Quito, Ecuador: My passion for volunteering inspired me to gradually take on more activities outside my working hours and get involved in several projects. I believe that this year as a United Nations Volunteer will be one of the most memorable of my life. I have grown as a professional and as a person. I will carry this experience with me always. Read

The project, ‘Gender Budgeting and Volunteering through Civic Engagement: A Contribution to Democratic Governance and Gender Equality in Latin America’, aims to measure and make more visible women’s volunteer contributions to civic engagement through three case studies in Argentina, Bolivia and Ecuador. Read

Quito, Ecuador: These multidimensional aspects of my work as a volunteer, inspire and motivate me daily to act, collaborate and contribute to the processes of change that are happening in the Andean and Amazonian regions.  The indigenous women of the region and their social foundations are credited mostly for generating this process. Read

Quito, Ecuador: In my assignment as an international UN Volunteer for the regional program of Engendering Budgets at UN Women, I oversaw and was involved daily in the volunteerism process.  This was a way to empower women, change the balance of power between men and women and mobilize more volunteers to create a multiplier effect within communities. Read

Quito, Ecuador: "Volunteering is an essential tool of governance by the people and for the people, a tool for citizens’ participation": Ricardo Carrillo, Under-Secretary of People, Social Movements and Citizen Participation in Ecuador.

Volunteering organizations are currently gathering in Quito for the first in a series of get-togethers aimed at paving the way for a World Volunteer Coalition. Read