World AIDS Day is marked on 1 December each year and is an opportunity to unite people worldwide in the fight against HIV/AIDS, showing support for people living with HIV/AIDS, and commemorating those who have died.  Voluntary action is an integral part of the fight against HIV/AIDS.

UNV applies people-centred approaches in its collaboration with UNAIDS, UNDP, NGOs, community-based organizations, volunteer involving organizations, networks of people living with HIV/AIDS and national HIV/AIDS programmes. Visit site

Bogota, Colombia: More than 40 volunteers from various NGOs and ten UN Volunteers supported a commemoration event on World AIDS Day. The successful event, which gathered hundreds of people despite the rain, was a joint effort between a number of UN agencies and civil society organizations. Read

Hanoi, Viet Nam: "Being a UN Volunteer changed my life," says Nguyen Thi Dieu Hang, a national UN community Volunteer in Viet Nam working with the UNV project "Promoting Greater Involvement of People Living with HIV (GIPA)."  When Hang was expecting her first child, she found that both she and her child had been infected with HIV by her husband. Read

Guatemala City, Guatemala: Preparations for International Volunteer Day 2011 are well underway in Guatemala, where local volunteer involving organizations are registering for IVD 2011 activities by presenting photos to illustrate their volunteer efforts and the letters AIV+10 ('IYV+10' in Spanish).

By mid-November, 23 local volunteer involving organizations had sent their photos, confirming their support for IVD 2011 and highlighting the commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers (IYV+10). Read

Tashkent, Uzbekistan: The Ecological Boomerang project is training volunteers on issues related to ecology, sustainability and environmental responsibility. This is only the first step towards the realization of a large project aiming to have a positive impact on the environment. Read

Tashkent, Uzbekistan: It was a great honour for me, as the national IYV+10 Coordinator in Uzbekistan, to participate in the celebration of the birth of the United Nations. We provided our visitors with information about UNV activities and initiatives, and I referred people to our Facebook page, which I was happy to find most of them were already following.

These posts not only include reports about our activities, but also contain links to various competitions, educational opportunities, contests, projects and programmes that people can get involved in. Read

Kampala, Uganda: “We were happy to have successfully tested the RapidFTR tool because, through it, thousands of children can find the way back to their families,” say Nele Bostoen and Eleonora Mansi, UN Volunteers with the Child Protection team of UNICEF Uganda.  RapidFTR or Rapid Family Tracing and Reunification is a new technology that allows quick input of essential data about a child on a mobile phone. Read

Kampala, Uganda: “For me, volunteering with UNICEF is such a tremendous opportunity that has changed me," says Harriet Christine Elasu, UNV Finance Officer with UNICEF Uganda.  Harriet is always happy to provide extra support and guidance where it is needed, particularly in the areas of accounting and financial management, and in proper record-keeping. Read

Lima, Peru: "I feel fortunate to be part of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme, as I have had the opportunity to learn a great deal during my tenure, as well as to give something in return towards improving programmes and policies for people in my region," says Henry Armas, UNV HIV/AIDS Programme Officer with UNICEF's Latin America and Caribbean Regional Office. Henry is the focal point for knowledge management initiatives on HIV/AIDS. Read

Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo: “Having fairly escaped illiteracy myself, I felt it was a must for me to help others,” says Denis Yameogo, UN Volunteer with UNICEF Democratic Republic of Congo. Denis supports UNICEF’s child protection work by giving communities the capacity to address child protection issues. Read