I am confident that you are aware of the high status membership in the Civic Chamber carries, but you should also know that you will have to uphold it all the time through your efforts. You must keep working to win and justify the confidence bestowed upon you, which is the foundation of authority, including that of the Civic Chamber, and its role in the country,” President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.
Collaboration between civil society and authorities has undergone serious changes, and the events of 2020 served as a stimulus for the development of public-authorities dialog. There was a noticeable shift toward a partnership model in the solution of more socially sensitive problems, as well as active invitation from government structures to civil society to develop and approve government solutions. New ideas, experience, resources, knowledge, and an outside point of view became valuable to a government faced with the serious challenges presented by the pandemic and its social and economic consequences.
The actions of the President of the Russian Federation show a deep understanding of the value of dialog with civil society.
The new paradigm of collaboration between authorities and civil society is set by meetings that the Russian President of holds regularly with the general public, and by the questions and problems discussed at these meetings. Opinions are exchanged and proposals are formulated, and they go on to become Presidential instructions and are manifested in decisions taken. The openness of the President to dialog sets a corresponding benchmark for all levels of government, allowing them to form appeals for the participation of civil society institutions at all stages of the development and realization of solutions.
At a meeting between the President and representatives of civil society on January 22, 2020, concerning questions of social support for citizens during a trip to the town of Usman in the Lipetsk Oblast, the necessity was underlined for the active inclusion of civic chambers in the realization of public oversight for the more significant social questions raised in the Address to the Federal Assembly.
The President held numerous online meetings in 2020 with participants in the nationalwide We Are Together campaign from all around the country, which addressed questions of contributing to the development of volunteer activity during the pandemic. At the meeting of April 30, 2020, the President highlighted the necessity for, and effectiveness of, the volunteer initiatives and socially oriented, nonprofit organizations which during the pandemic effectively assisted vulnerable people and the government’s medical and social organizations. He promised government support for these organizations.
The Civic Chamber is now the very institution which, in direct dialog with the head of state, formulates and proposes solutions aiming to increase the efficiency of government policy.
On June 25, 2020 there was a meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin with the members of the new Civic Chamber composition. A wide range of issues was discussed, including the organization of public observation of the national referendum on constitutional amendments, and public oversight of the quality of implementation of solutions approved in view of the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Members of the Chamber made proposals concerning: the monitoring of national projects, accounting for the importance of population preserving and the improved quality of life for Russians; the creation of a single register of socially oriented and other nonprofit organizations, and the introduction of additional measures of government support for NPOs in light of the pandemic; and the creation of a mechanism to finance medical help for children with rare (orphan) diseases, from money entering the budget from the introduction of a progressive scale of personal income tax.
As a result of the meeting, the President approved a list of 17 instructions,4 for each of which the Civic Chamber, in 2020, forwarded reports containing thoroughly detailed proposals.
Assistance for Children with Orphan Diseases
An example of the improved quality of authorities dialog one may consider the development of means to solve problems of assisting children with rare (orphan) diseases. Eternal systemic problems with providing medical assistance, in particular the provision of medicines to these patients, were exacerbated by the pandemic.
Within the framework of the implementation of the Russian President’s instructions which resulted from the meeting with members of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation on June 25, 2020, the Chamber prepared proposals concerning the development of a mechanism for the target financing of assistance for children with orphan diseases. This would use money entering the budget due to increased personal income tax rates for people whose income exceeds 5 million rubles a year.5
The Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation initiated and supported the proposal concerning the establishment of an endowment foundation,6 noting that it should be the “assembly point” for a system providing assistance for children with orphan diseases. During a series of events and public discussions involving geneticists, physicians, the patient community, and charity organizations, the Civic Chamber prepared proposals concerning: the activity of the foundation; a list of nosologies and the principles of their selection; and governing bodies and the approach to organizing public oversight over the activity of the fund. During discussions at the “Community” forum in Moscow on November 2,7 key problems were underlined in the assistance of children with rare (orphan) diseases, the solutions to which now depend, among other things, on the work of the endowment foundation: the lack of suitable diagnostics; the lack of clinical recommendations and orders to provide medical assistance, even according to nosologies included in the federal and regional registers; the irregular scale of charges for different kinds of medical assistance, for doctors working with children with orphan diseases; the incompetence of regional doctors in treating genetic disorders; the inequality of access to medicines (children with identical diagnoses either receive or do not receive medicine depending on the budgetary possibilities and solutions of the specific region); the lack of a system of continued treatment, rehabilitation, and assistance during puberty. The Civic Chamber specifically underlines that the system of target financing for the medical assistance of children with rare diseases must be up and running on January 1, 2021.8
© The Press Service of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation
In October-November 2020, the Civic Chamber operated a “Rare Opinion” hotline, which accepts appeals concerning questions of assistance for children with orphan diseases. Information received via the hotline will be used within the framework of the public oversight of the work of the authorities in implementing the instructions of the President of the Russian Federation.9
Shared Legal Guardianship: How to Help Mentally Ill People?
Another problem that has become more acute due to the pandemic is the inadequacy of the system for providing assistance to mentally ill people, in particular patients at psychoneurological inpatient facilities. In order to avoid the spread of the virus, these special institutions were closed and fully quarantined, with employees working on a rotation system. Major assistance to patients in psychoneurological inpatient facilities was provided by nonprofit organizations. So, within the framework of the Evacuation project, representatives of the nongovernment sector took into their homes on a temporary basis 5,500 inpatients, and were able to provide them more comfortable living conditions and security while they were self-isolating.10 The pandemic clearly illustrated the existing legal and organizational gaps in the system of protection of mentally ill people.
Considering civil society’s demand to reform the system of psychoneurological inpatient facilities and the system of guardianship for mentally ill people, on November 3, within the framework of the Civic Chamber’s final “Community” forum, a discussion session was held concerning problems connected with inpatients in psychoneurological inpatient facilities. The participants concurred that the system of psychiatric care and the system of guardianship and custodianship agencies require reform to create more comfortable conditions, closer to their normal lives, for mentally ill people.11
Relevant charitable and other nonprofit organizations and the parent community support the introduction, proposed in a bill which has been under consideration in the State Duma since 2013, of the institution of “shared legal guardianship”.12 This supposes that not only employees of psychoneurological inpatient facilities will be able to take decisions concerning the fate of patients, but also several natural and legal persons, including representatives of civic associations and nonprofit organizations.
The bill proposes the introduction of “external guardians” for patients of psychoneurological inpatient facilities besides inpatient facilities which ususally function as guardians. “External” co-guardians (relatives or friends of the patient, volunteers, nonstate, nonprofit organizations) must, as envisioned by the developers of the bill, undertake to fulfill all guardianship duties in the representation of the charge and in the protection of their rights and legal interests. It is also proposed that the new law will facilitate the access of interested parties to rehabilitation programs and information about the accessibility of technical means of rehabilitation.
However, assigning a large number of people as guardians leaves open the question of who will take responsibility for and indemnify against potential harm caused by charges. The inclusion of nonprofit organizations in the list of potential guardians will necessitate the provision of robust funding to those nonprofit organizations, as well as the elimination of the possibility of violation and abuse. To solve this question, the possibility is being discussed of the creation of a system of self-regulation and liability insurance, and the establishment of a special insurance fund. It is also necessary to discuss the setting up of an institution for public oversight, an independent service to protect the rights of mentally ill people, and the improvement of legislation concerning guardianship and psychiatric help.
The Environment
Informational transparency in the ecological sphere, just as in any other sphere, must become the norm in cooperation between authorities, business, and civil society.
Ecology and respect for the environment are unarguably a priority for civil society. Along with the problems in the system of dealing with SMW, and questions of protecting wood and water sources, events in Norilsk, Kamchatka, and Bashkortostan demonstrated the role of responsible dialog between civil society and the government in promoting quick solutions to ecological problems.
Norilsk
On May 29, 2020 in Norilsk, approximately 20,000 tons of diesel fuel was spilled at Thermal Power Plant No. 3, as a result of the collapse of a concrete platform and the destruction of a reservoir. Petrochemicals spread into the earth and water bodies in the area around the Nadezhdinski Metallurgical Plant, which resulted in pollution and tens of billions of rubles’ worth of damage to the environment.13. On June 1, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin declared a federal-level state of emergency in the area.
Considering the public outcry over the state of emergency in Norilsk, it was very important to organize collaboration between the government, civil society institutions, and the scientific community, to develop and realize the optimal and most effective means of rectifying the consequences of the accident and compensating damage caused. The steps taken to rectify the consequences of the accident, and the possibilities for further recovery of the environment in the area, were discussed with experts in July in Norilsk at a working meeting, organized by the Civic Chamber, concerning the post-accident cleanup. On July 11, public hearings were held in the Civic Chamber, in which participated, among others, representatives of АО Norilsk-Taymyr Energy Company.
As a result of these events, the Civic Chamber worked out recommendations and proposals14 highlighting the importance of: looking for new warning facilities and new ways to clean up oil and petrochemical spillages; improving the provision of information to the population concerning the activity and interaction of management teams dealing with operations to clean up oil spills; improving the system of ecological monitoring; approving measures to realize an internal and external audit of АО Norilsk-Taymyr Energy Company; establishing a project office to realize an integrated strategy for events concerning the recovery of the biodiversity and the remediation of the natural environment which has become polluted. The realization of the proposed measures is possible only with the participation and support of civil society and their control of the situation. In the given situation, it is necessary to: conduct ethnological evaluations aimed at discovering the effects of changes caused by the accident to the native living environment of small indigenous groups of peoples and the social and cultural situation; and, on the basis of the resulting data, develop and realize measures aimed at preserving the way of life of indigenous minorities living on these lands.
Kushtau
In 2020, the five-year conflict around the “shihan” hills, unique natural objects in the Republic of Bashkortostan, predictably intensified. One of the four shihans was already practically destroyed by industrial development, and the Bashkir Soda Company was planning to begin development of the Kushtau shihan in 2020, but local residents and ecologists strongly opposed it. In the middle of August, protests began in the republic. According to surveys, 70% of the residents of the Republic of Bashkortostan did not support the industrial development of the shihans.15
The intense social conflict surrounding the development of Kushtau was halted thanks to a radical decision of the Head of the Republic of Bashkortostan Radiy Khabirov, prohibiting the industrial reclamation of the land around the shihans and creating there a “specially protected natural area” of regional significance.
The Civic Chamber supported the awarding of the status of “specially protected natural area” to the Kushtau shihan. Moreover, the Civic Chamber supports the initiative to award Kushtau the status of “specially protected natural area” not of regional but of federal significance. It also proposed to create a cluster of national parks in Bashkiria to include all the land around the shihan. This may kick-start the development of ecotourism in the area and make the area around the shihan an attractive visitors’ destination.
The Civic Chamber has taken under control not only the situation with Kushtau, but also with other areas undergoing a conflict of interests between industry and the local population, in order to propose a systemic solution to such kinds of problems.
Considering on the one hand the importance of protecting natural areas in their pristine state, their protection from human activity, and the necessity to meet the demands of the local population living in specially protected natural areas, and on the other hand considering the results of the discussion of the conflict surrounding Kushtau, the Civic Chamber conducted an evaluation of the project concerned with amendments to the Law on Specialty Protected Natural Areas.16 The Civic Chamber underlined the urgency, timeliness, and importance of investigation and the provision of legal mechanisms aimed at reducing social tension among the local population living on the borders of specially protected natural areas. Also, it sharply criticized the provisions in the bill, stipulating the possibility to reduce the areas of national parks, ostensibly altering their boundaries, which might cause significant harm to natural habitats, species of wild flora and fauna, and cultural and historical objects.17
Kamchatka
Civil society’s attention was particularly drawn to the mass mortality of marine animals in Kamchatka in September of this year. At the end of September, local residents began complaining about changes in the color of the water in the area of PetropavlovskKamchatsky and a large number of dead animals washed up on the shore.
The ecological disaster demonstrated the role of civil society in solving ecological problems. It was thanks to information relayed by eco-activists and bloggers that it was possible to attract the urgent attention of the authorities in Kamchatka, and the rectification of the accident’s consequences began with the mapping of the polluted shore zone by volunteers. Following the publications by bloggers and the posts in social media, an investigation of the causes of the pollution, involving scientists and specialists, started. Samples of water and the innards of dead marine animals were taken and quickly transferred to leading research laboratories. Satellite monitoring tools were also brought into the investigation.
The Civic Chamber also actively investigated potential causes of the accident. The majority of the experts consider that the disaster was not man made. Today, according to scientists and experts, the most likely cause of the pollution is the so-called “red tide” (toxic algal bloom).18 However, the fact that the wide-scale investigation began after the publications in social networks indicates the importance of open dialog between civil society and the authorities on the most pressing social and ecological problems.
In order to prevent negative consequences and damage to the environment, a special role must be played by independent, ecological public monitoring. Systemic control of the environment may facilitate the prevention of ecological disasters.
In all the cases of ecological disaster and conflict mentioned, openness of the authorities’ position is vital in the discovery of the causes and the approval of solutions.