Study of the UNICEF Northern Caucasus Emergency Programme Nov 1999 to Dec 2002

The UN’s stated objectives in the Northern Caucasus have from the outset included protection of the right not to be forcibly returned from Ingushetia to Chechnya, and more broadly the right to safety, in both cases in the context of international instruments and Russian legislation. The UN agencies, including UNICEF, have succeeded in providing a safe haven in Ingushetia by meeting basic needs and providing essential services, and the UN’s engagement of the authorities through the provision of this assistance has helped to restrain the authorities from forcibly returning IDPs (although not always prevented it as the closure of Aki Yurt attests).

The objective of the study is to ‘produce a document encompassing the description of the beginning, development, operational increase and implementation of the UNICEF Emergency Programme (EP) for the Northern Caucasus, including the full set of experience and lessons learned acquired between the end of 1999 and the end of 2002 and general comments on funding and resource mobilisation.’