AGREEMENT SIGNED FOR 1996 MOVE OF UN VOLUNTEERS TO BONN
Press Release
DEV/2076
AGREEMENT SIGNED FOR 1996 MOVE OF UN VOLUNTEERS TO BONN
19951110 NEW YORK, 10 November (United Nations Development Programme) -- The United Nations and the Government of Germany today signed the United Nations Volunteers Headquarters Agreement, clearing the way for the move of United Nations Volunteers headquarters from Geneva to Bonn. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali first proposed the relocation to German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, which led to today's signing ceremony.The agreement, negotiated between the German authorities, the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Volunteers, sets out the terms and conditions under which the first headquarters of a United Nations organization will be established in Germany. The final document, signed by UNDP Administrator James Gustave Speth and the Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations in New York, Tono Eitel, is considered one of the best headquarters agreements entered into by the United Nations to date. In particular, it contains a number of favourable clauses relating to the status of United Nations Volunteers, while also taking into consideration the needs of staff relocating to Bonn.
The move will be funded in full by the German Government and is scheduled to take place by 1 July 1996, following ratification of the agreement by the German Parliament. United Nations Volunteers will be sharing rent-free premises with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and other United Nations bodies at Haus Carstanjen, an historic building set in parkland on the Rhine's left bank at Bad Godesberg.
At the signing ceremony, Mr. Speth expressed appreciation for the "generous terms" extended to United Nations Volunteers by Germany, noting that the speed with which the agreement had been formulated and negotiated was a clear demonstration of the commitment of the German authorities to the work of the United Nations.
The United Nations Volunteers programme is administered under the auspices of UNDP and performs a wide range of activities in more than 130 countries. Some 4,000 United Nations Volunteers are currently working in technical cooperation, humanitarian relief, peace-keeping and electoral missions in developing countries around the world, with emphasis on assisting local communities. Whether it be caring for refugees in Rwanda, promoting human rights in Cambodia or assisting with elections in Haiti, some 13,000 United Nations Volunteers specialists have to date combined their skills to render much-needed support.
In 1996, the United Nations Volunteers programme will commemorate its twenty-fifth anniversary from its new home in Bonn. * *** *