UN Information Centre in Moscow and Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations Office in Geneva organised a charity event dedicated to the red zone medics

11 December 2021

The Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations Office in Geneva and the UN Information Centre (UNIC) in Moscow hosted a charity event in Geneva dedicated to the medics working in the "red zones" of hospitals at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19 on 8 December.

During the event, the new humanitarian project aimed at strengthening ties between Swiss and Russian medical professional working on the forefront of the pandemic was introduced.

The guests were able to enjoy a photo exhibition created by TASS and dedicated to the medics from the red zones. The exhibition was presented as a slide show with a performance by the artists of Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre.

Ambassador Gennady Gatilov, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations Office and Other International Organizations in Geneva emphasised the heroic efforts of the doctors, nurses and all the other professionals and volunteers helping in the fight with COVID-19. The Director-General of the World Health Organization Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and the Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Europe, Olga Algayerova, also took part in the event.

The charity evening was part of a series of events organised at the United Nations Office at Geneva. On 6 December, the annual report “Russian Federation’s regions and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)” was presented in an event organised by the UN Russian Association, UNIC Moscow and the office of the Samara region government, with the support of the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation in Geneva. This event was attended by the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, Tatiana Valovaya, the Governor of the Samara region, Dmitry Azarov, and UNIC Moscow Director Vladimir Kuznetsov.

The Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva Tatiana Valovaya marked that SDGs projects in Russia are currently being widely and successfully implemented not only on the country level, but regionally as well. She stressed that it was important for the UN that the SDG projects are involving all the levels of life – from each individual person to the country level. Even though we can only implement the SDGs on the country level, we cannot reach that without involvement from all the others, so only together we can achieve the goals set in the 2030 Agenda.

7 December marked the first ever “Geneva Reading”, dedicated to the realisation of the SDGs and the role of business in the process. The Director-General of the UN Office at Geneva, Ambassador Gennady Gatilov and the Secretary-General of the International Union of Non-Governmental Organizations “Eurasian Peoples ’Assembly” Andrei Belyaninov participated in the event. Leading Russian business members presented their reports during the event.