Russian Sherpa proposes G8 disaster response teams, praises disease fight, complains about education

March 20

Speaking at an international conference in Moscow, Russian Presidential Aide and Russian Sherpa Igor Shuvalov aired Russia’s proposal to the G8 to set up national disaster response task forces.

Shuvalov said, addressing the international conference, “Transitional Economies in a Post-Industrial World: Challenges of the Decade,”  that such task forces could enable G8 member states to promptly respond to tsunamis and other natural disasters and make relief efforts faster and more successful.

Shuvalov, whose job is to help shape the summit agenda, said Russia, like all other G8 states, was going to invest heavily into vaccines against most widespread infectious diseases, including AIDS.

He also described the fight against infectious diseases as an economically viable enterprise, calling current figures of losses from avian flu “horrific” and saying that he hopes “the epidemic will not unfold into a pandemic.”

Shuvalov complained that education, which also sits high on the G8 agenda, has seen less progress than other issues in the run-up to the July summit. He said future economic development was not possible without a new education system centered around new competencies. He vowed that Russia would propose education reforms that would equally suit employers and the educational community. 

Shuvalov also said that the upcoming summit’s agenda was shaped in the best interests of all nations, not just those of the G8.