Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: A new agreement between the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme and Comisión Cascos Blancos (White Helmets Commission) of Argentina was signed today at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro. The agreement will strengthen both organizations’ capacity to respond, through volunteerism, to disasters and emergencies rapidly and effectively. Read

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: On the first day of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, a Rio+20 delegation visited the favela area of Canta Galo, where 57 UN Volunteers are engaged in the renewal of their own community. "This is yet another example of people power driving real change," says UNV Executive Coordinator Flavia Pansieri. "Volunteers, together with communities around the world, support social, economic and environmental transformation every day." Read

San Vicente, El Salvador: "Together with the local government and the schools, we are involving the whole community and local non-governmental organizations in the production of knowledge products, school and community gardens, and climate change adaptation through volunteer actions." Read

São Paulo, Brazil: It is such an honour to be a UN Volunteer, serving in my own country, and seeing the positive impact that the Cisco Networking Academy ICTs educational programme is having. Read

Santa Catarina, Brazil: World Environment Day is widely unknown in Brazil. A Brazilian UNV volunteer is working to turn this around.

Her aim is to help stimulate civil society to join forces and assume responsibility for environmental preservation, and to increase knowledge about the negative impacts our daily behaviour can have. Read