Sao Paolo, Brazil: A volunteer working with UNV under the Seniores Italia programme has been deploying his commercial expertise in Latin America to help people set their small businesses on the path to profit. Read

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: In Brazil, events in four major cities marked both International Volunteer Day and a volunteer week. Organizations and key people from across Brazilian society got involved: there were more than 70 partners; 200,000 e-mails were sent and 1,900 volunteers in 337 cities participated in at least one of the 50 volunteer assignments linked to the volunteer week. Read

Carapicuíba, Brazil: UNV and its partners in Brazil are harnessing school volunteers to raise awareness of nutrition and Millennium Development Goal (MDG) number one: 'Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger'. Read

New York, USA: A UN General Assembly committee has adopted a new UN resolution that calls on governments to mobilize support for volunteerism research and asks the UN system to integrate volunteerism into its programmes. Read

Luanda, Angola: Rebuilding literacy after 27 years of war is a major challenge for Angola. A UNV volunteer is forging links between Government, NGOs and private companies to help redress the balance. Read

Abyei, Sudan: After years of north-south war, the signing of Sudan's peace agreement in early 2005 meant refugees could go back to their places of origin. As a 'triple R' officer, I assist people as they come home and guide them as they begin to rebuild their lives. Read

"Built on sandy hills with 328 sunny days, one of the Brazilian favorite place for tourists looking for relax and good beaches". This is what I read nine months ago on Google search, just a moment after the phone had rung and a voice on the other part had told me that my duty station would have been this Brazilian northeast coast city. Read

This book, jointly published by the UN Volunteers programme and UN Development Programme in Brazil, contains 50 practical and successful projects on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It aims to encourage people to get involved in development and volunteering, establish new development projects and help civil society organizations with their work towards achieving the MDGs. (Read the original article in Portuguese here) Read

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: 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

Bonn, Germany: Every day, countless citizens volunteer their time, energy and skills in response to crises or people in need. International Volunteer Day (IVD) was instituted to make visible and recognize the contribution of these unknown heroes, who, by their engagement, bring their countries one step closer to the Millennium Development Goals. Read