The principles we established when we founded the Civic Chamber remain valuable 15 years on. In this time Russia’s position in the world has changed, and the role of civil society has grown significantly. It is important that the Civic Chamber has a good history and a good future. We will continue to work,” Honorary President of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation Eugenie Velikhov.

The Civic Chamber, as a key institution of civil society in our country, keeps close watch on events, conditions and changes in public life, and solutions proposed and approved by the authorities, as well as analyzing their potential consequences and the general reaction to them of people and society. It also interacts with representatives of social groups and leaders of social organizations and government bodies, in order that civil initiatives reach governmental organizations, and public interest is taken into account by the government when making decisions. A barometer for social mood and interests is the appeals and initiatives of citizens,1 forwarded for consideration by the Civic Chamber, in which citizens, social communities and business structures highlight specific problems. The Chamber draws on the expert potential of its members and the smooth system of interaction with regional civic chambers, relevant nonprofit organizations and social alliances, the scientific and professional communities, and the public councils under the federal executive authorities. It then studies the more systemic and sensitive problems, presenting them to government agencies, proposing specific solutions, and managing their implementation.

The annual Report on the State of Civil Society is a report prepared by the Civic Chamber with the aim of labeling and analyzing the most important tendencies in public life in the current year.

Despite the diversity of events and conditions occurring during the year, the Report for 2020 concentrates on the main, defining questions for civil society in Russia.

The Report presents the results of the transformation of public-authorities dialog, the stimulus for the development of which were the events of 2020.

By the end of the year, it can be confidently noted that people and social structures became participants in the process of formulating amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The Civic Chamber, which became a platform for the gathering and discussion of “popular” amendments from all around the country, conceptualized them and passed them on to a working group set up by the President of the Russian Federation. 11 of the 18 amendments proposed by the Chamber were introduced in the updated text of the Constitution. Observers, trained by the Chamber to organize public observation of the all-Russia referendum on approving the constitutional amendments and control of the legitimacy of the electoral process, were present at voting stations in all the Russian regions.

It is worth noting that in the proposals received by the Civic Chamber from our citizens, alongside social amendments aimed at reducing poverty and achieving social equality, dominant issues were the reinforcement of sovereignty and national security, and the protection of Russia’s national interests and strategic national priorities. The constitutional amendments concerning the protection of the country’s sovereignty were supported by the majority of Russians.2

2020 was a year of global challenges and changes. The new coronavirus pandemic and its social and economic consequences have changed life around the world.

The government faced serious and difficult tasks, including preserving the lives and health of citizens from an unstudied and unknown virus, research into means of stabilizing the epidemiologic situation, and the full and timely provision of quality medical and social assistance to vulnerable citizens, as well as providing steady economic development and financial stability in times of increasing budget expenditure on essential needs.

At the same time, society demonstrated solidarity in solving arising problems, and is continuing to fight the pandemic in collaboration with the government. The government is responding with supportive measures intended for both the population and the worst hit economic agents – small and medium business and nonprofit organizations. The Civic Chamber played a big role in justifying the need for these support measures and their elaboration.

2020 was also marked by increased popular activity and collaboration to overcome ecological disasters. These resulted in social conflicts, to solve which, unlike in previous years, government agencies paid due attention and consideration to the demands of the population in all regions.

There are other eternally unsolvable problems too. One is the provision of expensive medicines to children with critical rare (orphan) diseases, whose families cannot afford them. In response to this, the President introduced a progressive scale for personal income tax, profit from the collection of which would go towards the treatment and rehabilitation of such children, and the provision of their medicine. However, it still remains to establish a specific finance mechanism and determine the way of public funds allocation. By the decision of the President, the Civic Chamber already intervened in the process, teaming up with relevant nonprofit organizations, medical experts and parent community

There is a long-overdue need to reform neuropsychiatric inpatient facilities and the system of guardianship for mentally ill people. Since 2013, the State Duma has been considering a bill concerning so-called shared legal guardianship. However, nothing changed and institutions remain closed, the rights of patients are still not fully realized, and they are deprived of socialization. Relatives and the relevant nonprofit organizations have appealed for reform of the laws concerning psychiatric help and the system of legal guardianship (trusteeship) for people with mental impairments.

Despite the particularities of 2020, the difficult epidemiologic situation, and the total lockdown in the spring due to the coronavirus pandemic, the current generation could not overlook the 75th anniversary of victory in World War II. Every family in our country remembers and honors its grandfathers and great-grandfathers, and memories of the events of 75 years ago are sacred. However, instances of falsification and the distortion of historical truths are not uncommon, and demand is high in Russian society not to allow this. The main national identity of contemporary Russian society is based around questions of the preservation and protection of the historical memory of the “Great Victory”.

It is precisely in these key areas that was most clearly evident the paradigm shift in collaboration between the government bodies and civil society, and the mutual desire for the joint development, discussion and realization of historical solutions.

The Civic Chamber has a secure position in terms of credibility among the leading institutions in our country’s social and political system.3 It draws on the expert potential of its members and the smooth system of interaction with regional civic chambers, relevant nonprofit organizations and social alliances, the scientific and professional communities, and the public councils under federal executive authorities, as it continues to monitor the progress of these issues and reach fair solutions.

© The Press Service of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation