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#3-4 2009 г.

SUMMARY

The current issue of the journal contains the articles which highlight the Second National Women’s Congress, the crucial event in the history of the women’s movement of Russia. The other part of the issue is dedicated to the Parliamentary Hearings which took place in Moscow on December 1, 2008, and to the regional public hearings held in Irkutsk, Siberia.

In the beginning the editorial staff of the journal has inserted their letter proving an overview of the contents of the journal.

The next article highlight the main goals and results of the Second National Women’s Congress. The Congress took place in Moscow on November 28-29, 2008 in honor of the 100th anniversary of the First National Women’s Congress held in St. Petersburg in December 1908. The Deputies of the State Duma (the Parliament) of the Russian Federation (RF), members of the RF Federal Council, representatives of governmental institutions as well as the outstanding scholars and leaders of the women’s NGOs participated in the Congress. The main goal of the Congress was to represent the achievements and to find solutions to the problems in the field of women’s human rights and gender equality. Along with that, it was crucial to draw attention of the state authorities to the issue of promoting the principle of equal rights and equal opportunities of women and men as well as to the issues of gender-based discrimination and of violence against women.

The Resolution of the Congress has been inserted after the report; it was adopted on December 9, 2008 by the Steering Committee of the Congress. The document states the fundamental principles and recommendations which are to promote women’s human rights and gender equality through societal and legislative changes as well as changing the attitudes to the abovementioned issues in the society.

The resolutions of the two panels have been presented further in the current issue. The panel Women in Power was focused on the issue of gender-based discrimination at the decision making and power level. For instance, the statistical indicator illustrating the gender gap in the Russian State Parliament was presented in the document: there are only 14 per cent of the women in the State Duma. This fact led the panel participants to the development of the recommendations on adopting specific amendments to the Federal Law on Political Parties which would guarantee gender equality in the election process. In the resolution it was pointed out that the RF government has signed the fundamental international conventions which declare gender equality in all spheres of life, and that should be reflected in the domestic legislation and practice. The second panel was dedicated to the National Mashinary of the equal rights and equal opportunities of women and men in the Russian Federation. Participants of the panel pointed out that effective National Mashinary should include three components, such as legislation; the executive component - the Ministry of civil society and gender equality; and the civil society. In addition, the federal law on ‘On the National Mechanism on Ensuring Equal Rights and Equal Opportunities of Men and Women in the Russian Federation / On the National Mechanism on Gender Equality’ should be developed and adopted as well as the Gender Strategy of the Russian Federation.

The next article of the journal is the summary of the Parliamentary Hearings on evolution of women’s human rights dedicated to the 100th Anniversary of the First All-Russian Women’s Congress. The hearings were prepared and held by the Committee on Family, Women and Children of the State Duma. Deputies of the State Duma, representatives of the governments of the CIS countries, the Federation Council, the Presidential Executive Office, non-governmental organizations, educational institutions attended the hearings. In their speeches and presentations the participants touched upon the issue of compliance of the Russian legislation with the international law in terms of gender equality. In the course of discussions they suggested their recommendations which have also been inserted into the current issue. The recommendations were referred to the State Duma, the Committee on Family, Women and Children of the State Duma, the Human Rights Commissioner of the Russian Federation and of the regions, the Public Chamber, political parties, non-governmental organizations and mass media. The recommendations for the consideration of the State Duma were focused on continuing the development of the law draft on state guarantees of equal rights and equal opportunities of women and men. Another significant recommendation was on developing the law draft on suppressing various forms of violence against women and children, particularly trafficking of women and girls.

The other part of the journal has highlighted the information about the results of the public hearings held in the city of Irkutsk, Siberia, on March 5, 2008. The hearings were dedicated to the issue of gender inequality at the labour market. All the speakers, particularly Ms. Albina An. Shirobokova, a member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, expressed their concern about gender discrimination in the labor field. She stressed that the most vulnerable population groups, such as retired and unemployed persons, consist of women mainly. In addition, poverty is a crucial women’s issue in the contemporary Russia. Ms. Shirobokova referred the participants to the articles of the existing Russian legislation which prohibits gender-based discrimination. All the recommendations developed and adopted by the participants included important guidelines on raising the status of women in the society, elimination of gender-based discrimination and violence against women referred to the federal and local governments. The final result of the hearings was the letter to the RF government which stated the significance of changing the gender situation in the labor field.

Ms. I.Gekht, Chelyabinsk, the Urals region, contributs the article about the status of women in the field of employment and labor. In the first chapter of the article the author has presented the thorough analysis of the historical background of the issue starting with the 1960s, pointing out the five main characteristics of the national situation. Ms. Gekht has also reviewed various aspects of the problem, such as involvement of women and men into the national economy, unemployment, wages, gender-based discrimination and gender inequality in the labor market.

The article on the brief public gender expertise of the RF legislation and the Samara Region has been presented by Ms. Tatiana V. Makarova. The gender expertise was aimed at identifying obstacles in the legislation preventing effective enforcement of the laws dealing with labor rights. In the conclusion the author has listed her recommendations on promoting the policies of antidiscrimination in the labor / employment field as well as in the field of social protection nationwide.

The chapter on the news in the field of women’s human rights organizations is dedicated to the Third National Forum of Mothers, the 15th International Conference ‘The Women Who Change the World’ and the Third Regional Congress of Non-Governmental Organizations of the Council of Europe. The first two events took place in St.Petersburg in November, 2008; the NGO Congress was held in Penza in December, 2008.

The closing chapter of the current issue is highlighted several important announcements about the activities and the news of Russian non-governmental organizations. The first one is about the results of the six months work of the federal hot line for non-profit organizations; the others are the brief reviews of the newly released electronic and printed editions on the issues of NGO activities and women’s human rights.

Created by Larissa Ponarina