Quito, Ecuador: The Honorary Ambassador of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme, Mr. Takehito Nakata of Japan, recently visited Ecuador for five days, spreading the message of volunteerism and its role in community development. Read

Bonn, Germany: The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme, the Inter-American Development Bank’s Inter-American Initiative on Social Capital, Ethics and Development and the UN-Habitat will launch “Cities with Heart” on International Volunteer Day, 5 December. Read

Quito, Ecuador: Two years ago, it was extremely difficult for entrepreneurs to succeed in Ecuador. The establishment of a Business Development Agency (BDA), UNDP / UNV Ecuador were able to change this unfortunate situation. Read

Quito, Ecuador: Hundreds of volunteers, half of them students and youth, planted nearly 1,000 trees in the Parque Metropolitano in northern Quito. Read

Esmeraldas, Ecuador: The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme through its "Support to Intra-City Volunteerism Project (ICV)" has included volunteerism as a tool for urban development in Esmeraldas, Ecuador. Read

Esmeraldas, Ecuador: The United Nations Volunteers Programme (UNV) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have launched a business and local development initiative to reduce poverty by the creation of jobs in Ecuador´s north-western province of Esmeraldas. Read

Bonn, Germany: It takes centuries to create a single and unique inch of earth that can disappear with shocking speed," says José Eduardo González Estrella, a national UN Volunteer in Ecuador. Day after day he takes up a trying battle against drought and desertification. Read

BONN: In Esmeraldas, Ecuador, city development and political will flow together to inspire voluntary action in communities. Esmeraldas, a medium-sized coastal city of 95,000, has an active volunteer movement and a highly motivated mayor, Ernesto Estupinan. Read

Quito, Ecuador: Japanese UN Volunteer Daizen Oda has been formally recognized for his role in a working group that has chosen winners of the Betinho Prize, an award given out annually in Ecuador by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) in the field of information and communication technologies for development. Read

Bonn, Germany: UNVs helped governments put the rights of children and young people onto their agendas. Read