Former Secretary of State Colin Powell is lending his stature to an initiative from the incoming administration to connect volunteers with causes that need them.

President-elect Barack Obama's 'Renew America Together' initiative will officially launch a Web site on Martin Luther King Day, 19 January, to help people answer the call. Obama's inauguration is the following day.

  Visit site

The Building Bridges Coalition is a consortium of leading international volunteering organizations, colleges and universities, corporations and government agencies working collaboratively to double the number of volunteers serving abroad by 2010, while improving programme quality and maximizing positive impacts in the communities where volunteers serve.  Visit site

A full report is now available about the European Conference held in Dublin, Ireland, on 26-27 June 2008. The theme of the conference was "Best Practice in International Volunteering and Co-operation".   Visit site

Former Scottish First Minister Jack McConnell, who was recently appointed as British High Commissioner for Malawi, has thrown his full weight behind a drive to get Malawians in diaspora to volunteer back in their homeland.  Visit site

John McCain and Barack Obama found common ground on the virtues of volunteering at a forum on national service that ended a day largely free of the partisan broadsides that will define the presidential campaign.  Visit site

Both Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama have made voluntary national service an important component of their campaigns. Consequently, this is a promising time to consider expanding and reinvigorating the Peace Corps, an iconic American institution emblematic of both soft power and national service.  Visit site

There are hundreds of thousands of volunteers working at the Beijing Olympics, screened from millions of applicants. But what kind of volunteers are they? This author has mixed feelings, and challenges readers to get back to her with their responses and observations.  Visit site

In adopting a written declaration on announcing 2011 as the European Year on Volunteering, Members of the European Parliament call upon the European Commission supported by all European Institutions to announce 2011 as the European Year of Volunteering. The House points out that there are more than 100 million Europeans of all ages, beliefs and nationalities who volunteer.   Visit site

Oman, paying rich tributes to associations involved in volunteer work in the country, has revealed plans to issue for the first time a national strategy for non-governmental organisations (NGOs). The announcement was made by Social Development Minister Dr. Sharifa bint Khalfan Al Yahya'eyah. She said the ministry was in the process of developing a national strategy that would incorporate recommendations to activate and develop voluntary work in the country.  Visit site

The first international symposium on developing a 'culture of volunteering' in universities and schools across the country was held in the capital on 29 April. Organized by the Emirates Foundation's volunteer programme Takatof, the symposium, titled 'Learning from the International Volunteer Experience', featured international delegates who stressed that volunteering is a critical aspect of an active civil society.  Visit site