Following the agreement between the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Government of the Russian Federation, an OHCHR presence was established within the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) in the Russian Federation in January 2006. The High Commissioner's two visits to the Russian Federation in 2005 and 2006 provided opportunities to consolidate and strengthen the cooperation with national partners. Throughout the year 2007, comprehensive consultations concerning contents and forms of longer-term cooperation to promote human rights in the Russian Federation took place with OHCHR’s counterparts in Moscow. As a result, the OHCHR Framework for Cooperation with the Russian Federation for 2007 and beyond was elaborated and approved, through an exchange of letters between the High Commissioner and the Minister of Foreign Affairs in August 2007.
From March 2008 to May 2016, a Senior Human Rights Adviser was deployed in Moscow to oversee and guide the planning and implementation of concrete activities within the agreed framework and as part of the UN Country Team.
To implement OHCHR-Russia joint projects under the Framework for Cooperation (FfC), OHCHR established partnerships with Russian government institutions at the central and regional level, UN agencies, civil society, including NGOs, academia and other interested parties, under the following four clusters of the FfC: - rule of law; - equality and tolerance; - education and information on human rights; - mainstreaming human rights within the UN Country Team in the Russian Federation.
Although the function of the Senior Human Rights Adviser was discontinued in May 2016, the implementation of programmatic commitments will be continued throughout 2016-2017 under the modalities engaging Joint Russia-OHCHR projects officers to report directly to the OHCHR Headquarters.
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