Johannesburg: Kraft Foods Global employees Chris Almond of Australia and Lou Anne Blanchard of the United States participated in UNV’s Corporate/Private Sector programme in March 2004. Their technical expertise in packaging and product development was used to help a new food manufacturer, GTL Food Manufacturers, located in Johannesburg, South Africa. Read

Ha Noi, Viet Nam: In an innovative programme to assist people living with HIV/AIDS, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme is coordinating English classes in Vietnam’s capital city to encourage greater involvement in HIV/AIDS programmes and learning initiatives. Read

Bonn, Germany: The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme’s Online Volunteering service, which connects non-profit and non-governmental organizations working in the South with people willing to volunteer their time and skills using the Internet, turns five years old this March. Read

Bonn, Germany: The German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) today announced that it is contributing US$2.6 million to support the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme in providing immediate recovery and long-term rehabilitation assistance to victims of the 26 December tsunamis in Indonesia, the Maldives and Sri Lanka. Read

Kobe, Japan: Addressing senior United Nations and government officials at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction (WCDR) in Japan, UN Volunteers Executive Coordinator Ad de Raad today set forth a series of recommendations to strengthen volunteers’ engagement in disaster preparedness and response efforts. Read

Kobe, Japan: Disaster risk management policies and programmes must include local volunteers and support them in their crucial role in prevention of and response to natural and human-induced calamities. Read

Bonn, Germany/Geneva, Switzerland: The UN Volunteers (UNV) programme will increase its immediate and long-term support to countries devastated by the 26 December tsunamis thanks in part to a US$ 5-million contribution today announced by the Government of Japan. Read

Bonn, Germany: The impact of the tsunamis that hit the Indian Ocean region two weeks ago has been lessened in areas where United Nations agencies have been able to implement disaster risk mitigation programmes, said Ad de Raad, Executive Coordinator of the UN Volunteers (UNV) programme, to journalists here. Read

Bonn, Germany: Less than two weeks since tsunamis struck on 26 December, the support of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme and presence of UN Volunteers continues to mount in the devastated countries in the Indian Ocean region. Read

Bonn, Germany: The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme, in coordination with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Country Offices and the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (BCPR), is deploying teams of UN Volunteers in several South Asian countries to help governments, NGOs and other UN agencies provide relief to thousands of people who have lost their homes and family members in the tsunamis of 26 December. Read