UNV Kosovo: News Releases

National UN Volunteeers Programme launched in Kosovo

PRISTINA, Kosovo, 20 February 2003 - The United Nations Volunteers programme
(UNV) has launched a national UN Volunteer initiative to enable Kosovars to
serve the causes of peace and development at home.

"A growing demand for national UN Volunteers from a wide range of partners
has led to the implementation of several national UN Volunteer initiatives
in Africa, Latin America, Caribbean, Asia, Arab States and Eastern Europe,"
said Robert Piper, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) office in Kosovo.

"Thousands of national UN Volunteers have been assigned worldwide to support
development, humanitarian and peace-building programmes and their
contribution is well known almost for everyone."

Attending a ceremony Tuesday at the UNDP office to launch the scheme in
Kosovo were the first national UN Volunteers -- Visar Krusha, Violet Djokic
and Shadija Ahmetaj, who are assigned to work for the Kosovo Youth Network
(KYN), an umbrella of around 100 youth groups.

"Today we have three people here," Mr. Piper said. "After six months, the
number of national UN Volunteers will be bigger and they will be present in
other fields as well."

The national UN Volunteer strategy in Kosovo is to harness the enthusiasm of
young people and their knowledge of the socio-cultural and prevailing
political conditions. They volunteer in their own community to promote the
concept of volunteerism and self-help in support of social development and
humanitarian efforts. By tapping Kosovo's ethnic diversity, youth will be
brought together to gain the necessary skills and tools through
participatory workshops and training in confidence-building, in
reconciliation and peaceful co-existence and in capacity-building. To this
end, a number of nationals will be recruited in the coming months as
coordinators and trainers at the regional level in the "Volunteers for
Peace" Project in addition to those who will be assigned to minority
integration and reconciliation programmes.

Based in Bonn, Germany, UNV is the volunteer arm of the UN system supporting
peace, relief and development initiatives in nearly 150 countries. Created
by the UN General Assembly in 1970 and administered by the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP), UNV works through UNDP country offices to
mobilize volunteers-two thirds of them from developing countries--and
promote the ideals of volunteerism around the world.

For more information please contact:
Ms. Evliana Berani, Communication and Advocacy Team Leader, UNDP office in
Pristina, Kosovo; Email evliana.berani@undp.org, or
Mr. Conor Lyons, UNV Programme Officer, UNDP Pristina, Email
conor.lyons@undp.org