UN SENIOR OFFICIAL VISITS RUSSIAN FEDERATION

17 June 2002






The Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children and Armed conflict, Olara A Otunnu, arrived in Moscow yesterday on a week-long mission to the Russian Federation, including the Northern Caucasus. Today, he held extensive discussions with Vladimir Golubovsky, Deputy Head of the Department of Law and Order of the Ministry of Interior; Yury Fedetov, Deputy Foreign Minister; Vladimir Yelagin, Federal Minister for the Coordination of activities in Chechnya; Valentina Matviyenko, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation and Chairperson of the Government Commission for International Humanitarian Aid; and Alexandre Shabanov, Deputy Chairman of the International Affairs Committee of the State Duma.

On 18 June, Mr. Otunnu leaves for a four-day visit to the northern Caucasus, where he will meet with the United Nations agencies, the authorities of the Republics and the civil society, as well as visit internally displaced persons camps, schools, hospitals and trauma centres in the Republics of Chechnya, Ingushetiya and North Ossetia, in the context of his mandate to promote the protection, rights, and well-being of children affected by war. In particular, he will assess first-hand and seek to focus attention on the situation of children affected by the conflict in Chechnya.

The Special Representative serves as international advocate for children affected by armed conflict by promoting standards and measures for their protection in times of war as well as their healing and social reintegration in the aftermath of conflict.

For further information from the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict (OSRSG-CAAC), please contact: Maimouna Mills, Communications Officer; Telephone: 212 – 963 9879;
Facsimile: 212 – 963 0807; E-mail: millsm@un.org




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