Astana, Kazakhstan: Volunteering has very long roots in Kazakh society and it should be an effective mechanism for meeting social challenges, says the UN Resident Coordinator in Kazakhstan, Mr. Haoliang Xu. Read

Bonn, Germany: United Nations Volunteers headquarters staff with colleagues from other UN organisations, and staff from Deutsche Welle and Deutsche Post joined millions of people around the world today to mark the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty and to support the Stand Up Against Poverty campaign. Read

Bonn, Germany: The nonprofit sector, including volunteering, is a significant economic force, accounting for an average 5% of Gross Domestic Product in eight countries for which data is available, according to a new report just released in Bonn. Read

UNV and the French Association Française des Volontaires du Progrès (AFVP) have signed a partnership agreement on promoting the new National Volunteerism Scheme in Burkina Faso. AFVP and UNV volunteers will work together to set up facilities in three Regional Volunteer Centres for rostering and managing national volunteers called to boost the spirit of volunteerism for development (V4D). Read

Bonn, Germany: The “Global Assembly on Measuring Civil Society and Volunteering”, convened by the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies in cooperation with the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme and the United Nations Statistics Division, was launched today at the United Nations offices in Bonn. Read

New York, USA: Dozens of young musicians representing many of the world’s regions and cultures will harmonize to form a new Orchestra for the United Nations, it was announced today. Read

On 8 September, International Literacy Day, UNV pays tribute to the work of UNV volunteers who contributed to the goal of universal literacy by improving access by disadvantaged people to education and training. This series of articles, in French, also celebrates the launch of UNV’s French language website. Read

Apia, Samoa: UNV volunteer Dr. Willy Morrell has been helping to plant trees as part of a carbon-offsetting initiative at the South Pacific Games, held from 25 August to 8 September in Samoa. The project is helping to green the local environment and also offset the carbon emissions of the thousands of spectators, competitors and officials who have traveled from more than 22 countries to attend the Games. Read

Bonn, Germany: The UN Volunteers programme (UNV) is preparing to deploy the first of almost 600 UNV volunteers to the Darfur region in Sudan to provide substantive and mission support ranging from human rights and child protection to medical services, communications and logistics. Read

Phnom Penh, Cambodia: It is not everyday that UNV volunteers and fishermen rub shoulders with an international celebrity. But the visit last week of Ms. Misako Konno, Japanese actress and writer, brought some rare glamour and excitement to a UN Volunteers project on Tonlé Sap Lake. Read