Barcelona, Spain: Volunteers play a significant role in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS worldwide, participants in a panel discussion at the XIV International AIDS Conference in Barcelona concluded. The panel - a side event organized by the United Nations Volunteers programme (UNV), the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), who are working together in a coalition, which is also supported by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) - received much interest from conference participants and the media. Read

Bonn, Germany: Inma Mendoza and her husband Miguel Goyanes are HIV positive. They now devote their lives to support people who are infected by the epidemic, like themselves. Read

Bonn, Germany: Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings volunteered his time and commitment as Eminent Person for the United Nations International Year of Volunteers 2001 (IYV 2001). He has been particularly devoted to and involved in campaigns to contain the HIV/AIDS epidemic, particularly in Africa. Rawlings, who had been President of Ghana for 19 years (1981 - 2001) was appointed as Eminent Person in recognition of his efforts to support local community groups and independent volunteer organizations to improve economic and social conditions in Ghana. Read

Bonn, Germany: In the Caribbean, most young people have enough to eat and a bed to sleep on. Over 85 per cent attend primary school and many continue on to secondary school and beyond. Survival is not the issue, but making the right choices in life is. Growing up amidst increasing domestic violence, high rates of teenage pregnancy, HIV/AIDS and drug abuse, it is often difficult to know where to turn. 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

Bonn, Germany: Brigitte Syamalevwe brings years of experience as an international consultant and speaker on HIV/AIDS issues to her present position as a national UN Volunteer attached to the Zambian Ministry of Education. The mother of 11 children has been living with HIV/AIDS for the past 10 years. She knows what she is talking about. Read

Kingston, Jamaica: Ainsley Reid raises awareness of HIV/AIDS in his country, Jamaica. A national UN Volunteer and the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of the Jamaican Network of People living with HIV/AIDS (JN+), Ainsley speaks with authority -- he has been living with HIV/AIDS since 1992. Read

New York, USA: Two HIV-positive UN Volunteers will take part in an observance of World AIDS Day at UN Headquarters on Friday, an event which will highlight the International Year of Volunteers 2001 (IYV) and the role of volunteers in the fight against AIDS. Read

Bonn, Germany: Daring to care, many UN Volunteers worked as peer counsellors and advisers with partners in African, Asian and Caribbean communities to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS. One of these UN Volunteers was Aster Wolde Kidan of Ethiopia. She served in Botswana, where 36.3 per cent of the population carries the virus - the highest incidence in the world. Read