Global leader in technology, Samsung, has just announced an unprecedented partnership with the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme the UN organization that contributes to peace and development through volunteerism worldwide. UNV values volunteerism as a powerful means of engaging people in tackling development challenges.

On International Youth Day, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme supported an event organized by all United Nations agencies in Brazil, along with the Brazilian Government, to celebrate the date and discuss the theme Black Youth and Peace. Through this event, the United Nations promotes a debate about the challenges faced by black young people in Brazil regarding violence, and access to more choices and opportunities.

The Government of Brazil, in partnership with the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme, has launched a new scholarship to support the participation of Brazilian youth in the UN Youth Volunteers Programme. Announced at a World Humanitarian Day event in 2013 to mark the 10-year-anniversary of the Canal Hotel Bombing in Baghdad, during which 22 people – including United Nations’ Special Representative to Iraq Sergio Vieira de Mello – lost their lives, the scholarship is intended to support the inclusion of Brazilian youth in humanitarian work worldwide.

Five international UN Volunteers from Brazil are in El Salvador working on the implementation of the 'Escuelas Vivas' (Living Schools) project in the country. The project is an initiative of the Government of Brazil, as part of its international actions to fight hunger, and the Government of El Salvador, in collaboration with the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme.

I have been working as a national United Nations Volunteer Specialist in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) for Cisco Networking Academy since October 2010. This has been an amazing experience which I would like to share.Cisco Networking Academy is a Cisco corporate social responsibility initiative – an educational programme in ICTs. I have been working in expanding this programme’s reach to underserved populations in Brazil by working with local NGOs, mainly in the state of São Paulo