Harare, Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe has great potential to reduce poverty among communities through promoting and supporting volunteer activities as many of its people are willing to donate their valuable time and resources to assist others, a United Nations representative said. Read

Bonn, Germany: Tserayi Machinda is at the centre of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa. In his native Zimbabwe, he combats the disease throughout Manicaland -- a province of 1.5 million people bordering Mozambique. With more than 100,000 orphans and 15,000 known cases of full-blown AIDS in the province, he says he has his hands full. Read

The United Nations Volunteers programme (UNV) supports the Government's national development efforts, including the emergency humanitarian programme, social policy advocacy, community support programmes, employment creation and entrepreneurship, HIV/AIDS advocacy and strengthening of the credibility and transparency of Zimbabwe's public institutions. Read

Bonn, Germany: UN studies note that a record 2.6 million people died from the HIV/AIDS pandemic in 1999 and another 5.6 million became infected with the virus that causes AIDS. The fight against HIV/AIDS is not only medical. The stigma of AIDS and its effect on societies is also an enemy UN Volunteers are combating. UNVs -- many of them infected with HIV -- have stepped into the open to give a human face and voice to the epidemic. Read

BONN: German tennis player Michael Stich and his wife, actress Jessica Stockmann, visited Zimbabwe as Honorary United Nations Volunteers to raise awareness on HIV/AIDS. Read