“Women and children are most vulnerable to HIV/AIDS.  As a woman, I feel encouraged when I am empowered to speak out about my daily life and our everyday work …” Read

When fighting broke out in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) late last month, UNV Programme Manager Jan Snoeks was responsible for ensuring the continuity of the administration of over 600 volunteers, monitoring their safety and maintaining the flow of information.  His emails to the volunteers both in and outside Kinshasa illustrated events as they unfolded. Read

UNV volunteer Valentina Virdis tells about her work for the protection of children in Uzbekistan and her task to visit children’s homes, explain to the children what the coming UNICEF forum “Reforms in the system of social protection of children” is about, discuss with them and decide how children can contribute to this important process. Read

On this International Women’s Day, as the UN calls for an end to violence against women and girls, we relay the remarkable story of UNV volunteer Véronique Derksen of The Netherlands, who is attached to UNHCR in Chad. Having served in the African country for some six months, Ms Derksen has experienced first-hand the suffering of refugees from nearby Sudan. Read the story in French. Read

The steady provision of jet fuel, petroleum, oil and lubricants is an essential part of daily life for 2,450 troops and 125 civilian personnel including UNV volunteers in the North Kivu province of DRC. Read

UNV volunteers Mariya Stoeva and Mohamed Sadiq Ameer are in the Democratic Republic of Congo to ensure that members of MONUC, the UN’s current largest mission, receive safe, quality food. Read

In the face of occasional violence, UNV volunteers are delivering much-needed development support to the people of Timor-Leste. UNV Support Officer Ms Remedios Vestil-Mondigo deals regularly with security threats like stone-throwing incidents on the road from the international airport, to which she travels twice or three times a day to greet incoming UNV volunteers. Read

Minh Vo, a Vietnamese online volunteer has been selected for the Online Volunteer of the Year Award 2006. In this interview she will share her experience of being an online volunteer. 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

A poem written by a UNV volunteer supporting MINUSTAH in Haiti. Read