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

Chimborazo, Ecuador: Ecuadorian women looking to improve their livelihoods and food security have benefited from the business expertise of Italian volunteers working with the United Nations Volunteers programme. Read

Quito, Ecuador: Volunteerism for development has been formally recognized for the first time in the new Constitution of Ecuador, which was approved through a referendum on 28 September 2008. This move will allow legislators to draft a new law on volunteerism for development in Ecuador. Read

Quito, Ecuador: Since 2006, UNV has been cooperating with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Ecuador on teaching English to displaced people. The project mobilizes local volunteers who help refugees prepare for life in English-speaking destinations. Read

Ecuador: From April 16th to 27th 2007 John Kelly (from Tarrytown, NY) and I (Curitiba, Brazil) participated in a joint United Nations – Kraft Volunteer mission in Ecuador supporting FINE (Fundación para la Integración del Niño Especial), a non-profit, socially engaged organization operating in the Quito region, which helps poor and handicapped people, in particular youths over 15 years with Down syndrome. Read