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UNOPS United Nations Office for Project Services |
The
United Nations Office for Project Services – UNOPS – was established on 1 January
1995 against a back-drop of widespread calls for the UN system to reduce duplication,
improve efficiency and effectiveness, and establish more businesslike approaches
to cost and quality of service. UNOPS is a direct successor to UNDP/OPS (previously
UNDP/OPE) operational since 1973.
UNOPS is an entity of the United Nations that offers the international community a broad range of services ranging from overall project management and loan administration, to specific management services, such as identification and deployment of expertise, administration of training programmes, contracting for services and works, and procurement of essential goods, equipment and commodities. Projects can be elaborated and implemented following a government request in close cooperation with government institutions, NGOs and corporate partners. UNOPS total project management includes everything from handling the smallest details, such as making sure that vendors are paid on time, to taking responsibility for implementing and managing programmes, including turnkey projects. More than 350 staff manage a global portfolio of some 2,500 projects.
UNOPS does not receive any contributions for its operations – it is funded entirely by fees earned for services rendered. In responding flexibly to its clients’ demands, UNOPS tailors its services to their particular needs, applies methods for attaining cost-effective results, and mobilizes diverse implementing partners.
UNOPS is the largest United Nations organization specializing
in management and procurement services for development, purchasing more than
US$135 million worth of goods and equipment each year, financed from UN-resources,
bilateral donors or international development banks, out of a total annual delivery
of project-related activities of approximately US$ 500 million. UNOPS works
like a private sector firm to ensure that procurement services meet clients’
needs while guaranteeing the global scope and impartiality associated with the
United Nations. Over the last ten years, UNOPS has purchased goods, equip
ment
and commodities valued at over US$1.3 billion; another $1.1 billion worth of
services and works were contracted.
In line with the UN-system’s increased focus on the need to mobilize resources from the private sector, UNOPS has actively pursued partnerships with the corporate sector.
In view of the importance of Russia in the global economy, and the potential of the private sector’s participation in its development, UNOPS has already taken steps to offer its assistance in this regard. A small team is already in place, handling a significant portfolio valued at more than US$90 million.
The Executive Director of UNOPS, Reinhart Helmke visited Moscow in November 2000 at the invitation of the Russian Government in order to discuss the potential development of public-private partnerships as well as other initiatives in Russia.
Frederic Claus,
UNOPS Programme Manager
tel.: (095) 787-21-08
fax: (095) 787-21-01
e-mail: frederic.claus@undp.ru
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International Labor Organisation |
The international seminar “Gender Mainstreaming in Technical Cooperation Projects for the Social and Labour Spheres”, organized by the ILO Moscow office, was held 29 November – 1 December 2000 in the North West Russia United Nations Development Centre, St. Petersburg. More than 50 participants represented the concerned ILO Moscow projects, multilateral or bilateral cooperation agencies, trade unions, government and employers, Parliamentary organs, NGOs active in the field from Belarus, Canada, Estonia, Finland, Great Britain, Russian Federation, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
The
ILO mandate includes a strong commitment to equality of opportunity and treatment
between men and women in the world of work. Gender mainstreaming as a strategy
to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women is therefore recognized
and advocated as an ILO cross-cutting issue and this gender component should
be explicitly reflected in planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation
of technical cooperation projects and programmes. The main objectives of the
seminar were to achieve increased awareness on gender mainstreaming, to gain
experience on how to incorporate better the corresponding approach in the respective
fields of activities, and to get access to the required background information.
The seminar was opened with a greeting made by Mr. Jean-Victor Gruat, the UN Resident Coordinator a.i., Director of the ILO Moscow office, and a welcoming address by Ms.Youyun Zhang, Director of the ILO Bureau for Gender Equality, Geneva. After a general introduction to international and national considerations of the gender problems, the seminar was held in plenary sessions in accordance with the four core strategic objectives of the ILO (Fundamental Principles and Human Rights, Employment Promotion, Social Protection and Social Dialogue) which stimulated the widest possible discussion among the participants and allowed them to discover all the different aspects of the problem. The dynamic debates and discussions that took place during the seminar proved once again that the theme is very acute and arouses great interest among the participants.
Participants endorsed the ILO approach to equality between women and men as a matter of human rights, social justice and people-centred sustainable development. They recognized that Gender equality lies at the centre of the ILO core mandate, and concurred that Gender issues are not just women’s issues. They concern men and women, boys and girls. Participants also agreed with ECOSOC that Gender mainstreaming is “the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned actions, including legislation, policies or programmes, in all areas and at all levels. It is a strategy for making women’s as well as men’s concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic and societal spheres so that women and men benefit equally, and inequality is not perpetuated.”* They support the two-pronged approach chosen by the ILO to promote gender equality, which is to mainstream gender concerns in all ILO policies and programmes and to make gender-specific interventions, targeting women exclusively or men exclusively or women and men together, based on the gender analysis.
In this connection the seminar organized by the ILO Moscow office can be viewed as best practices dissemination in multi-sectoral approach, gender mainstreaming, inter-agency cooperation, and experience-sharing at a sub-regional level. Networking is a key to ensuring adequate follow-up in the areas reviewed throughout the seminar, and ILO Moscow will make efforts to establish and maintain this networking, expanding beyond the countries represented at the seminar.
The Service to Support ILO Technical Cooperation Projects in St. Petersburg with close cooperation of the ILO Moscow office has produced a bilingual CD-ROM (English, Russian), which includes general informational data on the seminar procedure, texts and phonograms of all presentations and reports, materials on gender related issues, which were disseminated during the seminar.
You may also find more detailed information on gender issues on the ILO Moscow website:
* ECOSOC Agreed Conclusions, 1997
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UN United Nations |
According to statistics, the year 2000 was the boom year for
the RuNet – the Russian segment of the Internet. Millions of 
Russians
spend hours and hours browsing the net and searching for information, not just
for fun.
Of course, the UN family in Russia could not miss such an opportunity for a better coverage of its activities in Russia. By the end of the past century, 6 of the 16 UN Agencies represented in Moscow had their web-pages. And not just pages – the extensive bilingual information-packed websites were run by the UNDP, the ILO and UNESCO. The official UN information (updated on a regular basis) was available from the UNIC website. The current economic situation of Russia was analyzed on a special page of the World Bank website, while ODCCP focused on youth-oriented anti-drugs web-projects.
The list will be a bit longer soon – the Office of the Resident-Coordinator of the UN System in Russia launches a new web-portal – “UN in Russia”. The main idea of the site is to represent online all the Agencies, Programmes, and projects of the United Nations in Russia.
Each Agency will have a web page covering their mission and projects’ descriptions. The special sections will contain the agency news, newsletters and publications online, useful web-links, as well as contact information. All one has to do is to type www.unrussia.ru and click on the Agency acronym on the Frontpage.
The “UN in Russia” information will be interesting and useful not just for students and scholars, but also for mass media professionals who regard the UN agencies as a reliable and unbiased source of information and comments on a wide scope of issues.
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ODCCP United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention |
The analysis of website in the Russian zone of the Internet, dedicated to the problem of drugs, drug addition, and alcoholism, clear indicates that not one of them provides full and reliable information on the matter.
In January 2001 UN ODCCP Regional Office for Russia and Belarus together with NGO NAN (No to alcohol and Narcotics launched a new web site www.drugsinfo.ru. It has been aimed at preventing drug abuse among the young generation, especially those of them who are Internet users.
The objective of the project is to create ideological field
on the Internet, which will allow young people, on the one hand to form the
negative attitude towards the use and distribution of drugs, and on the other
hand to try to open up for the target audience new opportunities for self-actualization
in sports, music, computer design etc.
In addition to the information pages, common for such sites, DrugsInfo.ru has a section dedicated to a special preventive project “The Clean Book”, and a “Picture Gallery”, where young computer designers can present their work reflecting the alternative sides of life of the Russian youth to the wide audience.
Please, don’t be disappointed with the small amount of materials, as this is a new site, and its future development to a great extent will depend on your input.
We will appreciate your advice and recomendations.
Please contact:
Evgeni Otchkovski,
UN ODCCP PI officer,
ph. (095) 787-2126,
e-mail: evgeni.otchkovski@odccp.ru
or the site administration at:
