Read the text to fulfil the tasks. The United Nations officially came into existence on 24 October, 1945

The United Nations officially came into existence on 24 October, 1945. The USSR was one of the co-founding states and first UN members.

The oldest UN presence in the Russian Federation is the United Nations Information Centre in Moscow established in 1948. Most of other UN entities were set up in the Russian Federation at the beginning of 1990s.

Currently over 15 UN structures are providing support to the Government and people of the Russian Federation in addressing the following key development challenges the country is facing.

The demographic situation remains one of the most worrying development issues in Russia. The demographic crisis is mainly due to a) high mortality rates primarily caused by unhealthy lifestyles and non-infectious diseases, as well as increasingly affected by the epidemic spread of HIV and the highest TB mortality in Europe; and b) low fertility which is part of a long-term trend, characteristic for most of the industrialized countries and related to the modernization / transition processes. In addition, migration remains a social policy challenge with significant impact on the overall demographic trends. While low fertility rates are not uncommon in industrialized countries, high mortality rates certainly are. Tackling health and mortality in particular as well as family and social policies could have a major positive impact on the demographic situation and as well within the capacity and responsibility of policy-makers – at all levels (federal, regional, local) and branches (both executive and legislative) of government.

The impact of appropriate policies and investment in the health and safety of the population or lack thereof have often had an impact comparable with that of major catastrophes or wars. Importantly, the demographic problems of Russia influence the competitiveness and sustainability of the country’s economy and society.

Importance of population issues in the national development agenda was highlighted by the Concept of demographic development in the Russian Federation. In this context, the UN Country Team identified the strategic support to national efforts to address the demographic crisis as one of the key priorities for joint actions.