Gigeta, Burundi: Volunteering is one of the best ways for young people to turn their energy and creativity into a tool for development and peace. During a conference organized in Gitega (Burundi) by the Ministry for Youth, Sports and Culture, UNV pushed for encouraging young people to take part in local and national volunteering initiatives throughout Burundi. The conference was backed by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD). The article is in French. Read

Bosnia and Herzegovina: On 18 May 2013, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme in Bosnia and Herzegovina, together with the local NGOs ‘Ruke’ and ‘Mozaik Prijateljstva’, joined the ‘Let’s Do It!’ action to clean illegal disposal sites and make Bosnia and Herzegovina a nicer, cleaner and healthier place. Read

Pristina, Kosovo: On 24 May, UNDP and UNV joined the largest cleaning campaign in Kosovo to date. As part of the global initiative ‘Let’s Do It! World Clean-up’, over 130,000 volunteers participated with the aim to clean the environment in Kosovo. UNV supported the ‘Let’s do it Kosovo’ campaign by providing technical assistance and training ‘Let’s do it Kosovo’ staff in volunteer mobilization and coordination. Read

Today, 5 June, World Environment Day is celebrated around the world. This year’s campaign, Think Eat Save: Reduce your Footprint, highlights the large quantities of food that are wasted every day, and encourages people to be more aware of the environmental impact of the food choices they make.

On this Day, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme launches an extract from the 2011 State of the World's Volunteerism Report, 'Volunteerism and Disasters', which focuses on the role of volunteer action in disaster risk reduction.

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Yokohama, Japan: On 2 June, during the Fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V), the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme will host a side event to highlight the significance of youth volunteering for peace and sustainable development in Africa, and discuss ways to strengthen continental, regional and national youth volunteer programmes. Read

In the run up to the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme hosted a live Facebook chat on 27 May 2013 with Isabelle Blanc, an international UN Volunteer who is serving with the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). Read

Today, 21 May, is the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development. The 2013 campaign, 'Do One Thing for Diversity and Inclusion' encourages people and organizations around the world to take concrete action to support diversity.

On this Day, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme launches an extract from the 2011 State of the World's Volunteerism Report, 'Volunteerism is Universal', focusing on the universal values that motivate people the world over to volunteer for the common good. Read

New York: On Monday 29 April, UNV Executive Coordinator Richard Dictus briefed Member States and Permanent Observers to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Richard joined the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, Ahmad Alhendawi, and the Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs for the UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs, Thomas Seltzer, in updating ECOSOC on the progress made on the Secretary-General’s Five-Year Action Agenda as it relates to youth. Read

Tashkent, Uzbekistan: Last July UNDP and UNV in Uzbekistan joined forces to launch a two and half year project supporting volunteers and other young enthusiasts who want to make a positive impact in their communities. We are pleased to say that nine months later the project is bustling with activity. Read

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