UNHCR to make cooperation with Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry more global - Grandi
MOSCOW. Feb 21 (Interfax) - The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is interested in strategic partnership with Russia, UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi said at a meeting with Russian Emergency Situations Minister Vladimir Puchkov.
The time has come for a new strategic partnership between the UNHCR and Russia, he said at the meeting. The UN agency would like to make cooperation with the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry more global, given the latter's capabilities and desire to become partners in this sphere, Grandi said
Mutual partnership and cooperation is important for the Organization, he said.
For his part, Puchkov said he supports Grandi's initiatives to broaden and strengthen cooperation with the UNHCR.
"Today you rightly pointed out that it is necessary to work with refugees not only when they have left their homes but also when they return home. This involves a whole range of measures such as demining the area, organizing vital public services, water supplies, and supporting vulnerable social groups of the civilian population," Puchkov said.
A UNHCR delegation has been shown the capabilities of the Russian ministry's National Crisis Management Center. The head of the Center, Viktor Yatsutsenko told about its capabilities in using emergency-forces control systems, operating a space-monitoring system and producing a 3D simulation of emergency forecasts.
At the end of the meeting Puchkov invited Grandi to an international security show due to be held at the Noginsk rescue center in June 2017.