OCHA Situation Report
Chechnya and Neighbouring Republics (Russian Federation)
Report for October 2005
21 November 2005


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

HIGHLIGHTS
UN 60 Anniversary

On October 24 a photo exhibition, dedicated to the 60th anniversary of 
the United Nations Organization, was opened. Unique photo materials 
(over 100 photos) from the archives of the United Nations and ITAR-TASS 
news agency were displayed at the exhibition. The photos reflected the 
milestones of the creation of the United Nations Organization and 
participation of the Soviet Union in this process as one of the founding 
nations; and major events in the UN international action in the 
following years up to our times with the active involvement of the 
Soviet Union and the Russian Federation. There was also a set of photos 
depicting the work of the UN system today, including those provided by 
UN agencies active in the Russian Federation (eight agencies contributed 
to the exhibition). Apart from the photos of the UN Secretary-Generals 
and high-level meetings with participation of Soviet and Russian 
leaders, images of UN employees doing their everyday work and, most 
importantly, those for whom the Organization works, were on display.

A high profile UN Day Reception took place the same day in Kolloni Zal 
Doma Soyuzov, in which UN staff members and UN partners participated.

Ambassador of Canada Visits North Caucasus

The Ambassador of Canada in the Russian Federation, Mr. Christopher 
Westdal, visited North Ossetia-Alania, and Chechnya from 4 to 6 October 
2005. During the mission the Ambassador met with President of North 
Ossetia Mamsurov and President of Chechnya Alkhanov. During the meeting 
with President Alkhanov it was noted that there were good prospects for 
further cooperation between Canada and Chechnya in agriculture, housing 
mortgage credit lending, educational technologies, health and culture. 
The Ambassador laid a wreath at Beslan Cemetary for victims of School # 
1 siege, attended Children's animated film festival, met with the UN 
Agencies and NGOs in the North Caucasus, and also visited project sites 
of Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, CARE Canada and UNHCR.

HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE

Protection

As of 31 October 2005, a total of 27,348 internally displaced persons 
(IDPs) from Chechnya (6,206 families) were registered for assistance in 
Ingushetia in the database of UNHCR s implementing partner, the Danish 
Refugee Council. Of this total, 10,393 persons (2,288 families) were in 
temporary settlements, and 16,955 persons (3,918 families) in private 
accommodation. From 1-31 October, Vesta, who monitors the Adler and 
Spartak checkpoints, reported individual returns of 125 persons (25 
families) from Ingushetia to Chechnya and new arrivals of 13 persons (3 
families) from Chechnya to Ingushetia. During October, 309 persons (61 
families) were de-registered by DRC in Ingushetia and registered for 
assistance in Chechnya.

During October, the 11 UNHCR-supported legal counseling centers (LCCs) 
in Ingushetia and Chechnya (including two newly established in Shali and 
Urus Martan) provided 498 consultations, mostly addressing issues of 
documentation, property and housing disputes, social benefits and 
allowances, payment of compensation, and registration in the assistance 
lists of the migration services.  The LCCs took 125 cases to 
administrative and law enforcement structures and 82 cases to courts, 
with the direct participation of LCC lawyers in more than 50 cases.

Also in October, UNHCR and the authorities in Chechnya undertook the 
first steps to form a joint Protection Working Group in order to address 
issues of mutual concern including capacity building.

Food

In October WFP continued providing assistance in the North Caucasus 
through implementation of its Relief Distribution (RD), Food for 
Education (FFE) and Food Fund (FF) programmes. Within the 9th cycle of 
the RD programme WFP through its cooperating partners such as DRC, CHA 
(Centre for Humanitarian Assistance), IR delivered some 902 tons of food 
commodities to 85,091 beneficiaries in both Chechnya and Ingushetia. The 
FFE programme was continued in Chechnya by delivering through DRC, World 
Vision Russian Federation, IR and CHA some 367 tons of food commodities 
for daily hot meals to about 131,000 schoolchildren in 415 schools. Only 
twelve Food for Work projects for improvement of local infrastructure 
were continued in October in Chechnya involving 214 participants 
representing 1,070 beneficiaries. No new projects were started during 
this period due to introduction of new project assessment rules focused 
more on participants' achievements than attendance. In October 25 
trainees attended Food for Training courses acquiring income-generating 
skills in hairdressing and manicuring. They will receive food for their 
training in November. In October about 13 tons of food commodities were 
released by WFP to support the Dining Hall project in Grozny city where 
daily hot meals are provided to 1,600 most vulnerable people, out of 
whom about 35% are disabled persons, orphans and semi-orphans. Within 
the framework of the TB programme 20 tons of food were provided to 637 
in- and out TB patients undergoing treatment in local hospitals in 
Chechnya and Ingushetia.

As of the end of October, donations reached about 78% of the funding 
required for the completion of the programmes in 2005. The WFP office is 
currently in the process of preparing the follow-up 12 months project 
EMOP 10128.2, starting from January 2006. Within the next six months WFP 
expects considerable shortfalls of food commodities (about 12,000 tons), 
unless resources are mobilized soon.

Shelter

During October, UNHCR provided 19 box-tents to IDP families voluntarily 
returning to Chechnya, bringing the total since the beginning of the 
program to 1,087 for families and 4 for partners. In addition, 30 
box-tents were provided to IDP families choosing to remain in 
Ingushetia, bringing the total for families there to 579. An additional 
23 box-tents, including 2 in October, have been provided in Ingushetia 
and North Ossetia for temporary schools, child rehabilitation centers, 
medical points and other facilities.

Eight new quick impact projects (QIPs) were approved for Chechnya during 
October, bringing the total to 70 (54 in Chechnya and 16 in Ingushetia). 
These QIPs support sustainable (re-)integration through 
income-generation activities (carpentry, paving tiles, brick production, 
etc.) and repair of medical and social infrastructure (hospitals, 
schools and an elderly home).

Health

On October 14 WHO participated in a mission to Grozny where it met the 
deputy Ministry of Health of Chechnya to discuss implementation of WHO 
Mother and Child (MCH) and HIV programmes as well as in-depth and crisis 
problems of health sector in Chechnya; and among others such issues as 
absence of integrated common approach by federal state authorities; 
reduced and late state funding; strong need for training courses and 
strengthening health education among local population; also necessity 
for health sector reformation and prioritised focus on primary health 
care level.

During October WHO provided a set of 50 health books and materials to 
the Ministry of Health of Chechnya and distributed 500 HIV posters to 
the health sector organisations. Also during this month a comprehensive 
list of training courses, lectures, workshops and conferences, held by 
humanitarian organizations in 2005 was compiled by WHO.

Within its child immunization programme UNICEF initiated the 
implementation of a survey to assess the existing status of the cold 
chain system in 280 vaccination points in Chechnya. The main objective 
is to identify gaps and develop a set of recommendations on how to 
improve and strengthen the existing cold chain infrastructure in the 
republic. In parallel, UNICEF aims to conduct post-distribution 
monitoring of the recently procured and distributed cold chain equipment 
in 80 health care facilities located in all 15 districts in Chechnya. 
According to the findings of recent monitoring exercises, the demand for 
cold chain equipment has further increased in Chechnya, due to the 
steady return of IDPs.

UNICEF continued to further develop the ongoing programme activities 
that are aimed at raising awareness on HIV/AIDS and healthier life 
styles among young people and teenagers in Chechnya and Ingushetia. 
Three Youth Information Centres and three Youth Friendly Clinics, 
established by UNICEF in Grozny, Achkhoi-Martan (Chechnya) and Malgobek 
(Ingushetia), provided local youth with a range of services, including 
counseling, medical and psychosocial support. The Young People's Health, 
Development and Participation (YPHD) project was implemented, with the 
active participation of the young people targeted, through several 
counterparts, including the Chechen Youth Committee, the Ingush 
Republican Children's Hospital, the Association of Women-Doctors of 
Chechnya and the Women's Rehabilitation Centre.

Education

School activities have been unfolding smoothly in the 13 'parallel' 
schools catering for 1,630 IDP children in Ingushetia that are managed 
by UNICEF in partnership with International Rescue Committee, Centre for 
Peacemaking and Community Development and Hilfswerk Austria. On 5 
October, partner NGOs celebrated the 'Teachers' Day' in all IDP schools 
through recreational and festive activities, arranged jointly with local 
parents' committees. Meanwhile, UNICEF and Caritas started consultations 
with the Ingush MoE and local administrations for the hand-over, by the 
end of 2006, of 4 children centres catering for 590 children living in 
IDP spontaneous settlements.

During the last week of October, UNICEF, in cooperation with CPCD, 
started the rehabilitation of 4 additional schools in Chechnya, while 
the NGO 'Miloserdie' (Mercy) launched the refurbishment of one school in 
Maiski (North Ossetia) and the rehabilitation of a primary school branch 
in Nesterovskaya (Ingushetia), where IDP children from 3 settlements 
were accommodated in September.

Several Mobile Trainers Groups (MTGs) carried out a series of Peace 
Education workshops with children and teachers in Chechnya, Ingushetia, 
North Ossetia and Dagestan, thus covering over 1,500 children. In 
addition, the Information and Methodology Centre "Genesis", which was 
recently established by UNICEF in Ingushetia, launched a survey to gauge 
the effectiveness of the peace education materials introduced by UNICEF 
in 2005.

With the aim of expanding the geographical scope of its PETB programme, 
UNICEF visited the State Committee of Youth Affairs of 
Karachayevo-Cherkessia and held a meeting with the heads of departments 
and chairman of the local Youth Committee, who confirmed their 
willingness to take part in the UNICEF-driven programme and organize a 
regional youth festival in the republic in November. In addition, a 
special meeting was also held with MoE officials from the Stavropol 
region (which is marked by the presence of a significant number of IDPs 
and migrants). An agreement was thus reached for the inclusion of the 
region into the existing programme as of 2006.

Water and Sanitation

Within the framework of the water purification and distribution project, 
which is implemented by UNICEF in cooperation with the Polish 
Humanitarian Organization (PHO), the total water delivery capacity in 
Grozny reached 700 cubic metres per day. About 117,000 residents of 
Grozny were regularly served with safe drinking water, which was 
transported by 20 trucks to 250 water distribution points, located in 
medical and educational facilities, TACs and residential areas. PHO 
continued to replace the old and rotten water bladders with the new 
ones, which have been procured and distributed by UNICEF.

Within the context of this project activity, and in cooperation with the 
State Drama Theatre from Chechnya, UNICEF has been promoting safer 
hygiene practices, healthier life styles as well as the careful 
consumption of potable water among residents of Grozny, with a special 
focus on children in schools and preschools. UNICEF also continued to 
strengthen the technical capacity of Grozvodokanal, including through 
the procurement of a special maintenance/repair truck.

PHO distributed copybooks among pupils at schools in Grozny. On the 
covers of the copybooks, there were drawings propagating consumption of 
clean water and sanitation habits. The PHO Water Project Coordinator met 
at the end of October the Chairman of the Migration Service, who 
promised to provide all TACs, where PHO set its units, with materials 
for building tables for the tanks (they must not be set directly on the 
ground, in winter it may cause freezing water and destroying a tank). 
The PHO office established very close and fruitful contacts with the 
local media in Grozny, as a result articles about the PHO activities in 
Chechnya were published in local newspapers, interviews were given to 
the Grozny TV station and to the local radio station Vaynah.

Mine Action

In light of the forthcoming signing of an agreement between ICRC and 
UNICEF on data sharing on mine/ERW (Explosive Remnants of War)-related 
information, ICRC provided UNICEF all information on civilian casualties 
collected through health facilities in Chechnya since 2000. UNICEF is 
currently in the process of systemizing/verifying all data received in 
order to further enrich its existing IMSMA (Information Management 
System for Mine Action) database.

UNICEF continued to contribute to the creation of safe playing 
environment for children in Chechnya through the provision of support to 
? and oversight of ? 22 leisure centers. Every day some 30 children 
spend their free time in each of the centers, which are run by the State 
Chechen Youth Committee, Voice of the Mountains, Let's Save the 
Generation and the Chechen Ministry of Labor and Social Development.

A game called "Mine-Free Life" was successfully organized by LSG with 
the participation of two teams of 40 students from the State Chechen Oil 
Institute and the State Technical College in Grozny. Representatives of 
the ICRC, the Ministry of Education and Voice of the Mountains were 
amongst the judges of the game, which was broadcast by the State Chechen 
TV.

Funding of the Humanitarian Operation

>From the date of the last Information Bulletin until the date of this
Bulletin donors recorded the following new contributions in the 
Financial Tracking System (FTS):

|------------------------+----------+-------------+---------------+----------|
| Description            | Decision | Donor       | Appealing     | Amount   |
|                        |   date   | Country     | Agency        | in USD   |
|------------------------+----------+-------------+---------------+----------|
|Ongoing registration of |03.10.2005|    ECHO     |   Danish      | $119,500 |
|IDPs in Dagestan and of |          |  (European  |   Refugee     |          |
|beneficiaries for the   |          | Commission) |   Council     |          |
|ongoing distribution of |          |             |               |          |
|material assistance in  |          |             |               |          |
|Chechnya                |          |             |               |          |
|------------------------+----------+-------------+---------------+----------|
|Reconstruction of       |03.10.2005|    ECHO     |   Danish      | $155,400 |
|social institutions and |          |  (European  |   Refugee     |          |
|schools in Chechnya     |          | Commission) |   Council     |          |
|------------------------+----------+-------------+---------------+----------|
|"School in nature" the  |10.10.2005|   Private   | International |  $76,056 |
|new model of education  |          |             | Humanitarian  |          |
|and formation in Russia |          |             |   Fund LIBA   |          |
|------------------------+----------+-------------+---------------+----------|
|HIV - Knowledge         |21.10.2005| Switzerland | World Health  |  $16,330 |
|Attitude Practices      |          |             | Organization  |          |
|Survey, North Ossetia   |          |             |               |          |
|------------------------+----------+-------------+---------------+----------|
|TOTAL :                 |          |             |               | $393,086 |
|------------------------+----------+-------------+---------------+----------|


Readers requiring more detailed information on funding of the 
humanitarian operation in the North Caucasus are encouraged to visit the 
FTS using the following link: 
http://ocha.unog.ch/fts/reports/reportlist.asp?section=CE&record_ID=656.

FTS is an on-line, real-time, searchable database of humanitarian needs 
and contributions and an instrument for analysis of humanitarian aid 
flows.

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December 2005

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