The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the African Union - United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) today launches a joint photographic exhibition at the United Nations Headquarters in New York entitled "On the Ground: UN Peace Operations in Darfur and in Afghanistan." English

The exhibition which explores the lives of people in two places plagued by long years of conflict, features the joint work of Albert Gonzalez Farran for UNAMID, and Fardin Waezi and Eric Kanalstein for UNAMA.

This photographic exhibition portrays the daily life of people from all walks of life in Afghanistan and Darfur.

The photographs “Darfur Up Close” concentrate on internally displaced people, efforts to assist them returning home, the catastrophic effects of violence on the population and the work of peacekeepers. The project reflects the ‘zoom effect’ of a lens that travels from wide angle to close-up.

The photographs on Afghanistan focus on the everyday challenges Afghans face. Each image is a reflection of the daily struggle for survival encountered by Afghan women, children and men. All are from ordinary daily subjects, each possessing something exceptional.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

• This photo exhibition is open to the public throughout July at the visitor’s entrance of the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

• Please visit http://unama.unmissions.org for more information on the Afghanistan exhibition.

• Please visit http://unamid.unmissions.org for more information on the Darfur exhibition.