UN Participates in the International Book Fair in Moscow

The 18th International Book Fair was held in Moscow from 7 to 12 September. Book market professionals from 54 countries of the world gathered at this major cultural event. Over 900 displays prepared for the participants were accommodated in two large All Russian Exhibition Centre (VVTs) pavilions.

This year, the United Nations Representative Office in Russia was among the book fair participants. Twelve UN agencies (WHO, World Bank, UN Information Centre, WFP, ILO, UNDP, UNHCR, UNODC, UNESCO, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNAIDS) presented 300 publications at [i]The United Nations Organization in the Russian Federation[/i] stand.

We distributed numerous UN publications to those who visited our stand. Their topics varied from the UN 60th anniversary to international law, socio-economic development, human rights, fighting HIV/AIDS, food aid, population, healthcare, fighting illegal drugs trade, situation with children, education and culture issues, situation with refugees.

Approximately 5,000 people visited our stand and received about 9,000 UN publications, including reports, magazines, bulletins, and brochures. Half of the visitors were students and professors from higher education institutions.

While communicating with the visitors we understood that what we had brought to the exhibitons was far from enough and that the interest in the United Nations activities and programmes in Russia is really great. The most popular publications on our stand were those produced by WHO, ILO, UNDP, UNESCO, and the World Bank.

We would like to express our gratitude to A. Kolesnikov and K. Okatiev (The World Bank office), T. Chubrikova (WFP office), and other UN volunteers who provided assistance during the book fair.

Y. Vlasova

UNIC