The Chief of the Development Division of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme, Ghulam Isaczai, was in Turkey last week attending one of the regional meetings held to mark the tenth anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers (IYV+10). In an interview with the Anatolian News Agency, Mr Isaczai said there are currently 35 UN Volunteers in Turkey, most of them serving with UNHCR. Mr Isaczai explained that UNV hopes to increase the number of volunteers who can provide technical resources in the country. Visit site

The International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Johns Hopkins University Center for Civil Society Studies announced the release of a new manual to help statistical agencies around the world track the amount, type and value of volunteer work in their countries.

The manual, drafted by the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies in cooperation with the ILO and an International Technical Experts Group, and with the support of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme, represents the first-ever internationally sanctioned guidance to statistical agencies for generating reliable, official data on volunteer work using a common definition and approach. Visit site

Forty volunteer organizations, including the United Nations Volunteers programme, participated in a Volunteer Street Fair in Bangkok organized by the Volunteer Spirit Network to mark International Volunteer Day in December 2010. Read

Monique Coleman, best known for playing Taylor McKessie in “High School Musical,” recently visited Jakarta to spread her message as the United Nations Youth Champion for the International Year of Youth. At a table discussion with the staff from UN Information Center and the UN Volunteers, Coleman said she was excited to hear what young Indonesians want to share with her regarding their contribution to the society. Visit site

Marion Huetter, a reporter with German broadcaster, Deutsche Welle's, The Global Ideas programme,  interviews UN Volunteers in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where they are celebrating the tenth anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers (IYV+10). Visit site

Edwin Cuenco, a Filipino graphic artist and professor and Edith Marie Garingalao, a medical technologist were among the winners of the UNV Online Volunteering Award 2010 for their outstanding contributions to peace and development and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Visit site

Dinah Kayumba, a Zambian journalist, arrived in Sudan last month to take up her duties as a public outreach officer for the UN Integrated Referendum and Electoral Division (UNIRED). This is her third stint as a UN Volunteer working on elections in a foreign country. Visit site

Voluntary action is a real, important and measurable contribution to the moulding of society and it contributes to the strengthening of links that make a society harmonious. However, the quantity of what is being volunteered is grossly underestimated and many forms of volunteering are not acknowledged or recognised. Visit site

Working with the UN Integrated Referendum and Electoral Division (UNIRED), the UN Volunteers support the national body conducting Southern Sudan’s self-determination referendum in a variety of substantive, technical and administrative areas Visit site

The reason why I decided to leave my well paid job and start working as a volunteer was that I finally wanted to make myself useful. I was lucky enough to get a job as a UNV Communications Officer with the UNDP Socotra Governance and Biodiversity Project. Visit site