 |
|
|
United Nations Children's Fund |
The "Social Petersburg: New Soultions" exhibition of non-profit projects and services has been held in St. Petersburg, as part of the celebrations for the 300th anniversary of the city’s founding.
More
than 80 of the non-profit and international organizations actively operating
in St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region took part in it.
"The aim of the exhibition was to present St. Petersburg as
a new 
social
zone in which the public, the government, and the business community are finding
new paths of social development, and of creating a comfortable urban environment",
said Exhibition Director Elina Chizhevskaya.
The exhibition ran for two days on Nevskii Prospect. On the
first day, professionals from the social sector and representatives from state
and non-governmental organizations gathered for round table talks and debates.
A presentation was given of a social policy concept for 
children
with limited abilities in St. Petersburg. Exhibition participants discussed
the topic of supporting the family as a means of preventing social orphanhood
and child neglect. The round table "St. Petersburg and Europe: Partnership and
Cooperation in the Social Sphere", saw representatives from UNICEF, the European
Union, SIDA, DFID, the Nordic Nations’ Council of Ministers, and other foreign
organizations actively operating in the region come together.
On the second day, the exhibition opened its doors to the city’s residents. Children were entertained by circus performers, leaflets were handed out by volunteers, and stands representing the projects participating in the exhibition were open.
The surroundings made it easy for people to discuss their problems, and to find like-minded individuals and support.
|
 |
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organisation |
An European Experts Meeting on Combating Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in Europe was held in Moscow, 20–21 March 2003. It was the third regional meeting following those already held in the Asian-Pacific region and Africa, to work out recommendations on the implementation of the Declaration and Programme of Action adopted by the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (Durban, South Africa, 31 August – 7 September 2001).
The meeting was organized by the UNESCO Moscow Office and the Division of Human Rights, Sector of Social and Human Sciences, UNESCO, Paris. Experts from 6 European countries, including Russia, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (Geneva) and the Center for Monitoring of Xenophobia and Racism (Vienna) took part in the event. The meeting was chaired by Mr. Doudou Diene, the Special Reporteur on Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (OHCHR). Ms. Ella Pamphilova, Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission under the President of the Russian Federation, Mr. Oleg Mironov, the Ombudsman in the Russian Federation and other representatives of the Russian state agencies and NGOs were also among the participants.
Three main topics were discussed: identification of the phenomenon; an increase in the role of the state in combating racial discrimination and xenophobia; building a new type of partnership between the state bodies and human rights NGOs. The meeting reviewed the legal framework created by the UN to combat racism and discrimination, named sources and causes for such phenomena in Europe as well as victim groups. According to the experts the victims are: migrants (including illegal and forced), religious communities, ethnic minorities, non-citizens, people of African origin, those from the Caucasus and Gypsies.
The participants pointed out the interrelationships between a race, a culture and a religion and recognized that each contradiction had some inherent elements of positive development, and that a clash of civilizations was a step towards integration and mutual understanding.
Special attention was devoted to regional features of the phenomenon, especially to the link between historic, cultural, educational and political factors of racism. Among the typical features are social exclusion of some groups, weaknesses in legislation and in human rights related laws, in particular. Special emphasis was put on the insufficient application of the norms stated by the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination in the national legislations.
Discussing the role of the state in combating discrimination and xenophobia, the participants stressed the need to put the related national legislation in line with the international norms and standards. The meeting noted the important role of the state in the development and protection of multiculturalism, in carrying out efficient legislative and administrative measures aimed at protection against discrimination, and in providing a level of education and professional training sufficient to withstand this social evil. The negative contribution of the mass media to the propagation of racism and the need for the state to improve the situation was pointed out.
On the second day of the meeting the session started with the
messages by the UN General Secretary and the UNESCO 
Director
General on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of All
Forms of Racial Discrimination. The facts that racism still exited in the society
and that efficient measures to eliminate it were needed were emphasized in these
messages.
The experts also discussed the role of NGOs, their cooperation with the state bodies and their specialized institutions in the field of training of governmental officials to apply international norms and mechanisms aimed at withstanding racism, discrimination and xenophobia. The NGOs experience of building contacts with victims of racism and especially their local activity were termed particularly significant. The representatives of NGOs paid special attention to the difficulties they encounter while dealing with the state bodies in monitoring and highlighting incidents of racism and xenophobia.
The participants emphasized the importance of the scientific community in cooperating with NGOs to combat discrimination and racism. Intergovernmental agencies defined the ways for further cooperation with NGOs, such as providing information, organizing conferences and other meetings. The participants worked out basic recommendations, which lay a foundation for the further work on the implementation of the Durban Declaration and the Programme of action in Europe.
A brochure on the outcome of the meeting is to be released in English and Russian. For more information, please, contact the UNESCO Moscow Office: (e.saliagina@unesco.ru).
The report about the meeting will be available on the Internet at www.culture.of.peace.ru and www.unesco.ru in May 2003.
|
On 14th March, the Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, and the Vladimir Filippov, Minister of Education of the RF, signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between UNESCO and the Ministry of Education of the RF on the restoration of the education system of the Chechen Republic.
This document was elaborated in accordance to the agreement reached by Russian President Vladimir Putin and UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura, meeting in Paris (February 2003), where they discussed main approaches to the improvement of the education system in the Chechen Republic. The Memorandum reflects the wish of both parties to cooperate in the field of implementation the recommendations and suggestions, which were included to the Assessment report "Education in the Chechen Republic: Conditions, Problems, Perspectives of Restoration and Development", prepared by specialists of the Russian Ministry of Education and their Chechen colleagues with technical support from UNESCO and financial assistance of the Japanese Government.
At present, work has been already begun in the following directions: organization of the school-feeding in schools and kindergartens in various regions of the Chechen Republic (in close cooperation with the World Food Program); conducting training and seminars for teachers as well as adapting and editing teaching material regarding the fundamentals of school health and environment; assisting in the restoration of a system of psychological, pedagogical, medical and social support to children and youth in the Chechen Republic. The necessary conditions for the restoration and modernization of the education system in the Chechen Republic are proposed to be created by setting up an educational resource center, and training and retraining programs for teaching staff as well as developing educational programs and methodological materials.
On 17 March, a press conference on the restoration of the education system in the Chechen Republic was held in the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation. Among the participants were Mr. Filippov, the Minister of Education of the RF, Mr. Bolotov, Deputy Minister of Education, Mr. Wolfgang Reuther, the Director of the UNESCO Moscow Office, and Mr. Bhim K. Udas, the Representative of the World Food Programme in the RF.
