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UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |
In 1951, representatives from 26 countries gathered in Geneva to solve a problem left over from World War Two. The war was over, but hundreds of thousands of refugees still wandered aimlessly throughout Europe or were housed in makeshift camps. On 28 July 1951, after more than three weeks of intensive discussion on the legal issues involved, a special UN conference approved the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees.
The Convention spells out clearly who is a refugee and the kinds of legal protection, other assistance and social rights he or she should receive from the states party to the document. It also defines a refugee’s obligations to his host nation, and certain categories of persons, such as war criminals, who do not qualify for refugee status.
The fledgling United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) began its work on 1 January 1951, several months before the Convention’s passage. In subsequent decades, this document has been the foundation of the agency’s efforts to help and protect an estimated 50 million refugees.
This first instrument was limited to protecting primarily European refugees in the aftermath of World War II, but a 1967 Protocol expanded the scope of the Convention as the problem of displaced populations spread around the world. The original document also inspired regional instruments such as the 1969 Africa Refugee Convention and the 1984 Latin American Cartagena Declaration.
A total of 140 states are signatories to one or both of the
UN instruments. But as the pattern of global migration has changed and the 
number
of people on the move has risen dramatically in recent years, the relevance
of the 1951 Convention has increasingly been called into question. Ironically,
it is Europe – its very birthplace – where the suggestion that certain of its
provisions are allegedly out of date is being voiced most loudly. Whatever the
outcome of these debates, it is certain that millions of uprooted people will
continue to rely on the Convention for their protection.
UNHCR currently helps more than 21 million people, and the Convention, which has proved to be remarkably flexible in these rapidly changing times, continues to be the cornerstone of refugee protection.
The Russian Federation ratified the 1951 Convention and its Protocol in 1993. Two federal laws, the Law on Refugees and the Law on Forced Migrants were adopted the same year. In the Russian Federation, UNHCR assists the authorities in implementing these laws in accordance with international standards. These standards include the principle of non-refoulement and procedures for status determination.
UNHCR’s operations in the Russian Federation are aimed at protecting and assisting various categories of persons who have been forced to leave their homes: refugees and asylum seekers, as well as forced migrants and internally displaced persons, mainly from the Northern Caucasus. This assistance is provided both directly and through various governmental and non-governmental organizations.
UNHCR Regional Office in Moscow
6, pereulok Obukha
103064, Moscow
Russian Federation
Tel.: (095) 232-30-11
Fax: (095) 232-30-17
E-mail: rusmo@unhcr.ch
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United Nations Development Programme |
On July 11, a new independent gas boiler that will provide heat and hot water to a 176-apartment high-rise was brought on line in Vladimir. It was the first of three such boilers designed and installed as part of a Russian Federation Government project now being implemented with UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) titled "Capacity building to reduce key barriers to energy efficiency in Russian residential building and heat supply".
Opening the official ceremony, Vladimir Mayor Igor Shamov congratulated the high-rise's residents on the start-up of their new boiler. The building was selected because of its distant location from the city's main heat and electricity generating plant and, as a result, is poorly heated. Instead of hot water, residents often get water that was barely warm. "Therefore", emphasized the Mayor, "the transition to an independent heating system is quite a step forward for our city. I am certain", he continued, "that in a few more years, the number of such boilers in Vladimir will be significantly higher" .
Frederick Lyons, the UN Resident Coordinator and the UNDP Resident Representative in the Russian Federation, noted in his speech that, "This project is aimed at improving Vladimir's heating system so that it will better serve the contemporary needs of the city's residents, and become more efficient in terms of energy, economy, and ecology".
"The importance of this project for the world community is also very great", Mr Lyons explained, "since it will help to achieve global ecological benefits: reducing greenhouse gase emissions and, consequently, helping to slow climate change. It is important for the UNDP/GEF that the project's results be replicated in other cities and regions. Now, thanks to the successful implementation of the Vladimir project, plans are being drawn up for a new energy efficiency project in northwestern Russia".
The relevance of such projects in Russia is highlighted by several key facts: first, between 30–40% of a municipality’s budget is used to subsidize municipal heating; second, more than 30% of the heat that is generated for the residential sector is wasted in the network of pipes between and within buildings due to poor insulation; and, finally, the per capita heat consumption in Russia is 2–3 times higher than in West European countries with similar climates. Increasing the efficiency and cost effectiveness of the residential heating system, as noted by Mr Lyons, will "mean that the city will have the opportunity to divert more of its funds to education, health care, and economic development".
Boris Reutov, Head of the Energy Saving and Oil & Gas Technologies
Department of the Ministry of Industry, Science and Technology, said 
in
his speech that "The communal housing reform now underway in Russia makes this
project even more relevant, and elevates its role as a catalyst for other energy
conservation measures". He thanked UNDP/GEF for its valuable contribution and
added that the experience and results obtained by the project team and experts
have been detailed in a national report titled "Heating in the Russian Federation:
A Way Out of the Crisis". "This report", he concluded, "is today being forwarded
to the Government of the Russian Federation, and will become the basis for reworking
the concept of reforming the municipal heating system in the Russian Federation".
The start-up ceremony, highlighted by ribbon cutting, included the participation of local residents. For the residents, the results have been immediate and welcomed. "I've lived here for four years already", said one of the building's residents, "and every single year, we've had the same problem: there's been no heat in the winter, and no hot water in the summer; they're always turning it off for so-called "preventive maintenance".
"About two weeks ago, sometime in June, they tested the new boiler, and we all noticed that hot water, not cold, was coming out of the faucets! We hope, then, that from this day on, we'll have both heat and hot water. Many thanks to those who organized the project and installed the boiler!"
