BONN: In more than 100 countries around the world-from Mongolia to Mali, from Brazil to Belgium-volunteers have come together on 5 December to celebrate and to reconfirm these ideals, like the 40,000 volunteers in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, who signed a banner and made a commitment to keep their city clean. Read

BONN: UNV is currently in contact with several research centres to foster initiatives that provide an intellectual underpinning for the International Year of Volunteers (IYV 2001). The aim of these initiatives is to provide tools helping national researchers produce data on the quantitative and qualitative contributions of volunteers. It also seeks to support government initiatives in the field of volunteerism. Read

Bonn, Germany: Days before the launch of the International Year of Volunteers (IYV 2001), Richard Nyberg asked UNV Executive Coordinator Sharon Capeling-Alakija about plans for the year and its impact on global volunteerism. Read

BONN: The United Nations Volunteers programme (UNV), with the financial support of the Government of Japan, has helped conduct seven regional workshops to promote the International Year of Volunteers around the world. A total of 470 representatives from 60 countries took part in the workshops, which were designed to build regional and global networks of volunteers, government institutions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Read

BONN: Former cockatoo poachers have become unpaid wardens in the Philippines, a rare role switch to protect a bird they once endangered. Thanks to the efforts of Peter Widdmann, a German Development Service (DED) volunteer and executive director of the Philippine Cockatoo Conservation Programme (PCCP), the birds are being bred in Narra on Palawan's Raza Island in the Sulu Sea. Read

BONN: More than 100 countries on six continents celebrated the global launch of the International Year of Volunteers on or around 5 December, which is also the annual International Volunteer Day (IVD). Read

BONN: Promotional tools available on the IYV web site are being used to help market the year in countries around the world. IYV supporters in Chile, Indonesia, Mali and New Zealand, for example, have used resources such as the IYV logo to create banners, bookmarks, letterheads, medals and stamps. Read

BONN: A joint project supported by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Volunteers (UNV), seeks to restore cultural heritage and develop a sense of community amongst people from different religious and social traditions in Punjab, India. Read