The Agreement establishes the cooperation by both parties in the implementation of a joint initiative on conducting a series of regional/national capacity-building trainings for CIS countries in museum management based on UNESCO/ICOM Museum Studies Training Package.

This Package, aiming at improving or enhancing the knowledge and competencies of museum personnel in developing countries, were prepared jointly by UNESCO and ICOM. It consists of 5 publications: (1) Running a Museum: A Practical Handbook, (2) Running a Museum: A Trainer’s Manual, (3) Security at Museum, (4) Care and Handling of Manuscripts (5) Documentation of Artefacts’ Collection. In 2007 under the initiative of the UNESCO Office in Tashkent and with a support of the UNESCO Moscow Office the Training Package was translated in Russian and published, which have made it available for the museum personnel from the CIS countries. Based on the Training Package the UNESCO Moscow Office developed a training programme in cooperation with the leading museum experts. 

The main objective of the training is to increase capacities of museum personnel in the CIS countries in museum management and collection conservation, as well as reinforce museum networking among the CIS countries.

The museum professionals in the CIS countries will take part in the series of trainings during 2008-2009. It is expected that they will acquire necessary knowledge and skills in order to conduct national trainings based on the UNESCO/ICOM Museum Studies Training Package in their respective countries, trying to reach out as many museum staff as possible both from capitals and provinces. The signing ceremony was also attended by Ms Svetlana Teryohina, Head of the Department for Humanitarian Politics of IFESCCO, Ms Liubava Moreva, Programme Specialist for Culture of the UNESCO Moscow Office, Ms Valentina Kostornichenko, Programme Assistant for Culture of the UNESCO Moscow Office.

Photo: Mr Dendev Badarch, Director of the UNESCO Moscow Office, Ms Tatiyana Bubnova, Acting Executive Director of IFESCCO

© UNESCO

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The Intergovernmental Foundation for Educational, Scientific and Cultural Cooperation (IFESCCO) was established in 2006 by the governments of 7 country members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Presently the members of IFESCCO are Armenia, Byelorussia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, while Azerbaijan joint it in 2008. The mission of IFESCCO as a specialized organisation of humanitarian cooperation within CIS is to contribute to the development of the CIS’s common humanitarian space, to the sustainable development and intercultural dialogue by means of education, science, culture, communications, information, archives, sports, tourism, youth work.

Press-release about IFESCCO [PDF]