Beijing, China: The Beijing Organizing Committee will begin recruiting hundreds of volunteers worldwide for the 2008 Olympic Games, Beijing Evening News reported today.    Read article

London, UK: Volunteers from Indonesia are being deployed to help fight poverty, drug and alcohol abuse in Glasgow, Scotland under Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO) Global Xchange programme. The programme also aims to give volunteers from poor countries a glimpse of the "rich and glamorous western life".  Read article

Beijing, China: China has strengthened its campaign encouraging volunteers to help out in community activities, e.g., taking care of the poor and elderly, and expects to increase number of people volunteering to eight percent in 2008, from the current three percent.   Read article

We are proud to announce that the World Volunteer Web has won this year’s Web4Dev Award for excellence in website design and development. The Web4Dev Award for 2006 is sponsored by the World Bank and was presented on 21 June at a ceremony in Washington D.C.  Read article

Glasgow, Scotland: More than 1,200 volunteers, charity workers and trade unionists from around the world are in Glasgow, Scotland for a major international conference to discuss issues affecting civil society.  Read article

Cardiff, Wales, UK: A huge renaissance in the popularity of the Scouts and Guides is causing a shortage of leaders in Wales, with too few leaders for the numbers of youngsters wanting to join up. Busy lifestyle and apathy are being blamed by officials.  Read article

Yogyakarta, Indonesia: In the little village of Garanguro, outside Yogyakarta, the neighbours helped each other pull victims out of the rubble. The residents bonded, literally, after the quake that hit Yogyakarta on 29 May, living together after all 160 houses were destroyed. Emergency response is most effective, the author claims, when people themselves get involved in the first hours after a disaster.  Read article

London, UK: Business and management professionals are urged to share their skills and knowledge with people in poor countries while giving their long-term career prospects a boost, says VSO.  Read article

Washington, DC, USA: More than 65 million Americans volunteered their time last year, but the participation rate has remained flat since 2002 and participation varies widely by state, region and ethnic group, according to a federal survey released Monday.  Read article

Tasmania, Australia : The Queen's Birthday holiday should be scrapped and replaced with something more uniquely Australian, says Tasmanian senator Guy Barnett, such as a national volunteers' day.  Read article