UNESCO UN in UN Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization

The in the Russian Federation Presents “Leadership for Action – for a Russia without AIDS”

sented a new col- sponse to HIV/AIDS. As the UN laborative initiative Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, put “Leadership in Ac- it, to increase our response to AIDS tion – for a Russia “we need complete mobilization of without AIDS”. society – everyone has to get engaged The Fair was spon- and to join in the fight. But above sored by the Rus- all, the leaders have to lead.” This sian Academy of challenge was reiterated to the crowd Fine Arts, the City of influential members of the Arts of Moscow, the and Media community by the UN Cultural Commit- Resident Coordinator in the Russian tee of the City of Federation, Mr Stefan Vassilev, and Moscow, the Muse- Mr Shombi Sharp, Head of the HIV/ um of Modern Art, AIDS Unit for the United Nations and the Fine Arts Development Programme (UNDP), Gallery. The UN which coordinates the initiative. initiative, which has Set in the majestic backdrop of the already been carried out in many The United Nations supports an ef- Moscow World Fine Art Fair gala countries, puts a special emphasis on fective, broad-based national re- opening on 2 June, the United Na- leaders in Arts and Media as critical tions Country Team in Russia pre- actors in enhancing the national re- (To be continued on p. 2)

Contents: UNDP UNESCO The United Nations in the Russian Federation The 50th Anniversary of Russia's Joining UNESCO .... 9 Presents “Leadership for Action – for a Russia Cooperation Along a Big River: the 2nd Phase of without AIDS” ...... 1 the UNESCO Interdisciplinary Initiative Annan: to Focus on Millennium Development Goals ... 4 "Sustainable Development of the Volga Basin Human Development Report-2004 Discussed ...... 4 and the Caspian Sea" ...... 10 UNDP and Ministry of Foreign Affairs: UNICEF Two New Projects ...... 4 Second Intergovernmental Conference OCHA “Making Europe and Fit for Children” ... 11 UN Staff Member Killed in Cross-fire in Ingushetia .... 5 WHO Humanitarian Aid for Chechnya Supported by The Global Effort against AIDS the Russian Government and Donor Countries ...... 5 Is Changing History: UNSECOORD World Health Report 2004 ...... 3 UN Staff Safety and Security: Training in Moscow ..... 6 Training on the Surveillance of Adverse Events WPF Following Immunization ...... 14 Walk the World in Russia ...... 7 Impact of Transitions on Mental Well-being ...... 15 UNHCR UNIC World Refugee Day 2004 in Russia ...... 8 Time for the Worldwide UNEP Photo Competition! ... 15 Russia’s “Memorial” Wins 2004 Nansen Refugee UNA – Russia Award ...... 8 Moscow International Model UN-2004 ...... 16

1 UN in RUSSIA UN Development Programme

(Continued from p. 1) collective leadership is the founda- tion for success.” sponse to HIV/AIDS as an urgent priority, enshrined as one of eight The UN initiative has already won Millennium Development Goals support from prominent representa- (proclaimed by the UN in 2000 and tives of artistic and media circles, supported by all member states). The who spoke about the AIDS problem epidemic has already taken hold in in the Russian Federation and the the country: over the last five years, role of leaders: Veronika Borovik- Russia has experienced one of the Khilchevskaya, head of "Sovershen- most explosive rates of HIV spread no Sekretno" media holding, Vladimir Pozner, a TV anchor and President of the Russian TV Acade- my, and Olga Sviblova, Director of the Moscow House of Photography. Mr. Pozner stressed that “our gov- The UN Resident Coordinator and ernment does not realize and our UNDP Resident Representative in people do not understand the scope the Russian Federation Mr Stefan of the problem. It is the respected Vassilev personalities, like Vladimir Spivak- ov and Dmitri Khvorostovsky, who ordinator and UNDP Resident Rep- should make them aware.” resentative, Stefan Vassilev, gave a message of hope. “Each one of us, together, do have the power to make a difference and save lives,” Mr Vassilev said, addressing the audi- ence of prominent politicians, diplo- mats, businessmen, media personal- ities, and artists. “While public health responses are fundamental, HIV/AIDS is a complex issue that A video message from the UN goes beyond the medical sphere, Secretary-General Mr Kofi Annan feeding on socio-economic vulnera- stressing the importance bility, uninformed behavior, stigma, of leadership in fighting AIDS and discrimination. We know now from international experience over in the world. There are already near- the past 20 years, that individual and ly 300,000 people living with HIV registered by the health authorities. Experts believe the total number to Ms Veronika Borovik-Khilchevskaya, be much greater – and it is growing Head of “Sovershenno Sekretno” all the time. media holding In addition to the dramatic human cost, several studies have demon- As a very first step of the Arts and strated that the AIDS epidemic Media group of our initiative, thanks could begin in the near future to take to a generous grant from the Mos- a heavy toll even on economic cow World Art Fair, UNDP will growth and human development in launch shortly a national competi- Russia, diminishing population lev- tion for artists to produce a piece of els and life expectancy, draining gov- work that best captures the spirit of ernment budgets and lowering eco- ‘A Russia Without AIDS’. The win- nomic growth. ner’s work will be published and dis- seminated broadly as part of the na- However, speaking at the event on Mr Shombi Sharp, Head of the tional World AIDS Campaign, and behalf of the UN Country Team and HIV/AIDS Unit for the United as a priority on the occasion of 2004 UN partners, the UN Resident Co- Nations Development Programme World AIDS Day on 1 December.

2 WHO UN in RUSSIA World Health Organization The Global Effort against AIDS Is Changing History: World Health Report 2004 veloping countries: almost 6 million AIDS Center estimate that the ac- people in developing countries will tual number of individuals living die in the near future if they do not with HIV/AIDS in Russia is from receive treatment, but only about 600000 to 1000000 people. 400000 of them were receiving it in 2003. Since epidemic began to spread rap- idly in 1996, there is now a sharply Vital resources have now been increasing number of cases of HIV pledged, including more than US$ 20 infection in need of treatment. This billion from donor countries and increase is occurring in a society and through multilateral funding agen- health system ill-equipped to pro- cies, including the Global Fund to vide these patients with treatment, fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Ma- care and support that’s why the is- laria, the President's sues raised in the report are topical Emergency Plan for HIV/AIDS Re- for Russia and need to be addressed lief and the World Bank. urgently.

These funds must now be used swift- Hope through treatment “This is a critical moment in the his- ly and in a coordinated way to pro- tory of HIV/AIDS, – says The long the lives of millions of children, In September 2003, WHO, UN- World Health Report 2004 - Chang- women and men who will otherwise AIDS and the Global Fund to Fight ing History issued 11 May, 2004. – soon die. Adequate technical sup- AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria There is more money, more politi- port for HIV/AIDS programmes declared lack of access to treatment cal will and more attention being must be mobilized to ensure that the with antiretroviral medicines a glo- paid to this killer disease than ever new investments have the greatest bal health emergency. In response, before. And yet, more people than possible long-term impact on the these organizations and their part- ever are dying of AIDS and becom- health of people in poor countries. ners launched an effort to provide ing infected with HIV. By using three million people in developing HIV treatment programs to "At long last, global investment in countries with antiretroviral thera- strengthen existing prevention pro- health – and particularly in the fight py by the end of 2005 – the "3 by 5" grams and improve health systems, against HIV/AIDS – is on the rise. initiative. the international community has a It brings a welcome and long over- unique opportunity to change the due improvement in the prospects By March 2004, 48 of the countries course of history.” for controlling the worst global epi- with high burden of HIV/AIDS had demic in several centuries. The chal- expressed their willingness to join the This year’s World Health Organiza- lenge now is to coordinate all our initiative. Russia was among them. tion report on the state of humani- efforts and to ensure that this mon- It appeared to be very timely since ty’s health calls for a comprehensive ey benefits the people who need it antiretroviral(ARV) therapy in Rus- HIV/AIDS strategy which links pre- most", said Jong-Wook Lee, Direc- sia is available on a very limited ba- vention, treatment, care and support tor-General of the World Health Or- sis. Currently only around 1800 peo- for people living with the virus. ganization (WHO). ple with HIV/AIDS receive this ther- apy. The report confirms that tackling The Russian Federation continues HIV/AIDS is the world’s most ur- to have one of the numerically fast- Injectable drug users have little or no gent public health challenge. Un- est growing epidemics in the world. access to antiretroviral treatment due known barely a quarter a century As of March 2004, over 280 thou- to the inadequacy of support servic- ago, it is now the leading cause of sand HIV infected persons were reg- es for them and widespread stigma death for young adults worldwide. istered in the country. Experts from Until now, treatment has been the the World Health Organization, most neglected element in most de- UNAIDS, and the Russian Federal (To be continued on p. 13) 3 UN in RUSSIA UN Development Programme Annan: to Focus on Millennium Development Goals United Nations Secretary-General "After years of difficult transition tion (WHO) remain a cause for deep Kofi Annan has told a forum of eco- and sometimes painful economic re- concern. nomic policy-makers and business forms, many of the countries in the leaders from the Russian Federation CIS [comprised of former constitu- Mr. Annan urged delegates to pay and the Commonwealth of Indepen- ent states of the Soviet Union] have close attention to the MDGs, a set dent States (CIS) that they must keep entered a new phase in their devel- of eight, time-specific targets – such focusing on achieving the Millenni- opment. The CIS has been one of the as halving extreme poverty, reduc- um Development Goals (MDGs) as most dynamic regions of the global ing child mortality and achieving they pursue economic reforms. economy during the last four years," universal primary-level education – he said. agreed to by world leaders at a sum- In an address to the eighth St. Peters- mit in 2000. burg International Economic Forum, But he stressed that while measures delivered on his behalf by Sergei Or- such as the UN Development Pro- The Secretary-General added that dzhonikidze, Director-General of the gramme's (UNDP) Human Devel- the recent inclusion in the European UN Office at Geneva, Mr. Annan said opment Index show that living con- Union of eight countries from East- the conference offers an opportunity ditions for most people within the ern and Central Europe means the to promote greater economic cooper- CIS have improved since the late forum is also well placed to encour- ation between the Russian Federation, 1990s, some regional indicators age stronger economic ties between the CIS and the rest of the world. from the World Health Organiza- the enlarged EU and the CIS. Human Development Report-2004 Discussed On 10 June 2004, the United Nations tempt to thoroughly analyze the in- tative of UNDP in the Russian Feder- Development Programme (UNDP) terrelation between the contemporary ation, Mr Shombi Sharp, and the head organised the hearings of the draft state of Russian society, the dynam- of the team of the report authors, Pro- of the 2004 Human Development ics of its intellectual capital, and de- fessor of Moscow State University, Mr Report for the Russian Federation velopment of human potential. In Sergei Bobylev. A brief presentation of at the Central Institute of Econom- addition, the report traditionally con- the main chapters by the respective ics and Mathematics under the Rus- tains a comparative analysis of the authors was followed by a lively dis- sian Academy of Science. This year socio-economic situation in the re- cussion. The participants praised the the subject of the report is “Knowl- gions, territories and republics of Rus- quality of the report, noted the topi- edge-based Development.” sia, as well as human development cality of the selected subject, and com- indexes in a majority of regions. mented on the report’s contents. They The report, prepared by a group of proposed to organise a round-table independent Russian experts and sci- The hearings were opened by the Se- discussion of the study on TV, as well entists, represents an innovative at- nior Adviser to the Resident Represen- as to discuss it through Internet. UNDP and Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Two New Projects tional donor and supporting the pub- ument to support the government ef- lic-private partnership. The Deputy forts in the establishment of a nation- Minister of Foreign Affairs of the RF, al agency and/or mechanism for pro- Mr Yury Fedotov, and the UNDP viding technical assistance abroad. Resident Representative in Russia, Mr Stefan Vassilev, signed the project The other project is entitled “Support documents on 11 June 2004. to the public-private partnership (PPP) in Russia on the basis of the The Preparatory Assistance project Global Compact principles and cor- “Russia as an emerging donor. Stra- porate social responsibility (CSR) tegic research, advisory services, and strategy.” It will seek to further stim- training (RUSAID)” is aimed at the ulate companies to commit themselves provision of advisory services to the to applying socially responsible prac- Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry tices in their business, thus providing of Finance, Ministry of Economic for more equitable sustainable devel- The United Nations Development Development and Trade, and other opment. It envisages the exchange of Programme and the Ministry of For- relevant agencies involved in the de- information and knowledge, as well eign Affairs of the Russian Federa- velopment and implementation of the as raising awareness of the corporate tion have joined forces in preparation technical assistance programmes. In social responsibility practices in the and implementation of two projects, addition, the purpose of the project is private sector, government bodies, aimed at making Russia an interna- to prepare a full-fledged project doc- public assosiations and NGOs. 4 OCHA UN in RUSSIA United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

UN Staff Member Killed in Cross-fire in Ingushetia The fighting between armed non-state actors and Government security forces in the Republic of Ingushetia on 21 June directly and indirectly affected the work of the United Nations.

Tragically, Magomed Getagazov, a local staff member of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Nazran was killed. He was caught in the cross-fire in Nazran while returning home from work in a private vehicle. Magomed had been part of the UN team in Ingushetia since May 2002, and had become a much appreciated colleague over time, always positive and helpful. He will be deeply missed by his colleagues and friends from the humanitarian community.

The UN Secretary-General and the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitar- ian Affairs have paid tribute to Magomed, and joined many others in express- ing condolences to his family.

Humanitarian Aid for Chechnya Supported by the Russian Government and Donor Countries

eral Government, the governments of Chechnya and Ingushetia, the UN, donor countries, international organizations and non-governmen- tal organizations. The Government praised the contributions made by international organizations through the CAP to alleviate suffering in the region. Humanitarian needs remain substantial, and international orga- nizations expressed their resolve to continue programs to meet human- itarian needs in Chechnya.

Since January some 10,000 internal- ly displaced persons (IDPs) living in On 4 June 2004 the United Nations the Red Cross and Red Crescent Ingushetia have decided to return to Humanitarian Coordinator in Mos- movement. The United Nations and Chechnya. Nevertheless, assistance cow presented the Mid-Year Review non-governmental organizations and protection for 50,000 registered of the 2004 Consolidated Inter- participating in the appeal request- IDPs still in Ingushetia remains a Agency Appeal for Chechnya and ed a total of US $61,923,703 in No- priority. Neighbouring Republics. The CAP, vember. After donor funding of al- as the appeal is known, was most US $30,000,000 and slight The discussion also looked beyond launched in November 2003 by 9 project revisions, organizations are immediate humanitarian needs to UN agencies and 12 non-govern- still seeking US $32,760,122. the Government’s plans for econom- mental organizations with active hu- ic recovery in Chechnya. Planning manitarian assistance programs in The Mid-Year Review event became for the 2005 CAP will complement the North Caucasus. Its projects an open discussion on the humani- Government programs in areas of were formulated in consultation tarian situation in the North Cau- social-services support and econom- with the Government, donors and casus by representatives of the Fed- ic recovery. 5 UN in RUSSIA UNSECOORD United Nations Security Coordinator in the Russian Federation UN Staff Safety and Security: Training in Moscow

Nowadays security is one of the big- On the UN Staff Day, 11 June 2004, the United Nations Security Coor- gest challenges for UN staff global- the UN remembered its 111 United dinator (UNSECOORD) in the ly. The blue UN flag and UN sym- Nations workers who died in the ser- Russian Federation has been sup- bols, which once stood as a shield for vice of peace during the last year. porting the UN Designated Official its staff, now need protection in for Security and the Security Man- many places. The Secretary-General and UN Of- agement Team for four and a half ficials are continuously urging great- years in providing UN staff safety Since 1999 the UN has lost more of er attention and strongly calling for and security through developing, its civilian personnel than those en- preventive steps to UN staff safety managing, coordinating and facili- gaged in peacekeeping operations. and security, especially for those col- tating security systems, practices, Between January 1994 and October leagues in the field. They stress that policies and procedures. The secu- 2002, 74 incidents involving hostage- all security measures must be taken rity situation in the North Caucasus taking or kidnapping involving 262 before staff are employed in the field. in 2004 continues to be extremely staff occurred – 8 in 2002 in separate dangerous and complex. This year incidents in Somalia, Sudan and The primary responsibility for the has seen an escalation in the level of Guyana. safety and security of UN personnel militant activity and security opera- in field operations rests with host tions in the Republic of Ingushetia, Preceded by previous disastrous at- Governments. No security measures particularly in the Sunzhenski and tacks on UN staff in Rwanda, West can be effective without their full Nazran districts. Besides the on-go- Timor, Afghanistan, the 19th of Au- commitment and efficacy. Unfortu- ing crisis, the North Caucasus region gust 2003 was a turning point for the nately, the riskiest situations for hu- also suffers from a high crime rate. Uni