"Volunteerism is a universal concept - the largest expression of global solidarity you can find," United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme Executive Coordinator (EC) Richard Dictus told a live audience of hundreds gathered in New York City, while countless virtual attendees tuned in around the world. The head of UNV was taking part in UNV's panel "Changing the World in 2.0: Volunteerism" on Sunday, 22 September 2013, the opening day of Social Good Summit, where his words seemed to strike a chord with listeners.

Working with the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI), a team of three UN Online Volunteers turned the print version of the United Nations 2013 calendar into an iPhone application. The UN Calender of Observances  app is also the product of collaboration within DPI itself, including staff and interns. This personal task management tool aims to foster interest in and support for the work of the United Nations, and can be downloaded for free from the iTunes Store.

After announcing the ten winners of the Online Volunteering Award 2012, UNV invited citizens worldwide to vote for their favourite team. The online volunteers that helped UNDP Brazil spread the word about the Rio+20 Dialogues got the most votes. This initiative of the Brazilian government supported by the UN created a direct channel for global civil society participation in Rio+20.

After announcing the ten winners of the Online Volunteering Award 2012, UNV invited citizens worldwide to vote for their favourite team. The online volunteers that helped UNDP Brazil spread the word about the Rio+20 Dialogues got the most votes. This initiative of the Brazilian government supported by the UN created a direct channel for global civil society participation in Rio+20.

Working with the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI), a team of three UN Online Volunteers turned the print version of the United Nations 2013 calendar into an iPhone application. The UN Calender of Observances  app is also the product of collaboration within DPI itself, including staff and interns. This personal task management tool aims to foster interest in and support for the work of the United Nations, and can be downloaded for free from the iTunes Store.

Anne-Marie Bekaert became an UN Online Volunteer two years ago, just after retiring. “I wanted to keep in touch with my former colleagues from the Online Volunteering service team and the work they do”, says Anne-Marie, who, prior to her retirement worked as Chief of Volunteer Recruitment at the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme. Her first assignment was the translation of the Online Volunteering service booklet into French, and recently she took up the responsibility of editing the French translation of the newsletter.

When Miguel-Ángel Marín retired from his teaching position at a Canadian university, where he had taught computer engineering for almost 40 years, he faced a challenge that many retirees share: to find new meaningful activities to replace work. “I found the days long. My woodworking hobby was my first entertainment”, he remembers. When he started looking for ways to put his time and skills to good use, he found that there were plenty of opportunities waiting for him – within the local as well as the global community.

After retiring, Rui de Oliveira, a Portuguese IT expert with forty years of experience in that field, felt "completely useless and lost". To make it worse, memories of the Portuguese colonial war in which Rui had been obliged to serve as a soldier came back and he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Anne-Marie Bekaert became an UN Online Volunteer two years ago, just after retiring. “I wanted to keep in touch with my former colleagues from the Online Volunteering service team and the work they do”, says Anne-Marie, who, prior to her retirement worked as Chief of Volunteer Recruitment at the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme. Her first assignment was the translation of the Online Volunteering service booklet into French, and recently she took up the responsibility of editing the French translation of the newsletter.

When Miguel-Ángel Marín retired from his teaching position at a Canadian university, where he had taught computer engineering for almost 40 years, he faced a challenge that many retirees share: to find new meaningful activities to replace work. “I found the days long. My woodworking hobby was my first entertainment”, he remembers. When he started looking for ways to put his time and skills to good use, he found that there were plenty of opportunities waiting for him – within the local as well as the global community.