 Vladimir Kolmogorov. Chairman of the Coordination Council of Employers' Union (right) and Mikhail Shmakov, Chairman of the Russian Federation of Independent Trade Unions, had a chance to talk about social partnership during a coffee break. ILO Moscow Office - 15 Petrovka Street, Apt.23, Moscow, Russia, 103031 |
Mr. Jean-Victor Gruat, director of the Moscow-based ILO Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia and Mr. Pierre de Lame, Industrial Relations Specialist were presiding over the meeting. Dr.Frank Hoffer, ILO Workers' Specialist, opened the conference, while Mr.Erwin Blasum, ILO Employers' Specialist, summed up the discussions. Several scientists from Russian labour research institutions presented reports based on studies of social partnerships problems which were conducted in Moscow, the Moscow Region, Novgorod, Samara and Perm. The conference provided participants with a clear-cut view on the present state of social dialogue in Russia at federal, regional and local levels. The discussions gave a chance to those present to formulate measures necessary to improve «tri-partite» cooperation in the interests of the society and its main groups. The participants also discussed problems of legal gaps in state-labour-employers relations, as well as the apparent lack of enforcement mechanisms to implement already existing laws in social and labour spheres. The meeting's papers will be soon published for distribution by ILO Moscow Representation for all interested parties. |
UNICEF Executive Director visits Moscow On October 11-13, 1998, Carol Bellamy, UNICEF Executive Director, visited Moscow for the second time since she was appointed to this post in May 1995. She held talks with Ministries of Labour and Social Development, Education, Health and Foreign Affairs which have been UNICEF's main partners since the establishment of the Office in Moscow in March 1997. She also had talks with the Chairman of the Duma (G. Seleznev) and with Deputy Prime Minister (V. Bulgak).As her visit coincided with the outbreak of the crisis and the appointment of the new Russian government, Ms. Bellamy urged the new Russian ministers not to forget the plea of the most vulnerable groups, such as women and children, in policy decisions to overcome the crisis. Russia's indicators are not nearly as bad as many of the countries in which we are working», she said. «It's the trend of the indicators that is the most troubling». UNICEF will spend $1 million this year to support its projects in Russia. Ms. Bellamy visited a UNICEF's sponsored project of the NGO 'No to Alcoholism and Drug Addiction' of outreach social work with street children of the Moscow South-West District. |
She met with the children and with the groups of young social workers who spend much time on the streets daily and encourage children to re-socialise themselves (attend school, spend time at home with their parents, etc.). Ms. Bellamy also visited a foster family from Orphanage No. 19, the only state orphanage functioning on the basis of family placement. The education and health systems were of specific concern for the UNICEF Executive Director, as they had been the pride of the Soviet system and are now in a state of decay. On a positive note, she was encouraged to see that governmental partners showed dedication to work with UNICEF in preventing the further marginalisation of young people. Inter-agency cooperation on juvenile justice UNICEF and UNDP are joining forces in Russia in support of governmental and non-governmental efforts to create a justice system adapted to the rteeds of young people in conflict with the law. International experience shows that prison sentences do not encourage young offenders not to offend again. Making them aware of their responsibility and responding by rehabilitative measures has proven to be much more constructive. The UNDP-UNICEF project aims at providing training to Russian judges, prosecutors, police officers, investigators and secretaries from the Commission of Youth Affairs and social services to provide a better respect of children's rights in the judicial proceedings. In November these professionals started to attend special training courses in Tagansky, Basmanny and Perovsky municipal districts of Moscow. |
