Gonaives, Haiti: "Change is often slow within the field of law enforcement, but little by little we started to notice that the judicial process for several pre-trial detainees was speeding up, and that minors kept in detention were less frequently encountered." Read

The World Day of Social Justice on 20 February is an opportunity to bring attention to the barriers to social well-being that people face due to gender, age, race, ethnicity, religion, culture or disability.  This Day serves to support efforts in poverty eradication, the promotion of full employment, gender equity and justice for all. UNV recognizes the efforts of all those who are working to advance social justice. Visit site

Guatemala City, Guatemala: “My work motivates indigenous people, people with disabilities and youth to gain full consciousness of their rights and to organize themselves by creating networks that will help them fight together to improve their situation.” Read

Oecussi District, Timor-Leste: “Through coordination meetings between all actors, we help find solutions to issues related to local access to justice, the delivery of notifications to the sub-districts, targeted logistical and administrative support during criminal hearings for victims, witnesses and accused - in a bid to ensure that all parties can ably understand, use and access justice services, without confronting any barriers” Read

Voluntary citizen participation is an essential part of civil society, which in turn is a key contributor to sustainable development, human rights, good governance and social justice. 2011, the tenth anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers (IYV+10), saw an upsurge of such action in different forms in many countries around the world.

Looking back on 2011, CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation and the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme have combined to analyze contemporary trends in voluntary action and make recommendations for policy-makers, civil society, and volunteer involving organizations, in our new publication, Broadening Civic Space through Voluntary Action. Read

San Vicente, El Salvador: "Together with the local government and the schools, we are involving the whole community and local non-governmental organizations in the production of knowledge products, school and community gardens, and climate change adaptation through volunteer actions." Read

Lusaka, Zambia: UN Volunteers at Zambia Human Rights Commission are known for going "the extra mile in doing their work" and have been accepted by their colleagues, says HRC Deputy Director. Read

70 online volunteers have contributed extensively, during several months, to the Peace Bag for EuroMed Youth toolkit, drafting, reviewing and translating the 191 page publication into 12 languages, as well as creating the layout and a web version. The Peace Bag, which offers practical tools to promote a culture of peace at the local and regional level across the Mediterranean, has been developed in a participatory process that involved 18 youth-led and youth-serving organizations from 14 countries in the region, coordinated by the Fundació Catalunya Voluntària. Read

Human Rights Day is marked on 10 December and is a chance to pay tribute to all human rights defenders. It also marks the end of the 16 days of activism campaign, running from 25 November to 10 December, calling for the elimination of violence against women. UNV recognizes the efforts of the OHCHR and other partners working to achieve human rights for all. Visit site

Guatemala: Christina Papadopoulou has been working with the UN Human Rights office (OHCHR) in Guatemala since 2008. She is a UN Volunteer who has chosen “to serve society and promote ideals such as social justice and equality.” Read