FRAEC’s Russia Blog

I look for the “not so obvious” stories of what is happening in Russia when I surf the news. Two articles caught my eye recently: “Economic crisis sabotages Russia’s efforts to halt falling population” and “Troubled Kids as Good Publicity”.  They may not seem related, but I saw connections.

The first story highlights a recent U.N. study, “National Human Development Report, Russian Federation, 2008: Russia Facing Demographic Challenges”. This report asserts that Russia’s “demographic challenges – including short life expectancy and a shrinking population – must be faced to maintain Russia’s economic and social security.” It lists a number of very important policies and actions that the government and the Russian people must address to stem this serious problem ranging from improved healthy lifestyles, adopting life long education, addressing the pension system, employing youth and aging populations and international migration.

The other story comes on the heels of the celebration of International Children’s Day in Russia on June 1st. People took to the streets across Russia to attract attention to the problems that children face in Russia. There are videos on You Tube of some of the celebrations, but the article focuses on two aspects: the efforts by the Government of Russia to draw attention to the importance of having more children (something the U.N. report addresses) and how one television channel used the opportunity to highlight a charity event sponsored by the channel and airing footage of the President giving awards to spouses raising families with up to 16 children. The author of the article was very critical of the station, basically saying that it was “airing propaganda” and questioned whether promoting a positive image of Russian children would help combat the children’s problems in the country.

So how do I see these as related? It is clear from the U.N. report with its “Address to Readers” by E. Nabiullina, Minister for Economic Development of the Russian Federation, that the Government of Russia considers the falling population as “one of the most acute problems facing Russia”. Encouraging births is one part of the strategy – hence the recognition of families having more babies, but there is much more that needs to be done. It requires that the government and the Russian people recognize the importance of designing and implementing a strategy, as the U.N. report suggests, that harnesses three components: political will, economic resources and appropriate knowledge. And I would add that it means utilizing the many resources available in local communities to assist in improving healthy lifestyles, educating youth and the elder population as well as increasing the awareness and support of people and companies to the importance of charitable giving. Perhaps the television station erred in the direction of being overly positive, however, raising awareness of how everyone can help by supporting charities is important.

Recently President Medvedev presented the country’s budget to the Duma. Normally the Finance Minister presents budget, so some believe that the President,  by being the messenger, wanted to highlight the priority he places on this budget.  Russia, as the rest of the world, has been negatively affected by this financial crisis. Higher oil prices and healthy reserves helped Russia grow its economy and its middle class over the last decade, but unfortunately as he acknowledges in his opening remarks, the country and the economy face a difficult situation.

In his remarks he outlines ten principle budget tasks ranging from fulfilling the country’s social spending commitments and making them more targeted (an item he believes the regional authorities should have greater influence) to finding optimum means to support the country’s manufacturing and industrial sectors and finance system, as well as encouraging entrepreneurial activity,  promote research and development through tax incentives and an economically justified tax burden. Throughout his list there were calls for modernization and the use of technology to streamline government.

His final priority was of interst – the need to “start working on putting in place a barrier-free environment for people with disabilities and to ratify the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities“. This has been long overdue so I applaud the President for calling this to the attention of the country.

Two years ago during our bilateral Russian American Pacific Partnership (RAPP) meeting, I met a woman who was an advocate for people with disabilities. She herself was disabled and specifically came to our meeting to present her case at RAPP’s transportation sector. She called for prioritizing the needs of people with disabilities and was so convincing that the transportation sector included a recommendation to the Russian government in its sector report. “Access for the physically impaired: Access for people with disabilities living in Russia is extremely difficult. There are few, if any accommodations to allow them to travel with or without assistance. Providing access to travel through airports, on aircraft, on motor coaches, and on trains is critical. All people need to travel in order to get education, medical treatment and develop their personal potential outside their homes. It is imperative that transportation and infrastructure upgrades and developments address accessibility for all people, both able bodied and those with physical limitations.”

Clearly she must be celebrating this budget priority, along with the many other Russian citizens with disabilities that deserve a barrier-free environment.