08 October 2004

Kabul, Afghanistan/Bonn, Germany: "On the eve of this event, a lot of gratitude and recognition must be given to our UN Volunteers who have demonstrated such very high levels of commitment and dedication to helping make the Afghan election a reality,” says Ad de Raad, UNV’s Executive Coordinator. “This past year has been incredibly tough for many of our colleagues working in Afghanistan. Their willingness to endure against many obstacles will make a difference to the lives of millions of Afghans. That is a fine achievement for the UN.”

Over the past 14 months, more than 600 UNVs supported the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), the UN Electoral Assistance Division and the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Voter Registration Project in registering some 10 million people, including at least four million women.

The UN Volunteers worked at the district level in every province as provincial field coordinators and registration supervisors, as well as provided logistical support on the technical and administrative side of the registration activities. Three hundred national UNVs entered data and monitored a computerized database of all registered voters.

Kevin Gilroy, Chief of UNV’s Special Operations Unit, says while UNV support to electoral assistance is not new, preparations for the Afghanistan vote posed many new challenges. "Since the early 90's, UNV has assisted in nearly every major UN supported election exercise, but nothing has compared to the hardship, isolation, and security challenges the Afghan operation have entailed over this past year,” he says. “It has been a difficult task, and by no means perfect, but the Afghan people have yearned for this right, and they shall see it through.”

Saturday’s presidential vote is the first in a series of elections to be held in the country. Afghans are expected to cast a ballot for parliamentary elections in 2005. In the meantime, UN Volunteers will continue supporting electoral assistance activities through civic education, logistical support and supervision of polling stations.