Karena Cronin, CIVICUS UNV volunteer Outreach Associate, reflects on volunteers' role in strengthening civil society organizations' accountability, a topic discussed during the recent CIVICUS World Assembly. Read

The commitment and motivation of 70-year old Toshiyuki Yamana has earned him the title ‘King of Volunteers’. Read

Kevin Gilroy, head of UNV's Special Operations, pays tribute to the thousands of men and women volunteers who serve in the UN Peacekeeping Operations on the occasion of the International Day of UN Peacekeepers, 29 May. Read

Violence is part of a favela's daily life. Can this be changed? How do the residents' cope? Anika Gärtner, a German volunteer working with the UN Habitat in Brazil, tries to answer this question after visiting a slum (favela) in Rio de Janeiro. Read

“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