Nairobi, Kenya: Fighting poverty and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals is a global responsibility where everyone has a role to play. Governments’ efforts can only complement what ultimately will depend on the full involvement of people all over the world, stressed UNV Executive Coordinator Ad de Raad in his address at the Stand Up Against Poverty Concert in Nairobi. Read

Lusaka, Zambia: American actor Matt Damon was in Zambia recently to visit a UNDP/UNV poverty reduction project as part of a listening and learning trip on efforts to fight extreme poverty in Africa. Damon’s five-day trip was sponsored by DATA (Debt AIDS Trade Africa), the Africa advocacy group co-founded by U2 lead singer Bono. Read

Ho, Ghana: In the small villages of the Volta region, opportunities for selling produce to urban markets are minimal. The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), with the involvement of three national UN Volunteers, is working to improve access to these markets and enhance the livelihoods of village residents. Read

Kabul, Afghanistan: Armando Arellano became a UN Volunteer in 1986, when he started working as a Programme Assistant for the World Food Programme in Sudan. Originally an Industrial Engineer from the Philippines, he now has extensive experience as a Programme Officer with WFP, having worked in Sudan, Tanzania and now in Afghanistan since July 2003. Read

In the developing world, an estimated 1.2 billion people survive on less than US$1 a day, 800 million are under-nourished and 153 million children under age five are underweight. Working primarily at community level with a range of development partners, the UN Volunteers (UNV) programme focuses on activities aimed at strengthening local capacity, fostering ownership and participation, and building on existing forms of voluntary action. Read

New York, USA: UNDP had honored the remarkable initiatives of five young people, including UNV volunteer Bader Zama’rah, of the West Bank, who have developed resourceful and innovative ways to combat poverty in their own communities in observance of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, 17 October. Read

Bonn, Germany: A team of UN Volunteers started a project in Antananarivo, Madagascar, in September 2002. They recruited local volunteers to help put an end to the violence in the densely populated areas in the southwest where a steady influx of immigrant populations resulted an upsurge of violence. Read

Ha Noi, Viet Nam: Twenty-three year old Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai is the winner of a United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme contest aimed at educating Vietnamese youth on volunteering for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Read

Bonn, Germany: In a sixth straight year of growth, a record 5,234 mid-career professionals served with the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme in 2002 to promote peace, relief and development initiatives through volunteer action, according to Weaving the Web, UNV's Annual Report for 2002 released today. Read

Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso: Marking African Youth Day on Monday, the Government of Burkina Faso formally launched a volunteer initiative to support poor and marginalized young people living in urban areas of the West African country. Read