An update on 2001 humanitarian programme in the northern Caucasus

The United Nations in Moscow today presented An Update on its 2001 humanitarian programme in the northern Caucasus for people affected by the crisis in the Republic of Chechnya. The past eighteen months' events in the northern Caucasus continue to affect the lives of some 320,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) and 720,000 residents in Chechnya and Ingushetia. Hundreds of thousands of people are in need, and UN agencies providing emergency relief and humanitarian assistance to them now seek US$ 26,202,933 for their programmes.
At today's presentation, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator, John McCallin, noted that there were few measurable changes in the situation in Chechnya and that humanitarian needs there were vast. "We are working with the Government, and voluntary agencies, to improve the situation but clearly much more remains to be done to help displaced persons in Ingushetia not yet ready to go home and civilians in Chechnya itself."

Various UN agencies, including the UN Development Programme (UNDP), UN's Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP), and the World Health Organization (WHO), work in the following sectors: protection, food, shelter and relief, health, water and sanitation, education, mine action, and economic recovery and infrastructure.

The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator, supported by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), is responsible for the overall management of the UN's work in the northern Caucasus. The Office of the United Nations Security Coordinator (UNSECOORD) manages UN staff safety on a day-to-day basis.

Further information on the UN's humanitarian programme in the northern Caucasus is available from the Humanitarian Coordinator's Office.