Denika Blacklock of Saskatchewan, Canada, is a UNV local governance and minority rights specialist with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Pristina, Kosovo, where she develops projects to promote democratic practices and the participation of minorities in government. Read

Jane Story of Ontario, Canada, served as a UNV volunteer in the Solomon Islands where she worked in post-conflict and communications with the UN Development Programme (UNDP). She completed her six-month assignment in June 2006, which was funded through the UNV-Canada Corps Trust Fund. Read

Chantal Robichaud of Quebec, Canada, is a UNV volunteer governance specialist with the UN Development Prorgamme (UNDP) in Tunis, Tunisia. Her assignment is funded through the UNV-Canada Corps Trust Fund. Read

Vern Weitzel. It’s a name familiar to anyone who’s ever trawled the Internet for information on Viet Nam, from information technology to development, it seems that all roads lead to Vern. Read

When Toshiko Kitahara arrived in Ragh district in Badakhshan province, north-east Afghanistan, two things struck her: its natural beauty and the fact that girls did not attend school. As a UN Volunteer with the World Food Programme (WFP), Toshiko decided to make girls’ education a priority. She started her self-driven campaign to build the first girls’ school in Ragh. Her quest for funds started in Afghanistan and crossed the globe before she arrived at enough money to have the project put in motion. Read

The small village of Ditladi in the North East District of Botswana is the kind of settlement where everybody knows everybody’s business. It is the first Tuesday of the month, and the village residents have been called to the kgotla – a traditional community gathering place in Botswana – to talk about HIV/AIDS. Read

I arrived in Liberia in February 2005 to begin work as an Electoral Support Officer for the UNMIL Electoral Department. Soon after my arrival I was stationed in a remote, densely forested county called Gbarpolu. Read

Armando Arellano became a UN Volunteer in 1986, when he started working as a Programme Assistant for the World Food Programme in Sudan. Originally an Industrial Engineer from the Philippines, he now has extensive experience as a Programme Officer with WFP, having worked in Sudan, Tanzania and now in Afghanistan since July 2003. Read

Volunteering is a life changing experience for most people. For UN Volunteer Martin Boben of Slovenia, he spiced it up with some Sierra Leonean "groove". Read

English study may be regarded as a luxury for people living with HIV/AIDS, but 35-year-old Kim Thi Hau says it has invigorated her struggle for a brighter future. Read