ISLAMABAD, Nov 29: The United Nations has decided to field 24 additional volunteers in Pakistan and Tajikistan to provide assistance to the humanitarian relief efforts in Afghanistan, if they could not be based in the war ravaged country.

Speaking at a news conference here on Thursday, UN Information Centre Director Eric Falt said that if the security situation allowed, the UN volunteers would be based in Afghanistan. Otherwise, he said, they would operate from Pakistan and Tajikistan.

Currently, 19 volunteers in Pakistan are providing support for activities of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the World Food Programme, the UN Development Programme and the UN Children’s Fund.

The spokesperson said the volunteers were water and sanitation engineers, site planners, public health experts and administrative specialists. They would focus their efforts to care for refugees and internally displaced people, as well as help in food distribution. A number of UN volunteers will also serve as public information officers, he said.

Mr Falt said the decision to field additional volunteers was taken by the UN Volunteers (UNV) programme to scale up its involvement in Afghanistan.