08 March 2000

Youssef El Barodi, a fully-funded Belgian UNV, works as a coordinator with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Jerusalem to support Palestinian Authority partners as they renew policies towards children and women in line with international conventions, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In collaboration with the Ministry of Justice, Youssef addresses cross-cutting issues such as child protection, family law and juvenile justice with a range of ministries and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). He is currently managing the drafting of the Palestinian Child Charter, which will become the basic law for children. "The process will be long and harsh but fundamental to give to the Palestinian children a legal framework protecting their rights," he says.

Yuri Vassiliev, a computer expert from Russia, is working under a project strengthening the process of democratization in Uzbekistan and promoting human rights and good governance. Yuri, who is fully funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperating Agency (SIDA), lives and works in Tashkent. The human rights and networking/computerization specialist develops and improves the National Information System for public access on human right's activities based on electronic communications technologies such as the Internet.

Marian Healy, a teacher from Ireland, is one of eight UNVs who are co-sponsored by the Agency for Personal Services Overseas (APSO) in support of the Peace Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA). The anthropologist was assigned to the MINUGUA Office in Solola, a provincial town in the centre of a region with 95 per cent indigenous populations. Among the seven international UN Volunteers in this office, she is in charge of the relations with women's organizations. This requires a lot of travel to remote hamlets where she informs people of their rights as women and as indigenous people. She accompanies them in their involvement in the peace process, bringing their voice back to subregional and regional women's forums.

Sponsored by the Government of Finland, Katariina Vainio-Mattila has taken up a two-year post as Programme Officer in the Lao PDR UNDP country office's environmental unit. While administering projects such as environmental legislation and mining, she works as a technical expert for country office staff and national counterparts, including advising on engineering, science or natural resource management.