Bonn, Germany: Parliamentarians from the Council of Europe's 41 member states late Wednesday adopted a recommendation on the International Year of Volunteers 2001 (IYV 2001) which urges governments to promote pro-volunteer policies and remove legal obstacles hindering people from engaging in voluntary action. Read

Bonn, Germany: Volunteers are increasingly going online to help fight poverty and meet the needs of development organizations around the world. In its first seven months, the United Nations Volunteers online volunteering service provided through Netaid.org attracted close to 2,000 applicants. Read

Bonn, Germany: Five months after UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced his vision for a high tech volunteer corps in the UN's Millennium Report, the initiative has hit the ground running. Twenty-three professionals have now taken up assignments as UNITeS Volunteers in developing countries. Read

Bonn, Germany: The United Nations Volunteers programme (UNV) has launched the United Nations Information Technology Service (UNITeS) web site at www.unites.org in order to mobilize volunteers around the world to help bridge the technological divide between developed and developing countries. Read

Bonn, Germany: The United Nations Volunteers programme (UNV) today launched a completely new version of its interactive web site (http://www.iyv2001.org) to support preparations for the International Year of Volunteers, IYV 2001. The United Nations has appointed UNV as the focal point for IYV2001. Read

Bonn, Germany: Would-be volunteers from around the world have submitted more than 1,300 applications to offer their services free of charge in the first three months of the Netaid.org's Online Volunteering facility, designed by the United Nations Volunteers programme (UNV). Most of these applications have resulted in active volunteer assignments. Read

Bonn, Germany: An international exploratory workshop met for three days this week in Bonn to discuss UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's recent UNITeS initiative. Read

Bonn, Germany: Twelve former UN Volunteers from 11 countries in Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America today visited UNV headquarters in Bonn for final briefings before taking up five-month assignments as guides for the UN Pavilion at the World Exposition/EXPO 2000 in Hannover, Germany. Read

Bonn, Germany: Visitors of the UN Pavilion at the EXPO Hannover will be met by qualified guides: they will be led through the exhibition by United Nations Volunteers, who have previously worked in UN development projects or on UN Missions in support of elections. Read

Bonn, Germany:  The Executive Coordinator of the United Nations Volunteers programme (UNV), Sharon Capeling-Alakija, leaves Bonn Thursday to begin a six-day tour of Kosovo and Macedonia where a large group of UN Volunteers is currently taking part in final preparations for electoral registration of the Kosovar population. Read