Bonn, Germanny: On 8 April 1993, exactly 20 years ago today, Atsuhito Nakata (Atsu), a Japanese UN Volunteer working as a District Electoral Supervisor with the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC), was killed in a tragic ambush along with his Khmer interpreter, Lek Sophiep, in the province of Kampong Thom. He was 25 years old.

Atsu was one of 465 UN Volunteers District Electoral Supervisors deployed in Cambodia with UNTAC in 1992. Alongside 50,000 Cambodian nationals, they were at the forefront of the first national elections organized in the country. They worked and lived with local communities, helped organize electoral processes at community level, and carried out massive campaigns to inform the Cambodian population about elections and democratic principles. Read

United Nations Headquarters, New York: During the recent meetings of the Commission on the Status of Women in March, UNDP, UNFPA, UN Women and UNV combined efforts to host the side event "Why do men use violence and how do we stop it? New evidence on men's use of violence against women and girls and its uses for enhanced prevention."  The event presented the latest research from their Partners for Prevention Regional Joint Programme in Asia and the Pacific. Read

Pnohm Penh, Cambodia: The manual Ending Violence Against Women – A Guide to Working with Volunteers is now available from the Partners for Prevention project to help local Cambodian NGOs better support and work with volunteers who are trying to end violence against women and girls. Two UN Volunteers played key roles in its becoming a reality. Read

Cambodia: “I am interested in using my professional skills in areas that can help influence the positive changes that are happening in Cambodia as young people become more educated.” Read

Cambodia: Making a difference: An assessment of volunteer interventions addressing gender-based violence in Cambodia (Partners for Prevention, 2010)  highlights the crucial role and the far-reaching positive effects that community volunteers play in the prevention and response to gender-based violence. Read