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| Sunday, 6 June 2004 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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UN assistance to conflict affected areas by Christie Fernando, Chilaw special correspondent In Sri Lanka, the first UN volunteer started her contract in 1975. Since then, over 550 Sri Lankan UN volunteers have left the country to serve as UN overseas volunteers. At present there are 34 UN Volunteers (4 national volunteers and 30 international volunteers) working in Sri Lanka in several functional categories in five out of the nine provinces in the country with plans to expand into three more provinces; Uva, North Central and Southern Provinces to alleviate poverty - to provide humanitarian assistance - give general support to the UN system and support the work of various UN agencies in the areas most affected by the ethnic conflict. Since the UN volunteer programme began its work in Sri Lanka, the UN volunteers have given substantial field support and assistance to UN agencies (UNHCR, UNDP, UNICEF and WEP). Further, the UN volunteers have been directly or indirectly working in areas most affected by the conflict. Currently, the 34 UN volunteers make up an integral part of the Agencies field co-ordinators in the North and East. Besides, a number of UN volunteers based in Colombo frequently travel to conflict-affected areas to render assistance in the demarcated fields assigned to them. Within the UNHCR, the UN volunteers provide support and assistance in facilitating the reintegration and rehabilitation of returnees and internally displaced persons. UN volunteers also provide support to UNHCR in the areas of protection, advocacy, emergency preparedness, logistics and administration. As it is now, UN volunteers provide support to UNHCR's work in Jaffna, Mannar, Vavuniya, Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi, Trincomalee, Colombo and Batticaloa. UN volunteers work in four broad sectors: * Technical co-operation for development; * Community - focused initiatives; * Humanitarian relief and rehabilitation; electoral, human rights and peace building processes. To become a UN volunteer please contact: UN Volunteers Programme Officer, UN Volunteers Programme/UNDP, 202-204 Bauddhaloka Mawatha, Colombo7. Tel: 0112 680691-8. |
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