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

Bonn, Germany: Since 2000, about 50 UN Volunteers living with HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean have confronted the discrimination related to the epidemic. In Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago they have played active roles in a network of seropositive persons who have learned to summon their courage. Read

Bonn, Germany: The United Nations Volunteer (UNV) programme recently assisted in carrying out Timor-Leste's (formerly East Timor) first National Immunization Day (NID) campaign against polio. Read

Bonn, Germany: The event, held in Luang Prabang from 24 July to 1 August, brought young people together from across the northern provinces. The 32 participants learned about relevant health issues, focusing on the dangers of HIV/AIDS and drug abuse. Read

Windhoek, Namibia: The Government of Namibia this week launched a new programme calling on the services of more than 1,000 national and international UN Volunteers to work with and train Namibians to become teachers, doctors and health workers, public administrators, business managers, agriculturists and other professionals in a bid to fight poverty and HIV/AIDS as well as to promote development. 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, Germany: A UNV Action Team comprised of 15 United Nations Volunteers working in strife-torn Sierra Leone have donated time after hours to deliver safe drinking water to a school for children with polio. Read

Bonn, Germany: For older people the ageing process is generally accompanied by a transition in social and economic roles. In some societies, people move from full-time, formal work to retirement, in others into part-time work of an informal nature. This transition is often treated, erroneously, as a move from a productive role to a non-productive or dependent one. Read

Bonn, Germany: I am Brigitte Syamalevwe a volunteer against HIV/AIDS from Zambia, and I am a woman who has been living with HIV/AIDS for 10 years. Read

New York, USA: Two national United Nations Volunteers, Brigitte Syamalevwe and Ainsley Reid, emphasized the importance of volunteers in the fight against HIV/AIDS, setting the tone for the World AIDS Day observance, held Friday, 30 November at UN Headquarters. Read