28 November 2001

Bonn, Germany: The Bonn-based UN Volunteers programme is scaling up its involvement in Afghanistan. Currently, 19 United Nations Volunteers based in Pakistan are providing support for activities of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

Twenty-four additional UN Volunteers are currently being fielded or are on stand-by to provide assistance to the humanitarian relief efforts of the United Nations. They will be based in Afghanistan or will operate from neighbouring Pakistan and Tajikistan. These UN Volunteers -- water and sanitation engineers, site planners, public health experts and administrative specialists -- will focus their efforts on care for refugees and internally displaced people as well as food distribution. A number of UN Volunteers will also serve as public information officers.

Through a financial contribution of DM 800,000 by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, a Rapid Deployment Facility for Afghanistan will further enable United Nations Volunteers to be deployed on short notice. Initially, these UN Volunteers are to support the most urgent humanitarian relief and recovery efforts by several funds, programmes and agencies of the UN system. Their assignments will be identified under the overall guidance of the UN Resident Coordinator in Afghanistan. The initiative aims at mobilizing international experts as well as Afghan nationals and expatriate nationals to serve as UN Volunteers. The UNV programme has for many years successfully worked with teams of international and national UN Volunteers. Other donor governments will be invited to contribute to this flexible facility in support of the immediate needs of the UN system in Afghanistan.

With a long track record in relief and rehabilitation operations, the UN Volunteers programme has a solid roster of qualified experts at its disposal who stand ready to assist in initial humanitarian measures as well as longer term reconstruction and development initiatives. Last year alone, more than 2,000 UN Volunteers carried out assignments in the areas of humanitarian relief, reconstruction and peace operations. Some 200 United Nations Volunteers have rendered assistance to Afghanistan since 1989. In addition to refugee assistance and food aid monitoring, they have also been part of the initiatives for the protection of women and children undertaken by UNICEF.