23 May 2000

Bonn, Germany: Fifty UN Volunteer specialists attached to the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) have returned from Banjul, The Gambia, where they were relocated earlier this month due to the deteriorating security situation.

The specialists, recruited by the Bonn-based United Nations Volunteers programme (UNV), have resumed their assignments in providing services to UNAMSIL. Seven UN Volunteers remained in Sierra Leone's capital Freetown despite the unrest. Five more UNVs work as United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) administrative staff members in Freetown.

UNV is currently recruiting eight additional specialists for UNAMSIL. The UN Volunteers currently on the ground work as field engineers, camp managers, construction supervisors, communications and transport technicians and warehouse managers. Others are water and sewage specialists, inventory managers and computer specialists.

UNAMSIL was established on 22 October 1999 under UN Security Council Resolution 1270 to cooperate with the Government of Sierra Leone and the other parties to the peace agreement that was signed in Lomé on 7 July 1999 after nine years of civil war. The mission will help the Government implement its disarmament, demobilization and reintegration plan for some 45,000 combatants. To reach these objectives, a UN peacekeeping force has been deployed throughout the country. UNAMSIL peacekeepers have been empowered to ensure the security and freedom of movement of its personnel and protect civilians under imminent threat of physical violence.

The UN mission will also help delivery of humanitarian aid, support the operations of United Nations civilian human rights and civil affairs officials as well as provide support, as requested, to future democratic elections.