Center for Civil Society International ([email protected])
Thu, 30 Oct 1997 12:26:42 -0800 (PST)
CCSI presents excerpts from the Agency for Social Information (ASI) e-mail
information bulletin. Translated from Russian by CCSI volunteer Alyssa
Deutschler. For more information on how to receive ASI's bulletin
regularly, contact:
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AGENTSTVO SOTSIALNOI INFORMATSII
Kutuzovskyi pr. 22 pod. 14a,
Moscow, 121151
Tel./fax: (095) 249-3989
E-mail: [email protected]
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ASI No. 40
October 3-9, 1997
In this issue:
* Organizations in Pskov Work to Improve Conditions for Women
* Parliamentary Hearings Recommend the Implementation of Measures
to Support Chechen Refugees
* Young Journalists Get Closer to Social Issues
* Support Centers for Charitable Initiatives to Be Built in Small
Russian Cities
* Tragedy Mars Protest for Clean Air in Sochi
* * * * * * * * *
Organizations in Pskov
Work to Improve Conditions for Women
In July of this year the Independent Social Center for Women in
Pskov started an informational telephone hotline for women,
providing consultations on a variety of legal, medical and social
questions. However, given that users must pay for the calls they
make to the hotline, far from every woman in Pskov can take
advantage of the service. Thus, the Independent Social Center has
turned to the telephone company and the local city government to
help them determine the fate of the telephone hotline - and with
it, the fate of the women of Pskov.
Pskov's female population has many unresolved problems; for
example, the large number of unemployed women. As the director of
Pskov oblast's Office of Employment, Leonid Kirillov, explained
at a recent conference held in September, the unemployment
situation in Pskov is at a critical stage. In 1997 alone, the
oblast has lost some 6,000 jobs. And women suffer most of all in
such times, as it is harder for them to find work in the first
place. As a result of this, the women's movement in Pskov has
been growing over the past months, led by the Independent Social
Center for Women. Together with various other women's
organizations, the Independent Social Center is attempting to
unite civic initiatives with the resources available to the city
government.
The oblast's women's movement is developing not only in the
cities, but in the countryside, too. For example, in the village
of Poseva , the Independent Union of Women was established on the
foundations of a pre-existing women's club, in the attempt to
resolve some of the pressing problems facing the women of the
village. Since January of 1997, grants from the Ford Foundation
and the Eurasia Foundation have funded various projects for women
throughout the region. In the words of Natalia Vasil'eva,
chairwoman of the Independent Social Center, "one of the main
goals of our organization is to unite women's organizations across
the region and provide information on the activities of women's
groups throughout Russia and abroad." In support of this goal,
the Center publishes a monthly newspaper, "Woman of Pskov," which
is available free of charge to all women's organizations in the
Pskov oblast.
Contact Telephone: (8112) 46-7716
* * * * * * * * *
Parliamentary Hearings Recommend the Implementation
of Measures to Support Chechen Refugees
On October 7, parliamentary hearings in the Federal Duma were
conducted on the topic of resettlement of refugees and displaced
peoples from the Chechen war. Representatives from both
governmental and non-governmental organizations took part in the
hearings, which were organized by the Duma's Committee on
Nationalities and various refugee advocacy groups.
Sources at the hearings reported that recommendations were
prepared for President Yeltsin, the federal Migration Agency and
different governmental organs that, in the opinion of one of the
hearings' participants, "current measures for assisting in the
resettlement of refugees and displaced peoples from Chechnya are
both insufficient and ineffective." Attendees at the hearings
advised the president to "implement a set of measures that will
truly support the social adaptation of Chechen refugees."
On the very same day that the hearings began, a group of Chechen
refugees held a protest in front of the Duma building; but the
demands and placards of the protestors failed to catch the
attention of government officials. Duma deputy Zhana Lozinskaia
felt that the ignored protest attested to the government's
indifference to the refugee problem: "These people literally
haven't the right to housing, employment, or education, but
neither the government nor the president are troubled by this.
The government wants to close its eyes to refugee issues. A
glaring example of this can be found in the 1998 federal budget,
where, just as in previous years, funds for the compensation of
refugees are alloted from residuals."
Svetlana Gannushkina, co-chairperson of the "Civil Assistance"
center, is also convinced of the government's indifference to
refugees and displaced peoples. In her opinion, the government
could ease the situation for displaced Chechens without budgetary
waste, by simplifying the procedure for attaining refugee status,
by allowing refugees to apply for jobs and allowing refugee
children into school.
* * * * * * * * *
Young Journalists Get Closer to Social Issues
Perspectives on social journalism were discussed at a symposium on
the topic of "Social Themes in Russian Periodicals," held on
October 7th in Moscow. The symposium was sponsored by the Agency
for Social Information (ASI), as part of a larger project on
social issues in Russian media. The goal of the meeting was to
elicit younger journalists' interest in social issues and aid in
their analysis and understanding of these issues, so that they may
present the problems of contemporary Russian society in a
compelling way, stated Larisa Rovnianskaia, director of the
project. The project was designed for journalists who are between
the ages of 20 and 35, working in St. Petersburg, Nizhnii
Novgorod, or Yekaterinburg, and interested in social themes.
Those gathered at the symposium were interested in how social
issues are represented in Russian media. Participants agreed that
the media frequently focuses on political and economic issues.
Thus, stories on a social theme can appear boring or dull in
comparison with reports on political scandals. Elena Topoleva,
ASI director, explained: "If a publication is presenting a story
on the poor, the perspective of the journalist is usually limited
to human sympathy or the defense of the interests of minorities,
which once again serves to isolate and stigmatize the subject.
Even the non-profit sector fails to be seen as a societal
phenomenon in the writings of journalists - articles on non-
profits' activities are lacking in 'social approach'."
Participants at the symposium included representatives from the
newspapers "Argumenti i Facti," "Moscow Komsomolets," "Economics &
Life," "Literaturnaia Gazeta," "The New Paper," and "The Russian
Paper;" from the magazines "Russia," "Charitable Digest" and radio
stations "Voice of Russia," "Moscow Speaks," and "Resonance."
* * * * * * * * *
Support Centers for Charitable Initiatives
to Be Built in Small Russian Cities
Sergei Aleshchenok, a representative from the "East - West"
humanitarian foundation, spoke on October 7th about a project to
create support centers for charitable initiatives outside of
Russia's urban centers. The project received funding from TACIS
this year. "For Moscow NGOs things are easy; they have access to
extensive information and aid from the mass of support centers in
Moscow. But in small cities, organizations work in isolation and
rarely even know about one another's existence." In 1996, in the
town of Lytkarino, a group of less than a dozen local NGOs
gathered in order to form an association based on the preservation
of local lore, history and culture. Together with local
environmental groups, the fund began to work towards protecting a
nearby lake. The ten NGOs sent a letter to Lytkarino's mayor,
asking him to focus attention on the problem of the lake. In
response to the letter the mayor ordered Saturday volunteer crews
to begin a clean-up of the lake, and provided tools for the job.
"We have proven that, working together, we can help both the city
and its inhabitants and present ourselves not just as requestors
of funds," said the leader of the Lytkarino group, Liudmila
Pakhomova.
Sergei Aleshchenok stated that centers similar to one created in
Lytkarino will be established in towns in the Moscow, Tula,
Vladimir, and Kaluga oblasts. The centers will bring different
groups together to work
towards a common goal (primarily those with an ecological or local
history emphasis). "East -West" will then provide training
seminars, legal advice, and information on other NGOs to the new
centers. "In many small towns a number of unique projects and
NGOs have accumulated," said Aleshchenok, "but even the residents
of the town don't know they exist. I hope that our project will
aid in the establishment of civil society in Russia's provinces."
* * * * * * * * *
Tragedy Mars Protest for Clean Air in Sochi
On October 4, members of the radical environmentalist group
Rainbow Warriors staged a protest in Sochi. In order to draw the
public's attention to the problem of air pollution in the city,
protesters chained themselves together and attempted to block
traffic on one of Sochi's main thoroughfares. But the protest
ended tragically when two of the Rainbow Warriors were seriously
injured. As a result of the blockade, a young man was run over by
a car, and a young woman's hand was partially severed by the
chains.
Following this occurrence on October 7, members of the Social-
Ecological Union and the Russian branch of the international
environmental organization Greenpeace issued a joint statement.
They criticized the protest for its recklessness but appealed to
Sochi city administration to deal with the problem of air
pollution and to take the Rainbow Warriors' demands into
consideration. Additionally, they called on all Russian non-
governmental organizations to provide assistance to the two
wounded protestors. However, the statement condemned those who
"so frivolously take part in the organization and carrying out of
such protests" and advised that they leave the ecological
movement.
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| CCSI presents excerpts from the ASI Bulletin. The |
| ASI Bulletin is a publication of the Agency for Social |
| Information (ASI) in Moscow. Originally published in |
| Russian, selected stories are translated and posted to |
| the CCSI listserv CivilSoc. Back issues are available |
| in both English and Russian language by following the |
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