Tashkent, Uzbekistan: For as long as she can remember, Madina has loved to study and discover for herself the traditions and cultures of different Anglophone countries. Despite initial fears about the challenges of assuming a teaching position without formal pedagogical training, her desire to contribute something to society and to share her knowledge with younger generations prevailed and still remains her daily source of motivation.

Last week Richard Dictus, Executive Coordinator of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme, joined distinguished guests such as the Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and the Norwegian Minister of International Development, in speaking at Fredskorpset’s Youth Leadership Conference in Oslo.

The International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is on 6 February. According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), an estimated 120 to 140 million women have been subject to this harmful and dangerous practice and 3 million girls continue to be at risk each year. Although in many countries this practice has been radically prohibited, there are places where genital ablation is still practiced, as it is considered an ancient ritual linked to cultural, religious and social factors within families and communities.

Richard Dictus, Executive Coordinator of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme welcomed his first official visitors to the United Nations in Bonn on 22 January 2013.  Mr Dictus moderated a roundtable exchange between UN organizations within the UN family in Bonn and Members of the German Parliamentary Committee on Economic Cooperation and Development. Members of the German Parliament present were:  Dr Christian Ruck (head of delegation), Dr Sascha Raabe, Ms Helga Daub, Mr Niema Movassat, and Ms Ute Koczy.

“Volunteering for Development: Innovation and impact in a changing development environment” was the theme of this year’s  annual meeting of the International Volunteer Cooperation Organisations (IVCO 2012) held in Ottawa from 14-17 October. The conference brought together senior representatives of volunteer organizations from all around the world.

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme is partnering with the Asan Nanum Foundation (ANF) of the Republic of Korea to promote youth engagement in the achievement of human development goals.   Through this partnership, UNV and the ANF aim to positively harness the energy of UN Volunteer Interns towards the advancement of peace and development around the world, while enhancing their participation, citizenship and work-related skills.  In 2013, the Foundation will provide full funding for ten young Koreans under the UNV Internship Programme.

At the beginning of October, UNV organized a regional consultation for a new initiative:  the Arab Youth Volunteering for a Better Future Programme.

Managua, Nicaragua: Situated in the heart of Central America, Nicaragua has a very rich biodiversity. As a developing economy, it is highly dependent on its natural resources. However, Nicaragua is one of the countries that suffers the most from the consequences of climate change. For example, farmlands are vulnerable due to extreme weather conditions which cause land degradation and severe erosion.

In the context of Rio+20, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme has launched a public participation campaign entitled "Volunteering for the Future We Want" on UNV China’s Sina and Tecent Weibos on 25 June 2012. Weibo is technically the Chinese translation for microblog. Sina Weibo is similar to a hybrid of Twitter and Facebook, and it is one of the most popular sites in China. Tencent Weibo is also a microblogging site where users may broadcast a message of up to 140 Chinese characters through the web, SMS or smartphone.

UN Online Volunteers Hazel Alfon (Philippines) and Riddhima A. Mehta (India) provide support to the first African Regional Conference on Women Access to Trade and Finance . The African conference is being organized by the Alliance for African Women Initiative (AFAWI), a non-governmental organization based in Ghana.