Professor Lester M. Salamon**, Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies, speaks with Robert Leigh*, Senior Policy Specialist and head of Research and Development Unit at UNV, about economics and social importance of the non-profit sector and volunteering. Read

Dennis Mairena, a UNV field officer in Colombia and UNV public information officer Sy Koumbo Singa Gali in the Democratic Republic of Congo talk about how UNV volunteers are in the "different dimension" and "go the extra mile". Read

Volunteerism contributes to sustainable capacities because it taps into and builds up the indigenous stock of knowledge, social entrepreneurship and solidarity that exists within a country, writes UNV Executive Coordinator Ad de Raad. Read

Volunteerism acts as an effective gateway between the United Nations system and the global citizen, writes Donna Keher, UNV's chief of the Partnerships, Communications and Resources Mobilization Group. Read

On the occasion of International Volunteer Day (IVD) 2006, UNV Executive Coordinator Ad de Raad marks the fifth anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers and salutes the millions of volunteers around the world for their social and economic contributions. Read