A familiar sight in the streets of the ancient Malian town of Timbuktu in 2003 is the city’s mayor, Mohammed Cissé, digital camera in hand, taking snapshots of historical and cultural sites. Back in his office, the mayor uploads the images onto the city’s first official website. Containing information and services, the website leads to greater transparency and accountability and connects citizens and elected officials from all the regions in the country. This is one of the ways in which UNV supports the process of decentralization launched by the Government of Mali with UNDP and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF). UN Volunteers are also working to strengthen ties among district authorities and communities, bringing them together to assess needs, identify priorities, and plan and implement local development projects.

Supporting local governance, UN Volunteers in Lao PDR’s northern province Luang Prabang, known as the seat of the country’s cultural heritage, are drawing from an important Lao tradition known as asasamak, or service to others. In the course of their work in support of the UNDP-led Governance and Public Administration Reform Programme, the volunteers are building on the philosophy of solidarity inherent to asasamak to engage communities in the planning and implementation of development efforts. The UN Volunteers – the majority of whom are Laotians – are helping local officials, community-based organizations and villagers to bring public services to the poor.

UN Volunteers in Guatemala, for years the outreach arm of the United Nations Verification Mission (MINUGUA), are supporting the process of national ownership of the MINUGUA’s human rights verification activities. Working closely with government, civil society partners and human rights institutions, the national UN Volunteers help ensure that the knowledge and experience acquired by MINUGUA, including on the value of volunteerism in advancing human rights, is retained and continues to serve the population. The majority of the volunteers are indigenous people, like Lidia López who has translated the country’s constitution into her native tongue Q’anjob’al to make it accessible to the Maya Q’anjob’al people; Mariano Gaitán, an ethnic Xinca who works to encourage the integration of the Peace Accords into the work plan and activities of local governments; and Fernando Alvarez, a Maya Quiché who lost family and home during the armed conflict and now helps strengthen the capacity of NGOs to effectively monitor human rights in the country. He says "my work as a UN Volunteer transforms the suffering and pain into energy to make Guatemala a better place."