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Timor -- Sixty United Nations Volunteers arrived
in Dili, East Timor today to prepare and conduct
elections scheduled for 30 August. Another group
of 60 UN Volunteers, currently in an orientation
programme in Darwin, Australia, is expected to
arrive on 27 May.
The
first group of UN Volunteers traveled straight to
their duty stations today, joining advance three-person
electoral teams deployed in March throughout the
territory's 13 districts as part of the United Nations
Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET).
"The arrival of these District Electoral
Officers completes the UN Volunteers' participation
in this historic process for East Timor, bringing
the overall number to 820 UN Volunteers working
within UNTAET in over 160 professional categories," said
Kevin Gilroy, UN Volunteers (UNV) Coordinator
in East Timor.
The UN Volunteers
make up more than 50 per cent of international
civilian personnel, he
said, adding: "This is the largest presence
in scope and number in a single UN operation
in the 30-year history of the UNV program."
He said the
deployment of UNV District Electoral Officers "marks
another vital step forward in UNTAET's mission
of preparing East Timor
for formal independence."
On polling day, Timorese men and women will
elect 88 representatives from a dozen political
parties who will, in turn, form a Constituent
Assembly that will draft a Constitution.
Ray Kennedy,
the Chief of Technical Services at the Independent
Electoral Commission, describes
these elections as "the most important
elections in the history of East Timor by which
the people will elect the persons to draw up
basic laws of the country".
"By July 10, we will post the voter lists
throughout the country for people to make sure
that information has been recorded correctly," he
said.
The Civil Registration exercise, a prerequisite
for the 30 August election is entering its
final stage. One hundred thirty UNV Civil Registration
Officers have already registered more than
435,000 East Timorese, providing each eligible
voter with a blue card allowing them to cast
their ballots.
After completing the civil registration process
by the end of June, UNV Civil Registration
Officers will join the Electoral Unit, bringing
the number of UNV District Electoral Officers
to 250. Each UN Volunteer will organize and
supervise the ballot in a separate polling
centre in his or her assigned district.
Some of the newly arrived UN Volunteers at
Dili airport were part of a 500-strong contingent
of UNV Electoral Officers who helped organize
East Timor's 1999 Popular Consultation, at
which the vast majority of voters chose independence
from Indonesia.
"We are here to finish the job as we
left it in September 1999," said Dutch
UN Volunteer Jeroen Hamers. "I'm glad
to be back and I'm looking forward to meeting
again people I knew during the UNAMET time.
I hope they are all well."
UNV is the volunteer arm of the UN system.
It extends hands-on assistance for peace and
development 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 send volunteers -- two-thirds of them from
developing countries -- and promote the ideals
of volunteerism around the world. UN Volunteers
have extensive experience in 115 professional
fields.
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