's future despite the country's severe conflict recovery and development challenges, said student volunteer leaders today. Read