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 United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees

UNHCR in St.Petersburg

UNHCR has established its presence in St. Petersburg since February 1998 in order to protect and assist non-CIS refugees, asylum seekers and forced migrants from the former USSR located in St. Petersburg city and the Leningrad, Pskov and Novgorod regions. Until then, all activities were covered through Moscow. A total of 47,106 persons have been registered as forced migrants by regional migration services, and some 408 non-CIS asylum seekers have been registered since 1993. It is also estimated that since 1993, a total of 1,464 people have been recognized as refugees from the CIS and Baltic States. UNHCR provides legal counseling to refugees and asylum seekers through its implementing partners.

Children’s playground area, Novgorod.

Children’s playground area, Novgorod.

In St. Petersburg, the Center for International Cooperation of the Red Cross, has been UNHCR implementing partner since 1993 and has been allocated US$ 597,402 since then. It provides medical and social care, vocational training and language training programmes for the most vulnerable categories of refugees, asylum seekers and forced migrants.

UNHCR assists local authorities in developing a refugee status determination procedure. In this context, on 10 -11 March UNHCR organized a workshop for judges on appellate procedures and practices concerning decisions on refugee status. The workshop, which was the third of this kind in Russia, was organized jointly with the Judicial Department at the Supreme Court, a recently-created body which is responsible for administrative matters relating to the judiciary including the training of judges. The Swedish and the US Government contributed to the organization of the workshop by sharing the costs of two resource persons. Several first and second instance judges, refugee lawyers, representatives of the General Procuratura and the Federal Migration Service participated in the event.

The workshop constituted an opportunity for refugee layers to establish direct contacts with those judges who are likely to decide individual cases in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Volgograd, Rostov, Perm and Krasnodar.

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UNhcr_news_LOGO.gif (1950 bytes)

 United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees

North-West of Russia

In Novgorod, UNHCR has established through its implementing partner “Opportunity International” micro credit/loan scheme for forced migrants, worth US$ 175,000 to assist in promoting their self-sufficiency and their integration.

Moreover, in the Novgorod region UNHCR’s assistance has also targeted migrant children. Winter clothes, footwear and warm knitted clothing were distributed amongst 1,534 children living with their families in 22 towns and districts of the region for the amount of US$ 69,520. All items were produced and purchased locally.

UNHCR allocated funds for the purchase of text-books for children in forced migrants’ families. In the Pskov region the text-books were distributed to 1,323 school children and in the Novgorod region to 2,492.

UNHCR has rehabilitated
the Center of Temporary Accommodation in Novgorod where 300 forced migrants are living. In addition to the repair of cooking, washing, living areas and roofing, equipment was provided to the children’s playground (see a picture).

For the abovementioned activities UNHCR allocated US$ 53,700.

Cooperating with the Moscow Center of Labour and Employment for Youth “Perspektiva”

UNHCR established a cooperation agreement with the Moscow Center for Labour and Employment for Youth “Perspektiva” during 1998 for the implementation of a youth and adolescent employment project targeting refugees and asylum seekers in Moscow. The activities of the project are intended to enhance the role of social partnership and integration. They are also aimed at coordinating and supporting the initiatives of the Moscow Government and charity organizations in promoting teenage and youth employment, vocational guidance and basic training for this age group, so that they become active members of the society.

UNHCR has provided support to “Perspektiva” in the form of training materials and equipment. In turn, an initial number of 22 asylum seekers are being accommodated in their programmes.

An initial allocation of US$ 30,000 was given at the end of 1998 for these activities. UNHCR supported and actively participated in the event “Teenager – Right to the Future”, organized by the Perspektiva Center jointly with the Moscow Government, that was held on 25–31 March. UNHCR has shown the need and importance of this undertaking.

At the event “Teeneger – Right to the Future”.

At the event “Teeneger – Right to the Future”.
For your UN File

UN: FIGURES AND FACTS

  • Some 52,280 people work in the UN system, which includes the Secretariat and 29 other organizations such as UNICEF. Three times as many people work for McDonald’s, while Disney World and Disneyland employ 50,000.

  • The New York Headquarters of the UN requires the services of less than 4,700 people. The Swedish capital of Stockholm, by contrast, has 60,000 municipal employees.

  • The United Nations and its agencies, funds and programmes – mainly UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA, WFP and WHO – have $4.8 billion a year to spend on economic and social development, to assist countries in such areas as health care, sanitation, agriculture and food distribution. This is the equivalent of 81 cents per human being. In 1996, the world’s governments spent about $797 billion in military expenditures – the equivalent of $135 per human being.

  • The UN has no army. Governments voluntarily supply troops and other personnel to halt conflicts that threaten peace and security. The Member States on the Security Council – not the Secretary-General – decide when and where to deploy peacekeeping troops.

  • The total operating expenses for the entire UN system – including the World Bank, IMF, and all the UN funds, programmes, and specialized agencies – come to some $18.2 billion a year. This is less than the annual revenue of a major corporation like Dow Chemical, which took in more than $20 billion in 1997.

  • The top seven contributors to the UN are the USA (25%); Japan (17.98%); Germany (9.63%); France (6.49%); Italy (5.39%); the United Kingdom (5.07%); and Russia (2.87%). Collectively, they account for more than 72% of the regular UN budget.

  • A “quiet revolution” to make the UN leaner and more effective was launched by the Secretary-General in July 1997, as the second phase of his reform efforts. Initiatives include consolidating several Secretariat bodies, streamlining management and shifting resources from administration to development work.

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