Center for Civil Society International ([email protected])
Wed, 10 Dec 1997 12:06:20 -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:
**********************************************************
AGENTSTVO SOTSIALNOI INFORMATSII
Kutuzovskyi pr. 22 pod. 14a,
Moscow, 121151
Tel./fax: (095) 249-3989
E-mail: [email protected]
**********************************************************
ASI Bulletin No. 46
14 - 21 November, 1997
I. Journalists Are Dying of Hunger in Rostov-on-Don
II. Questions Arise About Foreign Adoptions
III. Sex Education Program in Schools Incites Protests
IV. Arkhangelsk City Newspaper Teams Up With Youth Association
V. Detoxification Center to Open in Novosibirsk
VI. Odessans and Americans Discuss the Relationship
Between Civic Organizations and Government
***************************
Journalists Are Dying of Hunger in Rostov-on-Don
On November 18, the Glasnost Defense Foundation issued a statement
about the situation of journalists and media professionals in Rostov-
on-Don. In particular, the statement revealed that on October 23,
1997, Sergei Chekalin, a reporter at the "Priazovskii Krai" newspaper,
had taken his own life. In his suicide note, Chekalin explained that
his decision had been prompted by a complete lack of the resources
necessary to live. Chekalin had repeatedly appealed to Vasilii
Kuchkov, director of the joint-stock company that owned "Priazovskii
Krai," asking for payment of his last six months' wages. After failing
to receive a reasonable answer from Kuchkov, Chekalin began a two week
hunger strike, which also failed to bring about any results...
In addition, since November 7, the head editor of the "Zori Manycha"
newspaper and deputy to the Rostov oblast duma, Evgenii Tkachev, has
been on a hunger strike. On November 14, doctors told representatives
from the Glasnost Defense Foundation that Tkachev's health was in
serious danger due to the strike. "Zori Manycha," while considered to
be one of the best newspapers in the Rostov area, didn't receive a
sufficient state subsidy this year and as a consequence employees of
the paper have not been paid since February.
The Glasnost Defense Foundation's statement also reported that a
plenary session of the Rostov chapter of the Union of Journalists was
held at the end of October. The sole item on the session's agenda was
on the issue of the "extreme economic situation" for journalists in
Rostov. It was explained at the session that Rostov oblast
administrators have devised a new system of ownership for regional and
city newspapers--it is proposed that they will become unified municipal
enterprises.
"All of this testifies to the catastrophic state of the media in Rostov
oblast," concludes the Glasnost Defense Foundation release. "The
attempt to turn newspapers into municipal enterprises reveals
systematically constructed tactics to smother the press."
***************************
Questions Arise About Foreign Adoptions
On November 20 Alevtina Aparina, chairwoman of the Committee on Women,
Children & the Family, held a press conference at the Duma offices on
the subject of foreign adoption of Russian children. Igor Kamnev and
Irina Kuznetsova, legal consultants for the Committee, also took part
in the conference.
According to statistical data, some 533,100 children in Russia are
currently orphans. Only five percent of this number are true orphans,
without any living parent. The remainder were given up by their
parents. Every year, nearly 30,000 children are adopted in Russia--
around half of them are adopted either by a step parent or by a close
relative. The number of children adopted by strangers has been
dropping steadily; in 1993 15,264 children were adopted by strangers,
while in 1996 this number had fallen to 8,799. Data given by the
Ministry of Health reveal that approximately four percent of children
born each year are immediately given up by their mothers. Aparina
attributes the growth of this figure to the lack of respect for women
and mothers in Russian society.
But despite the negative state of affairs for orphaned children in
Russia, Aparina's Committee has voiced a strong opinion against the
adoption of Russian children by foreigners. Statistics have shown that
such adoptions have risen over the past four years; 1,376 in 1993
growing to 3,197 in 1996. The latter figure, however, is disputed by
Aparina, who points to American statistics that indicate that U.S.
citizens alone adopted 3,500 Russian children in 1996. There are
currently fifty agencies active in Russia that help foreigners adopt
children.
According to Committee member Irina Kuznetsova, the biggest problem
with foreign adoptions is the inability to adequately oversee the
welfare of the adopted child after he or she leaves Russia. The child
is wholly dependent on the new parents, but there have been incidents
where the adoptive parents have rejected the child that they selected
from photographs and sent the child back to Russia. Committee members
believe that a solution to the problems of foreign adoption can be
found in the proposed legislation that they have submitted for
consideration at the next Duma session (December 5). If approved, the
law would give priority to Russian Federation citizens in adopting
Russian children.
Contact telephone: 292-1978 (Committee on Women, Children & the
Family)
***************************
Sex Education Program in Schools Incites Protests
On November 17 at the Central House of Journalists in Moscow, a round
table discussion took place on the subject of sex education for school-
age children. Discussion participants included Gennadii Polozov, head
of the Children's Affairs Department at the General Procurator's
office, Duma deputy Vladimir Davidenko, and Vyacheslav Maslov, chief
lecturer on sexual pathology at the Russian Medical Institute.
The round table was convened to discuss an inquiry made to the General
Procurator's office by Duma deputy T. Astrakhankinaia. In the name of
her constituents, Astrakhankinaia expressed concern over a sex
education program being conducted in several Moscow-area schools, which
she thinks violates statutes of the Russian Federation constitution.
"We conducted an investigation at the pilot schools where the program
has been implemented (by order of Ministry of Education and the
Ministry of Health) and found that it is in accordance with
constitutional law," Gennadii Polozov stated at the discussion. The
other participants at the round table weren't satisfied by this answer,
however. Vladimir Davidenko expressed the opinion that the
presidential project, "Family Planning," which is responsible for the
sex education program currently in question, was actually created in
the West with the goal of lowering birthrates in Russia. Others stated
that they believed the program would corrupt teenagers and encourage
them to have sex, since it contains a section on "safe sex" and would
make condoms available to students.
"I believe that there is no reason to speak to children about sex in
school," said Vyacheslav Maslov, "They can obtain accurate information
through books and videos designed by specialists in the subject."
Maslov also pointed out that in the United States a program had
recently been approved by the President to teach abstinence, and
encourage marriage and family values.
***************************
Arkhangelsk City Newspaper Teams Up With Youth Association
Every two weeks the Arkhangelsk paper, "Business for You," devotes a
section to the problems and issues faced by young people. The section
is prepared by members of a local youth association, "Community," and
includes information for teenagers on such topics as their rights and
privileges and how to find a job. The section tries to encourage youth
participation in various civic and political activities and
initiatives, and educate young people about political and economic
development. It is the first such attempt to address youth issues in
an Arkhangelsk newspaper.
Contact telephone: (8182) 49-4458, 44-8066
E-mail: [email protected]
***************************
Detoxification Center to Open in Novosibirsk
"Miracle," a civic organization in Novosibirsk, plans to open a non-
medical detox center. The center will be called "Getting Sober with
the 12 Steps." According to statistical data, the "12 Step" program
has enjoyed 60 years of success and helped more than five million
people in countries around the world. "We're not just curing the
illness, but the reasons for the illness," said Nikolai Zhukov, manager
of the new center. "Our method is based on psychoanalysis. We help
people to understand the nature of the problems that led to their
illness, and, as a consequence, help them change their lives." Athough
the center hasn't yet officially opened, work there has been going on
since August. "About eight people a week come to the center. That's
not a lot, but we work with them on an individual basis. We are also
going to start a preventative program, in cooperation with several
health organizations," stated Zhukov.
Contact telephone: (3832) 52-1254
E-mail: [email protected]
***************************
Odessans and Americans Discuss the Relationship
Between Civic Organizations and Government
On November 18 an American delegation from Portland, Maine, met with
representatives from the Odessa city association. The primary goal of
the meeting was to share experiences and ideas on how civic
organizations work with local governments. Participants at the meeting
included representatives from municipal, civic, and commerical
organizations in both the US and Ukraine. The meeting was organized by
the Odessa City Office for Cooperation with Civic Groups and the
editorial board of the "Charity Bulletin" newspaper. It was sponsored
by Project Harmony.
Attendees at the meeting discussed how civic organizations can
influence local government. Odessans learned that it isn't possible to
build civil society "in general." Civic groups should concentrate on
working in cooperation with local government, lobbying for their issues
and for money from the local budget, and contributing to the
development of their cities.
Project Harmony in the U.S.
Tel: (802) 496-4545
E-mail: [email protected]
--------------------------------------------------------
| 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 |
| "Archives" link and choosing "ASI Bulletin Excerpts" |
| |
| http://www.friends-partners.org/~ccsi/ |
--------------------------------------------------------
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b3 on Sun May 23 1999 - 13:34:24 EDT