22 March 2007

Pristina, Kosovo: Five members of the UNV programme in Kosovo are among 20 people recently honoured for their work in a Missing Persons and Forensics Project (OMPF). The Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Kosovo, Joachim Rücker, handed UN 21 awards to international UNV volunteers Adidja Asman (Burundi), Klaire Kasibayo (Uganda), James Nicholls (UK), Olajide Sunday Animasaun (Nigeria), and Omololu Owolabi (Nigeria) on March 16.

UN 21 awards were created to encourage and support the creativity of staff in improving efficiency by making an outstanding improvement or innovative change, or an increase in quality, impact, efficiency or effectiveness of the organization’s programme or service.

OMPF was established in Kosovo in 2002 when 5,326 persons were missing. The team successfully halved the number of missing persons and went on to use the project as an initiative for peace-building and transitional justice. A cornerstone of the initiative is the "Memory Project” which aims to recognize and record the experiences of the families of the missing. The Memory Project shows how experiences of loss are common to all ethnic groups.

OMPF later provided ad hoc support and expertise to the UN mission in Iraq to develop their own Centre for Missing and Disappeared Persons.

UNV congratulates the five volunteers in Kosovo for their determination in building bridges of peace in Kosovo.