Pristina, Kosovo: When the message popped up on Rick Rutledge's computer screen he first thought it was a joke. But within a few weeks of double-clicking on it, the 38-year-old locomotive driver from western Canada was on his way to Kosovo. Rutledge, a train engineer at BC Rail in British Columbia, took three months off from his own job to come to Kosovo as a UN Volunteer, lending his expertise to the province's struggling railway operations. Read

Dili, East Timor: Today at 7 a.m., teams of Timorese polling staff and their UN Volunteer partners opened 248 polling centres throughout East Timor. It is expected that before the closure of the centres at 4 p.m., more than 400,000 Timorese men and women will have cast their ballot to elect 88 representatives who will, in turn, form a Constituent Assembly. Read

Bonn, Germany: On the eve of East Timor's historic elections, the head of the Bonn-based United Nations Volunteers (UNV), Sharon Capeling-Alakija, commended the work of 284 United Nations Volunteers in helping prepare the polls, often under "very difficult circumstances". Read

Bonn, Germany: Tomorrow, exactly two years after the historic referendum for independence from Indonesia, over 400,000 men and women in East Timor will once again cast their votes. Read

Bonn, Germany: Following years of conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), young men have been standing in line to say no - no to compulsory military duty and yes to voluntary civil service. The call for the right to be a conscientious objector has been strongest among men who went into exile in European countries during the war. Read

Samakixay, Lao PDR: At 5 am on a humid and slightly overcast morning, Mr. Phonexay Saykhounpho, a UXO Lao team leader is beginning his day. Mr. Phonexay is 45 years old, married with four children. Read

Bonn, Germany: An independent panel of international experts is urging the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) to increase its use of UN Volunteers following eight years of "dedicated and competent" UNV performance in crisis zones around the world. Read

The hands-on work with UNHCR persons of concern, such as refugees and displaced persons, remained the most enjoyable and rewarding part of my work as a UN Volunteer with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Bosnia. Read

Bonn, Germany: UN Volunteers are resuming a range of development activities in Burundi as mediators boost efforts to broker peace in the strife-torn central African country. By the end of the month, about 50 UN Volunteers will have taken up assignments in the country. Read

San Salvador, El Salvador: The signing of the 1992 peace accords in El Salvador brought an end to more than 12 years of civil war that resulted in a situation of poverty and social injustice in the Central American country. Read