MOSCOW – After 18 years of work focused on promoting sound population policies, access to reproductive health services, and gender equality in the Russian Federation, UNFPA is closing its office in Moscow at the end of the year. 

 

“During the past two decades, UNFPA assisted Russian authorities and civil society in putting the country’s population and reproductive-health frameworks on track towards fulfilling the principles agreed on by the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development,” said Werner Haug, UNFPA Regional Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

 

UNFPA contributed to the development of a national population strategy for the period lasting until the year 2025, and conducted a major nationwide reproductive health survey, the first ever carried out in the country, added Lidia Bardakova, UNFPA’sRepresentative in the Russian Federation.

 

The UNFPA’s Moscow office has been involved in a number of programmes that have helped in limiting the spread of HIV, preventing risky behaviour among young people, and developing policies supportive of the elderly. In the course of its operations, UNFPA has worked with partners from the Russian government, scientific institutions, national NGOs and the Russian Orthodox Church.

 

"As the Russian Federation has moved from being a recipient of international aid to being a donor, the nature of the partnership with UNFPA has changed," Haug said. "We will continue to count on Russian support and expertise to improve maternal health, prevent HIV infections and promote evidence-based population policies in the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia."