29 May 2000

Bonn, Germany: Twelve former UN Volunteers from 11 countries in Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America today visited UNV headquarters in Bonn for final briefings before taking up five-month assignments as guides for the UN Pavilion at the World Exposition/EXPO 2000 in Hannover, Germany. "We are very proud of this group," said UNV's Deputy Executive Coordinator Ad de Raad. Through their former work as UN Volunteers in development projects or on UN electoral missions, these guides will "represent the human face of the United Nations" to the EXPO 2000 visitors from 1 June to 31 October, he said. "It is great to be involved in EXPO 2000."

Speaking to journalists at UNV headquarters on Monday, Mr. de Raad noted that the guides would be able to relate first-hand experiences of development initiatives in communities around the world. He noted that some 70 per cent of the 4,400 UN Volunteers who served in 1999 came from developing countries, indicating his organization's promotion of "South-South collaboration".

In addition to providing information on the structure and on general activities of the United Nations, the guides will also relate practical aspects of UN work, ranging from preparing Bosnian elections to promoting the rights of children in Central America:

• UNV Dr. Teofilo Britanico of the Philippines will be able to talk about drug abuse and rehabilitation in Indonesia.

• Ethiopian UNV Tsehaitu Kassa can pass on her experience improving health conditions for women in Gaza.

• UNV Padam Lall Maharjan of Nepal can tell visitors how it was to install navigation systems in Yemen's airports and then train local staff to continue the work.

• German UNV Charlotte Lorenz finished her UNV assignment last month during which she taught sewing to young girls in Lao PDR. "During my time in Asia, I learned that one must be calm and quiet with the people," she said. "It is going to be different when I have to shift from that environment to that of the World Exposition."

  Two UNV projects have been selected to be featured at the EXPO. The "Sustainable Development for Lake 'San Pablo' Basin and its Indigenous Communities" project will be included in the Ecuador country exhibition, while the "Sustainable Community Participation in Ankor Park" project can be viewed in the Cambodian display.

  Each year, the UNV programme assigns more than 4,000 United Nations Volunteers comprising some 140 nationalities to work in a similar number of countries. UNV's activities have broadened in recent years from technical assistance in development to include humanitarian relief, human rights monitoring and electoral support. Last year, UNV fielded 500 UN Volunteers for the referendum in East Timor and in the coming weeks there will be 700 UN Volunteers in Kosovo whose main task is to register the population ahead of municipal elections scheduled for this fall.

  In 1996, UNV headquarters moved from Geneva to Bonn. With its 120 staff members, UNV is the largest UN body based in Germany.