UNICEF and WB to help youth in Northern Caucasus

The UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) and the World Bank have officially announced that they start a joint 2.1 USD million project in Northern Caucasus. Its aim is to render help to assist vulnerable groups of young people in the region.

"The partnership with the World Bank will allow UNICEF to expand the scope of its work with the youth in Northern Caucasus," Bertrand Beinveille, UNICEF representative in Russia, has emphasized. "It's especially important, since the youth plays a key role in creating the peaceful situation and steady economy in this problem-prone and economically unsafe region."

Although from early 1990s Chechnya has been the epicentre of interethnic and domestic conflicts in the region, now their consequences are also felt in Dagestan, Ingushetia and North Ossetia, and - recently - in Kabardino-Balkaria. "In a couple of years we can surely tell about real achieved changes in the North-Caucasian region," hopes Claus Roland, director of the WB representative office in Russia.

The project is targeted at young men in the 14-25 age bracket. Special attention will be given to young women, since their opportunities to take part in social life outside school and family are very limited, especially in the countryside, where young marriages are widespread.

The project plans to set up training and recreational centres, where young people will be able to acquire the necessary skills for further employment. These centres will also hold entertaining events.