Bonn, Germany: Today we are starting a global discussion to Share the Story about volunteering to meet the MDGs.  We can meet the Goals, but only if we complement essential government action with the engagement of millions of people through volunteer action.  Our discussion will culminate in a 24-hour, online film festival that will showcase video stories received from volunteers, communities, civil society, non-governmental organizations and United Nations partners. Read

La Paz, Bolivia: The Chief of the Development Division of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme, Ghulam Isaczai visited Bolivia last week to learn about the achievements and progress made by UNV and its partners towards human development. Read

Bonn, Germany: According to the 2010 UNV Executive Board Report, the food and financial crises have hampered development and the achievement of the MDGs. At the same time, the current situation has highlighted the essential role of volunteerism in providing participatory, sustainable, capacity-enhancing cost-effective solutions. Read

Windhoek, Namibia: The yields for Namibia’s small scale farmers are arguably the lowest in the world. But the UNDP-GEF Community Based Adaptation (CBA) programme is working towards increasing the food security of communities around the country. Read

Manesar, India: UNV India organized a national UNV volunteer workshop from 27 to 28 August in Manesar, Hariyana. The workshop was the first of its kind in India for the more than 75 national UNV volunteers currently working in the country. Read

Beirut, Lebanon: Before Live Lebanon, “It was harder for Lebanese expats to send remittances directly to development projects,” says Kareen Baydoun, national UNV volunteer. Read

Kumasi, Ghana: Young volunteers engaged via UNV Online Volunteering service are supporting the communication and outreach activities of Young People We Care, a youth-led NGO based in Ghana that empowers young people to take action for the MDGs. Read

Accra, Ghana: Through UNV Online Volunteering service's website, online volunteers help Paajaf, a Ghanaian foundation, to hold an international youth conference in Ghana. Read

Volunteerism is considered a powerful means of engaging people in tackling development challenges, and a crucial renewable resource for social and environmental problem-solving throughout the world.

General Assembly resolution A/Res/56/38 asked the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme to provide technical cooperation in the field of volunteerism to realize its potential as a resource for attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). 

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Bonn, Germany: Thousands of volunteers around the world have registered more than 1.5 million hours of effort to tackle climate change and other environmental issues, as part of a campaign to promote International Volunteer Day on 5 December.

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme launched the global campaign 'Volunteering for our Planet' to promote voluntary effort for the environment. Read

Bonn, Germany: Thousands of volunteers around the world have registered more than one million hours of effort to tackle climate change and other environmental issues, as part of a campaign to promote International Volunteer Day on 5 December. Read

La Paz, Bolivia: "In Bolivia, many women do not know what people trafficking really means," says Sara Rodríguez-Argüelles, a UNV volunteer working with UNIFEM. But her work helps prevent women from finding out the hard way.

"Prevention is the key because, although trafficking is categorized as a crime in Bolivia, it is extremely difficult for someone to be arrested for it." Read

Chimborazo, Ecuador: Ecuadorian women looking to improve their livelihoods and food security have benefited from the business expertise of Italian volunteers working with the United Nations Volunteers programme. Read

Chennai, India: The UN's International Literacy Day falls on 8 September. UNV is helping to improve literacy around the world, for example by supporting The Times of India newspaper's ambitious 'Teach India' campaign. Here one of the national UNV volunteers working on the project gives an insight into his role. Read

Bonn, Germany: Volunteerism is one of the longest traditions in environmental activism, and community initiatives are invariably volunteer-based. Volunteers are to be found in conservation efforts around the world. Read

Phnom Penh, Cambodia: It is not everyday that UNV volunteers and fishermen rub shoulders with an international celebrity. But the visit last week of Ms. Misako Konno, Japanese actress and writer, brought some rare glamour and excitement to a UN Volunteers project on Tonlé Sap Lake. Read

Ha Noi, Viet Nam: The Viet Nam Women's Union, United Nations Volunteers (UNV) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), are organising a national workshop entitled “ Promotion of the Greater Involvement of People Living with HIV/AIDS (GIPA) and Reduction of Stigma and Discrimination ” from 27 to 29 August 2007 in Ha Noi. Read

Working together with the Youth Association for Population and Development in Egypt, UNV volunteers sailed the Nile to empower the people of Egypt to reach the MDGs through volunteer efforts.  The campaign was a joint initiative between United Nations organizations and civil society, national and local government, private sector, media and communities. Read

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) can only be achieved with the full involvement of people all over the world. The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme is the UN organization that promotes volunteerism for development (V4D). Its work includes the assignment each year of over 8000 skilled and experienced women and men to support a broad range of development programmes, which contribute to achieving the MDGs in some 140 countries around the world. 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