New York, USA: Should volunteer work be calculated as an economic statistic? The U.N. has long thought so, citing the impact of volunteer projects on a country's social and economic development. Shown the economic contribution of volunteerism, says Daphne Casey, chief of the UN Volunteers office in New York, governments are more likely to plan for and promote such work, reports BusinessWeek. Read

Johannesburg, South Africa: The indispensable role of volunteers in helping countries achieve the Millennium Development Goals is to be explored in a new co-publication by the CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, United Nations Volunteers (UNV) and the International Association for Volunteer Effort (IAVE). Read

Bonn, Germany: UNV Deputy Executive Coordinator Joyce Yu join Executive Secretary of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, Yvo de Boer in launching the “Cycling to work” campaign. Read

Lord Mayor of the City of Bonn, Bärbel Dieckmann, visited the UN campus Langer Eugen to share information on upcoming international events and current activities of UN organizations in Bonn. Read

Glasgow, Scotland: The CIVICUS World Assembly has highlighted the need for activists and civil society organisations to be more accountable. “The beneficiaries of services need to be involved directly in the events and processes that affect their lives,” said UNV head Ad de Raad. Read

Monrovia, Liberia: UNV volunteers have been “absolutely crucial” to the accomplishments of the world body’s peacekeeping mission in Liberia, and they will continue to play a vital role as the peacekeeping operation starts changing in the months ahead, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative said. Read

Dili, Timor-Leste: In the weeks since the first round of presidential voting in Timor-Leste, UNV volunteers have been focusing on using lessons learnt to improve the electoral process.  Read

Monrovia, Liberia: More than 290 UNV volunteers are currently serving with the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) and other UN agencies in Liberia. Since 6 February 2007 they have the opportunity to inform the interested public live on air on Dateline Liberia about their experiences and distinctive contributions as volunteers. Read

Maryland, USA: The International Labour Organization and the Johns Hopkins University Center for Civil Society Studies today announced an agreement to develop an approach for putting volunteer work on the economic map for the first time. Also announced was a start-up grant from the United Nations Volunteers to help underwrite this effort. Read

Dili, Timor-Leste: As voters in Timor-Leste prepare for a second round of voting in the presidential elections, UNV volunteers are contemplating a new set of challenges but also a job well done.  Read