The opening ceremony of the International Exchange Camp for Guangzhou 2010 Asian Games provided volunteer leaders and experts with a plattform to gather together and offer advice for the preparations of the Guangzhou Asian Games 2010. As a co-sponsor of the event, UNV experts visited model volunteer service sites in the whole city. Visit site

The Kiev Post, in Ukraine, reviews the involvement of Ukrainian citizens in international volunteering and recounts the experiences of three former UNV volunteers during their postings in Africa and Asia. Visit site

'Culture of Volunteerisms in Armenia', a new publication which will serve civil society activists, authorities, students and volunteers, explores three focus areas - the regulatory environment, motivations behind volunteerism, and volunteer management practices - to explain the under-utilization of volunteers and to suggest opportunities for the promotion of volunteerism in the country. The booklet is the result of the joint efforts of the researcher, Ms. Mane Tadevosyan, and Ms. Lusine Hakobyan, National Coordinator for the CIVICUS Civil Society Index in Armenia, a project within Counterpart International. UNV Armenia, with the support of a national consultant, helped to define the methodology and to gather the data for the study. Visit site

Today, the Head of the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP), Mr. Poul Hansen, addressed the 2010 Annual Session of the Executive Board of UNDP and UNFPA at the UN Office at Geneva, during a session dedicated to the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme. Visit site

In Bejing, the UNDP and UNV supported “Spring Shoots Programme” aims to improve the quality of life for older people. Due to the ageing of the Chinese society and the risk for senior citizens to be isolated, the Bejing government made support to the elderly one of its priorities. Volunteers are increasingly mobilized to offer assistance. Visit site

Over 100 homeless youth gathered to learn about HIV/AIDS while playing a multiple choice game in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam. There was high participation from the northern port city of Hai Phong, which has one of the highest HIV/AIDS rates in the country. Pham Thi Hue, UNV volunteer said "because of HIV, we are here. So we should unite to fight the virus." Visit site

The UNDP Deputy Resident Representative and the head of the Ajapnyak Administrative District of Yerevan joined Aram Hovsepyan, President of the Civil Society Institute NGO in a one day garbage cleaning action. Visit site

The director of Development Planning and Coordination at the Ministry of Economic Planning and Industrial Development, Mr. Momodou K Cham, has said volunteerism has contributed significantly in increasing access to basic education, health care, safe drinking water and other development priorities. He made this statement yesterday while launching the National Volunteer Service Centre (NVSC) project at a programme held at the Paradise Suites Hotel, Kololi. Visit site

Jamaica joined the rest of the world in celebrating the efforts of United Nations' peacekeepers, who have lost their lives working to maintain global peace and security, on Thursday (June 17). Jamaica has twenty volunteers involved in three missions - Sudan, Timor-Leste and Haiti.  Visit site

Through local and UNV volunteers in Asia and the Pacific, the initiative Partners for Prevention is engaging boys and men in community projects around the region to prevent gender-based violence. The overall aim of the programme is to stop violence against women and to promote gender equality. Visit site