Ha Noi, Viet Nam: The first United Nations Volunteers Honorary Ambassador awards were presented today to 10 outstanding students of Hoa Sua Vocational Training School for Disadvantaged Youth. Jordan Ryan, the United Nations Resident Coordinator, handed over the prizes during a ceremony held at the UNDP office in Hanoi. Read

Geneva, Switzerland: The United Nations Volunteers programme (UNV) has been awarded a United Nations Sasakawa Certificate of Merit for its achievements in mobilizing university graduates to support disaster reduction initiatives in Guatemala. Read

Bonn, Germany: Before the war in Kosovo, Momirka Cankovic worked as professional print journalist. But the war and its after-effects made it impossible for her to do her job. Read

Bonn, Germany: The Government of Japan is sponsoring a four-day regional security awareness workshop for UNV Country Office teams from 15 different countries in the Arab States, the Commonwealth of Independent States and Europe in Giza. Read

Bonn, Germany: Mongolian President Natsagyn Bagabandi has presented former UN Volunteer Alexander Menamkat with the prestigious Friendship Medal, the highest award given to foreigners in the country. Read

Fairfax, USA/Bonn, Germany: George Mason University and the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) late Monday signed an agreement establishing the university as the first institution of higher learning in the world to form a volunteer-sending partnership with the United Nations Information Technology Service (UNITeS). Read

Freetown, Sierra Leone: Francis Kabina was evacuated from war-wracked Sierra Leone three times, once after anti-government rebels beat him severely and stole his two-way radio unit and the vehicle he was driving. Shaken and disillusioned, the 33-year-old Tanzanian UN Volunteer nearly lost his life under the menace of armed guerrillas. 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: Daddy helps mummy take care of my little sister and My father is a good cook are the titles of posters of some of the 40,000 entries submitted by Vietnamese school children to represent how they perceive gender equality. “I am too familiar with the image of my father reading the newspaper while my mother is cleaning or cooking to question why there is such an inequality,” said a 14-year-old winner in the poster competition. 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