Two fighters for democracy lost their lives in Kabul this week, two people I worked with, and I am shattered.
We have all heard of the attack Wednesday on a guest house in Kabul which accommodated UN staffers. Five colleagues died in the attack, and we mourn them all. But the saddest part, for me, was the news that two of those killed were UN Volunteers who were serving in Afghanistan to assist the organization of democratic elections.
Since many Kossacks worked as volunteers in last year's elections (and some are still active in places like Maine or Virginia or New Jersey), I wanted to share a little about our brothers and sisters from around the world who put their heart and soul -- and their lives -- on the line for democracy, and all too often receive scant recognition from their homeland or their host country, not to mention from the United States. They are our allies, our foot soldiers in the struggle for democracy, and they are precious to me. I hope they will impress you too.
From the UNV website:
The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme is the UN organization that contributes to peace and development through volunteerism worldwide....
UNV contributes to peace and development by advocating for recognition of volunteers, working with partners to integrate volunteerism into development programming, and mobilizing an increasing number and diversity of volunteers, including experienced UNV volunteers, throughout the world. UNV embraces volunteerism as universal and inclusive, and recognizes volunteerism in its diversity as well as the values that sustain it: free will, commitment, engagement and solidarity. Based in Bonn, Germany, UNV is active in 140 countries....
UNV directly mobilizes more than 7,500 UNV volunteers every year nationally and internationally. More than 75 percent of UNV volunteers come from developing countries, and more than 30 percent volunteer within their own countries.
UNV volunteers help to organize and run local and national elections and support a large number of peacekeeping and humanitarian projects. UNV volunteers comprise one third of all international civilians working in UN peacekeeping operations.
It's that last detail which most Americans are unaware of. We all know, of course, about what our troops are doing in places like Afghanistan or Iraq (even if we all have our doubts about why they are there), and some of us may know about work done there by U.S. civilians. No, not Blackwater -- I mean those folks working with USAID on economic development, or others on short-term contracts to implement nation-building programs.
But where there are international operations in support of development and democracy, there is virtually always a large United Nations civilian presence. The majority of those personnel are from countries other than the USA, including many from the Third World. And most of them acknowledge that they look up to the image of the United States as a beacon of democracy in a wrorld often filled with clouds.
Sometimes it's a highly-visible multinational Peacekeeping Operation, with a mandate from the Security Council (and funded, in large measure, by the USA and other Permanent Members); sometimes it's lower-profile activity under the UN Development Program, funded by grants from donor countries which wish to participate. (Disclosure: I am currently working in West Africa on a UNDP project which receives no US funding; I have worked in PKOs that did have US support.)
Organizing national elections is complicated, especially in a country just emerging from conflict (or still afflicted by it), and it's often beyond the capacity of national personnel. The UN can provide much-needed (and much appreciated) assistance to Electoral Management Bodies with experienced, skilled, motivated international staff. They work with local officials to draft election laws, develop voter registries, design public information campaigns, train local workers on how to run a polling station, assist with delivery of voting materials in time for the opening of the polls, and ensure that the results are collected cleanly and reported accurately. Many of these international staff are UN Volunteers.
Among the dead in Kabul yesterday were Ms. Jossie G.Esto from Philipines and Ms. Yah-Lydia Wonyene from Liberia.
From a condolence message on the UNV website this morning:
Ms. Wonyene was assigned to UNDP/ELECT as an Electoral Outreach and Training Coordinator. She had previously served as a UNV volunteer in Timor-Leste and in Sierra Leone...(and) had worked as a registration and electoral supervisor in her home country. She had been in Afghanistan for exactly one year and is survived by five children aged from six to 29 years old and one granddaughter, aged four years.
Ms. Esto was serving as an Electoral Outreach and Training Coordinator and had been in Afghanistan for just over a year. Prior to serving in Afghanistan, she was a UNV volunteer in Liberia, Timor-Leste and Nepal. Originally a school teacher, during the 1990s she worked as an Electoral Officer and Civic Education Officer in the Philippines. Ms. Esto was married and leaves a daughter aged 14 years and a son aged 12 years.
The two UNV volunteers were supporting the work of UNDP/ELECT, which is the primary vehicle through which the international community supports elections in Afghanistan. Working closely with electoral bodies such as the Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan, UNDP/ELECT provides project and programme design and management, mobilization of donor funding, activity coordination, reporting and the channelling of funds for electoral support.
I worked closely with both Jossie and Lydia for about seven months in Timor-Leste. They were part of a small but important team that helped the newly-created National Electoral Commission get started and find its proper role in the electoral process there. Their good humor and patience were key to their effectiveness.
Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.