Established in 1994, the responsibilities of UNESCO’s Moscow Office were originally limited to cooperating with the Russian Federation.  In 2002, however, and following discussions with a number of sub-regional Member States that requested a closer, more active relationship with UNESCO, the Office’s mandate was expanded both technically – it now covers the full spectrum of UNESCO’s sectoral activities – as well as geographically since it now covers four additional countries, namely Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Moldova. It is the Organization’s only cluster office based in Europe.

Referring to the conceptual framework and operational guidelines contained in UNESCO’s Programme and Budget submitted to and ultimately approved by the General Conference, the Office develops and implements the biennial work plan and projects for the countries it serves in close consultation with the five National Commissions of the cluster countries.

UNESCO’s active engagement in joint United Nations Agency programming exercises is most effectively brought to bear in countries where the Organization would otherwise have no field presence. Its effectiveness is directly related to its having high level specialists at its disposal who, by virtue of their on-the-ground familiarity with local problems, are well positioned to maximize their eventual impact. The Office also undertakes to ensure that its comparative advantage in the fields of its recognized technical competency is made available to the joint country programming exercises – e.g. CCA/UNDAF.

The Moscow Office’s strategy focuses on cost-effective and quality programme delivery. Considered the sine qua non for the qualitative improvement of any operational undertaking, close attention will be paid to results-based management and to the use of performance measures (indicators) to assess the degree of impact. The benefits that are expected to accrue include increased verifiable programme relevance, more quantifiable results, reinforced local and even national impact, and greater coherence in the work of the UN agencies active in the sub-region.

To implement this strategy, the Moscow Office will focus on the vital importance of multilateral and bilateral partnerships. To that end, it will seek new forms of collaboration beginning, first and foremost, with the members of the “UNESCO family”, i.e. National Commissions, national committees of intergovernmental programmes, Category 2 Centres, UNESCO Chairs and Associated Schools. In this endeavor, the full potential of national civil societies will also be given all due attention.