26 March 2002

Islamabad, Pakistan/Bonn, Germany: United Nations Volunteers of Afghan origin have started arriving to support recovery efforts for and with the people of Afghanistan.

"I'm very excited. You don't know how much I was homesick," said Osman Lodin, 50, a structural engineer working with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and a resident of Canada. "I am very happy to be back home to visit my people and I'm glad to work for them."

Mr. Lodin, a sanitation and shelter specialist, has just completed briefings in Islamabad, Pakistan, and is about to travel back to his hometown, Herat. "I can't wait to get there."

The UN Volunteer left Afghanistan in 1977 on a scholarship to attend Queen's University of Belfast, Northern Ireland, where he earned his master's degree in structural engineering. He intended to return home after completing his studies, but in the wake of a 1978 coup, "Afghanistan went upside down", he said.

"I was always disappointed that I studied in [Europe] and worked in Canada, and the people of Afghanistan did not get any benefit from my studies and knowledge," he said. "I hope to be useful. I hope to provide comfort in terms of housing, in terms of water and sanitation, in terms of any other things I could do as an engineer." Since immigrating to Canada, he has worked as a structural engineer, specializing in highway bridges.

Although he does not have immediate family in Herat, he will try to take enough time during his three-month assignment to locate relatives. "I am sure I will be in contact with the [local] people continuously, and I am delighted to be in contact with them," he said.

Another UNV sanitation and shelter specialist and Canadian resident, Ghulam Qadir, has just traveled to begin his work in Kandahar. He will help identify the needs of returnees and internally displaced persons and locate local resources to assist women and children and to protect the environment.

Currently, 25 United Nations Volunteers based in Afghanistan and Pakistan are providing support for activities of UNHCR, the World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

Additional UN Volunteers are 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.

To deploy skilled professionals at short notice, the United Nations Volunteers programme (UNV) has set up a Rapid Deployment Facility for Afghanistan. Implemented under the overall guidance of the UN Resident Coordinator in Afghanistan, this facility serves as a flexible mechanism through which international experts as well as Afghan nationals and Afghans living abroad can serve as UN Volunteers. Germany and Luxembourg have already contributed to this facility, and other donor governments are considering financial support.

Some 200 United Nations Volunteers have brought support to Afghanistan since 1989. Most of these UN Volunteers served under the UNDP-led Poverty Eradication and Community Empowerment Programme (PEACE) together with other UN agencies. 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.

UNV is currently urging Afghans living abroad to join a roster of candidates who would like to return to Afghanistan to assist with the development of the country and is putting in place a programme to facilitate the assistance of these Afghans to serve as volunteers.

More information is available online at: <a"http: target="blank"></a"http:>www.unv.org/volunteers/options/afghans.htm<//a><//a>

With a long track record in relief and rehabilitation operations, the UN Volunteers programme has a roster of experts at its disposal. These UNV candidates stand ready to assist in initial humanitarian measures as well as longer term reconstruction and development initiatives. Last year alone, more than 5,000 UN Volunteers carried out assignments, 2,000 of which were in the areas of humanitarian relief, reconstruction and peace operations.