UNESCO, Russia to cooperate on education in Chechnya

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Russian Federation are set to enter into an agreement to help restore the education system in Chechnya.

Under the aide-memoire to be signed tomorrow in Paris by UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura and Russian Education Minister Vladimir Filipov, priority will be given to three areas: nutritional and health education of children, psychological and social rehabilitation of children, and advice on the creation of an education complex and the establishment of a programme to develop national education capacities.

The signing follows proposals contained in a recent assessment of education in Chechnya, prepared by Russian education officials and their Chechen counterparts, with technical support from UNESCO. It also follows a meeting last 10 February between Mr. Matsuura and Russian President Vladimir Putin, during which ways of improving the education system in Chechnya were discussed.