Bonn, Germany: More than 250 people die in May 2003 as a result of Sri Lanka's worst flooding in 50 years. In April 2003, high winds destroy 1, 350 houses and a bridge serving the 4,900 people living in India’s north-eastern Assam region.On 16 January 2001, UN Volunteers are among the first relief workers to assist victims after an earthquake shook the Caribbean region just two days earlier. Read

Bonn, Germany: Of the 5,000 UN Volunteers on the ground every year, nearly 1,000 work in crisis situations tending to the sick, feeding the hungry and protecting the vulnerable. Living and working in some of the world’s most difficult places, UN Volunteers help the UN and its agencies such as the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Food Programme (WFP) address the challenging situations facing those in dire need. Read

Bonn, Germany: People are looking forward to better times in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where years of armed conflict have taken their toll. Relief supply will remain a reality for some time to come. The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme is among the international partners on the ground, taking action for peace and development. Read

Bonn, Germany: In 2000, a team of Indian UN Volunteers working under the United Nations Information Technology Service (UNITeS) used their ICT skills to help the people of Orissa, India, recover from a devastating cyclone that hit the state. Read

Bonn, Germany: Montserrat - the Emerald Isle. The official tourist brochure bills the island as "the way the Caribbean used to be". But things have certainly changed here ever since nature started blowing off steam – and mud and rocks and devastating pyroclastic flows. The towering Soufrière Hills volcano has come back to life. Read