15 October 2009 - The United Nations has launched a new media campaign to highlight the work of its mission and its staff members in Afghanistan in the run-up to UN Day.

24 October is the day when the United Nations charter was signed in 1945. It has been commemorated since 1948as UN Day.

Last year Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary-General said: “The United Nations must deliver results for a safer, healthier, more prosperous world.”

This year in Afghanistan, a number of broadcasters have been commissioned to air ten specially produced television spots featuring UN staff members and people who have benefited from their work.

The campaign “I work for the UN, I work for Afghanistan” features an elderly farmer, a refugee and a UNICEF health worker among others.

In one TV spot an Afghan staff member working for the World Health Organization says: “I work for the United Nations, through which I can help Afghan children equally.”

In a project to eliminate polio disease, a mother says: “Vaccination keeps our children safe and healthy.”

In another of the television advertisements, a schoolgirl says: “We used to sit on the ground under the sun, but now we have benches to sit along with proper canopies.”

Focusing on the demining activities of the UN in Afghanistan a farmer says: “Because of mines, it has been almost 20 years that nothing has been cultivated in this area. But now that the area has been cleared from mines, we can cultivate.”

Since the 1980s the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR has been helping Afghans who at one time made up the world’s largest refugee population.

Since 2001 around five million refugees have returned to Afghanistan from neighbouring countries.

“We had no land, no house and no shelter. We were living like nomads. The United Nations provided these shelters to us,” says a refugee in another of the TV spots.

Afghanistan joined the UN in 1946 and has had a more than fifty year history with the UN.

Since 2002 the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has led and coordinated the UN family and worked closely with the Government of Afghanistan.

Last year the UN Day worldwide campaign was entitled “The United Nations works for you” and focused on 14 core activities ranging from disarmament, peace and security, human rights, health, education, food and poverty eradication.

In addition to the media campaign this year in Afghanistan, the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF today organized the Global Handwashing Day in support of the forthcoming UN day.

Starting from next week, UN officials will exchang`e ideas with students at Kabul University about the role of the UN in the world.

By Kangying Guo, UNAMA