The United Nations aid office called on the Russian government Wednesday to protect "vulnerable civilians" in Chechnya, while noting that the security situation there had improved over the last few years.
The United Nation's humanitarian coordinator for Russia said at a meeting with Russian government representatives that the improved security in war-torn Chechnya "allowed more access and activity by the aid community."
"On the other hand, protection of civilians remains the principal humanitarian concern," the UN office said in a statement.
Dennis McNamara, a UN emergency relief coordinator, "called on government and civil society to fully actualise the responsbility to protect vulnerable civilians," the statement said.
The United Nations said it planned to spend almost 82 million dollars this year on aid in the North Caucasus region around Chechnya on food, agriculture, shelter, health, economic development, water, sanitation and other humanitarian tasks.
A "gradual reduction" of humanitarian relief is taking place in the North Caucasus, the statement said as aid shifts to socioeconomic development.
However, regional representatives asked the United Nations to "do even more in terms of socioeconomic recovery and long-term development of the region's economy."
AFP
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