Bonn, Germany: Like an infant, a business needs nurturing for a healthy, safe start. And at the Sodbi Business Incubator in Shymkent, Kazakhstan, fledgling entrepreneurs learn everything they always wanted to know about setting up shop. Read

Astana, Kazakhstan: Artashes Melikyan, an Armenian, has been based in Kazakhstan for the past three years as a UN Volunteer and human rights specialist. He is part of a global network of 17 UN Volunteers under the Human Rights Strengthening Programme (HURIST), a joint initiative of UNDP and Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to mainstream human rights into the development programming of UN agencies and civil society organizations. Read

Almaty, Kazakhstan: Ms Gulnara Kusherbaeva set up her own women's NGO and works on a voluntary basis to support the growth of a women's movement in Kazakhstan. She organizes many activities which promote awareness of women's issues and build the confidence and ability of women to advance themselves. Read

Almaty, Kazakhstan: Mr Aoued Sebaa, an Algerian-Russian International UN Volunteer, is currently working as a Field Protection Officer for UNHCR in Kazakhstan. He first became a UN Volunteer in the late 1980s, working on the Afghan border. Read

Almaty, Kazakhstan: Dr Telzhan Zhunisbekov, a Kazakhstan national, has served as an International UN Volunteer in Burundi, Rwanda and Congo, providing emergency surgery and training local doctors to carry out difficult and specialized orthopaedic operations. His story is an excellent example of the value of voluntary cooperation between developing countries. Read

Asmara, Eritrea: After some 20 years of working as a gynaecologist and obstetrician in her home city of Almaty in Kazakhstan, Dr Gulzhan Chimbayeva wanted to gain some experience in a different environment and she thought the United Nations would be the perfect organization to work for. Read

BONN: A United Nations International Short-Term Advisory Resources (UNISTAR) adviser made two trips to the region in 1999 to support the Government in developing plans to invest profits from oil for vocational training and environmental protection. The adviser also worked with his longer-term UNV colleagues to design a workplan for the Atyrau Sustainable Development Centre, which promotes community participation in health and social services. Read

Bonn, Germany: Some 300,000 in Kazakhstan's Caspian region are faced with just about every major development challenge one can think of: poverty, natural disasters forcing people to flee their homes, environmental deterioration, widening gaps between the rich and poor. Read

Bonn, Germany: Temirtau, a Kazakh city struggles against drugs and HIV/AIDS. The socio-economic situation in Temirtau, inflated by the down-sizing of its main employer the steel-producing combinat, and the virtual collapse of the former Soviet welfare state, is being tragically aggravated by a relatively cheap and well organised supply of illicit narcotics. Read

BONN: There's always a special feeling about being the first UNV Specialist from your home country to serve internationally. The UNV office in Kazakhstan even hosted the first UN Volunteers not from one, but two countries- Yemen  and Kyrgyzstan. Read