LOOKING TO A BETTER FUTURE
12. THE FUND FOR HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO THE
CHECHEN REPUBLIC: HOW IT HAPPENED AND WHAT IT IS ABOUT
By Valery Tishkov
For a decade now Chechnya has been part of my life. It was a concern of mine as Russian minister for nationalities in 1992. Then I participated in the December 1994 negotiations with Dudayev's delegation in Vladikavkaz and in the commission on Chechnya of prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin. I went on to write a book about the social and cultural dynamics of the conflict on the Chechen side. In the course of my research for the book, I collected about a hundred life stories of Chechens who went through this war. But I still wanted to do something "real" to help resolve the conflict and bring peace to Chechnya.
As the result of my initiative there was established in March 2000, under the aegis of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IEA), the Fund for Humanitarian Assistance to the Chechen Republic (FHACR). The initiative has been supported by a number of my academic colleagues, including young Chechen scholars working at the IEA.
Initial financial support for the foundation came from my long-time friends and partners in conflict prevention activities Allen Kassof and Livia Plaks, who direct the Project on Ethnic Relations (PER). A small grant has also been received from the Soros Foundation in Russia.
The FHACR is a non-commercial and non-governmental organization which in collaboration with other Russian and international governmental and non-governmental organizations strives to:
-- provide humanitarian aid to war victims, refugees, and forced migrants
-- bring about the physical, psychological, and social rehabilitation of victims of the conflict, especially of children and teenagers
-- foster peaceful dialogue aimed at establishing the rule of law and a strong civil society in Chechnya
-- support and assist in post-conflict reconstruction, and in restoring the education system, scientific, cultural, and healthcare institutions of the Chechen Republic
-- promote research into the social, economic, psychological, and ecological consequences of the armed conflict in Chechnya and publication of the findings.
The Fund has a Board co-chaired by well-known Russian historian Academician Yuri A. Polyakov and Chechen businessman Malik Saidullayev. The Executive Director of the Fund is Dr. Mara Ustinova.
In the two years since its creation, the Fund has organized several events and initiated a number of projects:
-- Four seminars have been conducted on the psychology of post-conflict trauma for secondary school teachers from the Chechen Republic. The teachers took part in training sessions led by prominent psychologists and visited Moscow schools. They also toured Moscow and visited theaters and the Tretyakov Gallery.
-- 50 complete sets of 80 books each published by the Academy of Pedagogical and Social Sciences were bought and delivered to schools in the Chechen Republic. This literature will help teachers in their daily work not only with pupils but also with their parents.
-- Another project aims to collect books from public and private libraries for restocking public libraries in Chechnya. In six months over 25,000 books were collected in Moscow alone, including scientific works, fiction, and children's literature. On September 4, 2001 they were handed over to the library of the Chechen State University in Grozny. The second shipment is planned for late May 2002. It is planned to supply books to seven other public libraries in Chechnya.
-- Several seminars, conferences, and charity events have been held. On June 19, 2001 a charity concert took place in the Central Concert Hall "Rossiya." A marvelous presentation was given by the Chechen children's dance and song ensemble "Lovzar" as well as by other artistes of Chechen, other Caucasian, and Russian origin.
-- Three books have been published, including an annotated bibliography of the Chechen conflict.
In addition to continuing with existing projects, the FHACR envisages four new projects:
-- a project to train young Chechen and other Caucasian and Russian people in conflict management skills with a view to creating an active network of peace workers in the region
-- a summer camp for the physical and psychological rehabilitation of children from Grozny orphanage
-- a project to work out a plan for the peaceful reintegration into society of Chechen fighters
-- a project to supply 10,000 portable radio receivers to the isolated mountain areas of Chechnya. We can distribute the radios through our volunteers, but we would like to find a company willing to donate the radios or sell them at a discount.
We are looking now for financial support to continue and expand our work. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Valery Tishkov (Professor)
Director of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences
President of the Fund for Humanitarian Assistance to the Chechen Republic
CONTACT INFORMATION
Professor Tishkov can be contacted by ordinary mail, fax, telephone or e-mail:
Leninskii prospekt 32A, Moscow 117334, Russia
Fax: 7 095 938 06 00
Tel: 7 095 938 17 47
e-mail: tishkov@orc.ru
BANKING INFORMATION
The banking information needed by those wishing to make a financial contribution to the Fund for Humanitarian Assistance to the Chechen Republic is as follows:
Intermediary bank: ABN AMRO Bank, New York, USA; SWIFT: ABNA US 33; account 574-0-731617-41
Benificiary bank: JSCB Metallinvestbank, Moscow, Russia; SWIFT: SCBM RU MM; in favor of Rosbusinessbank, Moscow, Russia, account 30109840400000000205
Beneficiary: The Fund for Humanitarian Assistance to the Chechen Republic, account: 40703840800010022031