World Water Day is held each year on 22 March and provides an opportunity to focus attention on the importance of freshwater and to advocate for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.

The official theme for World Water Day 2012 is Water and Food Security. Volunteerism plays a key role in improving access to water and food security, as it creates an enabling environment for building capacity through the participation of people in communication networks and decision-making processes. Visit site

Côte d'Ivoire: “A strong stance on gender-based violence was taken, in an area were rape has been used as a weapon in the internal armed conflict as well as in the post-conflict environment” Read

The project, ‘Gender Budgeting and Volunteering through Civic Engagement: A Contribution to Democratic Governance and Gender Equality in Latin America’, aims to measure and make more visible women’s volunteer contributions to civic engagement through three case studies in Argentina, Bolivia and Ecuador. Read

Sudan: "Sudan made me understand just how crucial it is to support those who are trying to make a change and give a voice to women and girls." Read

Jordan: “We talked with the Directorates of Employment and Development and the municipality.  We had proposals and wanted to know how they could help in the future.  We didn’t want promises and words, we wanted action.  And we can feel that some changes have happened.” Read

Tanzania: "Working for UNICEF was very interesting, meaningful and important. It made it clear to me that this is the line of work I want to be in. The memories of living and working in Tanzania will stay with me for life. It gave me valuable insight into complex development issues many, particularly African nations, face today." Read

This Guidebook presents valuable advice on how to design gender-sensitive, community-based projects and programmes. It draws on a wealth of experiences and examples from UNDP CBA Programmes, together with lessons learned from Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programmes and UN Volunteers’ experiences within the field. Read

Ghana: “I love this volunteer experience… giving a helping hand to achieving gender equality through promoting sustainable livelihoods.” Read

Bonn, Germany: International Women’s Day gives us the chance to recognize the invaluable contributions women make around the world, and mark the challenges we still have to meet to achieve gender equality.  Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently highlighted the importance of addressing the needs of women and young people to ensure their full participation in peace-building and development.

UNV cooperates with its partners to build the capacities of women and youth to ensure their full participation in their communities.  We will continue to do so.  The commitment of UNV to provide women with a greater say in their destiny is absolute. Read

Sudan: “The dramas often depicted men confronting other men about the consequences of gender-based violence. This is a powerful method which created a high level of awareness, because of the taboo on this issue, especially among men.” Read