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

Brussels, Belgium: Former Ghanaian President Jerry John Rawlings has urged fellow Africans to "revolutionize" their sexual behaviour in a bid to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS. Read

Brussels, Belgium: The following is an intervention of Zambian national UN Volunteer Brigitte Syamalevwe to the interactive session on health at the Third United Nations Conference for the Least Developed Countries. Read

Bonn, Germany: Jerry John Rawlings, former President of Ghana, has arrived in Botswana as an Eminent Person for the International Year of Volunteers (IYV 2001) to draw attention to the work of volunteers in the fight against HIV/AIDS. 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

Kasama, Zambia: In Zambia, people with HIV/AIDS receive home-based care and support  from a mission hospital in Chilonga. A diary by UNV Regina Tibenderama. Read

Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe: Accompanied by UNV's Executive Coordinator Sharon Capeling-Alakija, German tennis player Michael Stich and his wife, actress Jessica Stockmann have visited Zimbabwe as Honorary United Nations Volunteers to raise awareness on HIV/AIDS. 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, Germany: The United Nations Volunteers programme has received prominent support. At UNV headquarters in Bonn, German tennis star Michael Stich and his wife, actress Jessica Stockmann, signed 1-Euro-a-year contracts to take up their assignments as the first Honorary UN Volunteers to launch the International Year of Volunteers 2001. Read

Bonn, Germany: The United Nations Volunteers programme is to receive prominent support: German tennis star Michael Stich and his wife, actress Jessica Stockmann, are to become the first Honorary UN Volunteers to launch the International Year of Volunteers 2001. During a ceremony at UNV headquarters in Bonn on Monday, 25 January, the couple will sign contracts to take up their assignments. Read