*
The third periodic report concerning the rights covered by articles 1-15
of the Covenant (E/1994/104/Add. 8) was considered by the Committee on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights at its sixteenth session in 1997 (see
E/C.12/1997/SR.11-14).
The information submitted by the
CONTENTS
The right to self-determination (art. 1)
Guarantee of rights (art. 2)
Equal rights of men and women (art. 3)
The right to work (art. 6)
The right to the enjoyment of just and favourable conditions of work (art.
7)
Trade union rights (art. 8)
The right to social security (art. 9)
Protection of the family (art. 10)
The right to an adequate standard of living (art. 11)
Health protection (art. 12)
The right to education (art. 13)
Rights in the field of culture and science (art. 15)
1.
Activities carried out by procurators' offices
in supervising observance of the public's employment and other rights and
protecting the rights and interests
of minors (1998-2000)
2.
Trends in the indicators for industrial accidents
and occupational diseases in the
3.
Indicators of occupational disease for the period
1997-99 in the
4.
Relative proportions of cases of acute and chronic
occupational disease and toxicosis in the whole
5.
Minimum social guarantees
6.
Average cash income per capita in the constituent
territories of the
7.
Proportion of the population whose income falls
below the minimum subsistence level
8.
Minimum subsistence levels and numbers of population
living in poverty
9.
The
10.
Housing conditions in the
11.
Abortions in the
12.
Maternal deaths in the
13.
Infant mortality in the
14.
Infant mortality ratios for 2000 (number of
deaths before the first birthday per 1,000 population)
15.
Child vaccination coverage in the
16.
Morbidity rates for the population of the
17.
Establishments providing supplementary education
for children under the auspices of the Russian Ministry of Education
18.
Educational establishments for children with
health deficiencies
19.
Profile of the population's cash income
The
right to self-determination (article 1)
1. Article 5, paragraph 3 of
the Russian Federation's Constitution states: "The federated structure of
the Russian Federation shall be based on its state integrity, a uniform system
of state power, delimitation of scopes of authority and powers between the
bodies of state power of the Russian Federation and the bodies of state power
of the Russian Federation's constituent members, equality and self-determination
of the peoples in the Russian Federation".
2. Over 140 nationalities
and ethnic groups live in the
3. To extend its
constitutional provisions concerning the self-determination of peoples, the
Russian Federation adopted the Act "National cultural autonomy" in
1996, and the Act "Guarantees of
the rights of indigenous peoples whose numbers are small" in 1999.
National cultural autonomy is a form of national cultural self-determination in
which citizens belonging to specific nationalities come together into one
community, on a freely organized basis, in order to resolve independently
matters relating to the preservation of their independence, language, education
and culture. By 2000, eleven ethnic groups in the
4. Further information
concerning this article is contained in paragraphs 1-14 of the
Guarantee
of rights (article 2)
5. In the
6. This proclamation of the
principle of protecting the rights and freedoms of man and citizen implies a
state obligation to establish special institutions for that purpose. They
include the courts, the bodies that protect public order, the procurate, and
the human rights institute.
7. In its decision
"Certain matters relating to the courts' application of the Russian
Federation's Constitution in the administration of justice" of 31 October
1995, the Supreme Court ruled that, in their consideration of cases, the courts
"shall be required to proceed from the commonly recognized principles and
norms of international law, as enshrined in international agreements,
conventions and other documents (including the Universal Declaration on Human
Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights), and that, in
compliance with article 15, paragraph 4 of the Constitution, the Russian Federation's
international treaties shall be a
component part of its legal system. The same constitutional norm also provides
that if an international treaty of the
8. The Supreme Court, acting
in accordance with its own jurisdiction, has also provided the courts with
clarifications concerning the specific types of cases that touch on the matters
proclaimed by the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Political
rights (human rights, work and wages, the protection of worker's interests, the
family and children, public health, and participation in cultural life). These
clarifications concern the procedures to be used by the courts in examining
complaints about violations of citizens' rights and freedoms, and in
prescribing criminal sanctions, measures to tackle drug addiction and crime
prevention measures. The existence of such clarifications reflects Russia's
lack of practical experience in applying the legislation relating to labour
(including women's employment), the activities of joint-stock companies,
taxation, the consequences of marital break-ups and the fate of the children
involved, and environmental conservation and the use of natural resources.
9. A gradual reform of the
judicial system is being carried out with a view to improving the state legal
system, strengthening the judicial power, enhancing the courts' independence,
and ensuring that the courts apply the legislation correctly.
10. The many important laws
enacted in recent years include "The status of the courts in the Russian
Federation", "The judicial system of the Russian Federation",
"The judicial division of the Russian Federation Supreme Court",
"The lay magistracy", "Military courts in the Russian
Federation", and "People's assessors in federal courts of general
jurisdiction in the Russian Federation".
11. The law on the lay
magistracy has provided the basis for establishing a lay magistrates'
institute, and lay magistrates have already begun work in 33 of the
Federation's constituent territories. At the end of 2000, the State Duma
adopted the first reading of a bill to establish administrative courts.
12. Verification of the constitutional
validity of laws, including those relating to citizens' complaints concerning
their economic, social and cultural rights, is the responsibility of the
13. One of the main tasks of
procurators is to supervise observance of the population's economic, social and
cultural rights by federal ministries, public representatives and the executive
authorities.
14. The experience that
procurators have gained from such oversight to date reveals a number of
improvements in this sphere in respect of compliance with the law. The
situation has been facilitated by the growing attention being devoted to
legitimacy and law and order by the agencies of representative and executive
power at both central and local level, the adoption of a whole series of
federal laws, the adoption of constitutions and charters by the constituent
members of the Federation, and the establishment of local self-governing
bodies.
15. However, owing to the
social and financial constraints, violations of citizens' rights still occur in
the
16. There are many reasons for
this situation, the main ones being inconsistencies in federal legislation, a
nihilistic attitude in legal circles and the intrusion of parochial and
narrowly departmental interests into the law-making process, failure to define
precisely the powers of the federal
authorities and the constituent members of the Federation, failure to use the
machinery established for approving the laws promulgated by governmental bodies
at all levels, and the absence of an efficient governmental monitoring system.
Just as in the past,
17. More than 237,000
violations of human and civil rights and freedoms were uncovered by procurators
during 1998 and the first half of 1999.
18. Procurators appealed
against some 45,000 unlawful legal transactions. A total of
59,000 submissions were made requesting immediate remedy against alleged
violations of civil rights and freedoms.
19. Recently the forces of law
and order have placed particular emphasis on checking compliance with the
legislation intended to guarantee economic, social and cultural rights.
20. Thus, on the instructions
of the President of the Russian Federation, inspections of compliance with
Federal Act No. 181 of 24 November 1995, " Social protection for the
Disabled", were carried out in every part of Russia, resulting in the
finding that many disablement, pensioners' and veterans' benefits have only
declarative force. The people affected are not always granted housing and free
medicines, and have to wait several months for payment of their pensions and
allowances. In 1999, the number of violations of elderly persons' rights
discovered and dealt with by procurators increased in half of the constituent
members of the
21. Almost 16,000 violations
of disabled and elderly persons' rights were discovered in the period under
review.
22. With a view to bringing
about a real improvement in the situation, the Procurator General requested the
Russian Government to introduce changes in the existing legislation exempting
the disabled from payment of State duties in cases involving property disputes,
to introduce a wide-ranging federal programme for rehabilitating the disabled,
including the procedures for its implementation, and to introduce supplementary
legislation designed to improve social protection for the disabled.
23. Procurators now attach
great importance to compliance with the pension laws, owing to the longstanding
failures to pay pensions. An investigation into the Russian Federation Pension
Fund mounted by the Procurator General's Office revealed a number of
violations, including improper use of monetary resources, the illegal practice
of paying off debts to enterprises and organizations by means of promissory
notes, and non-observance of the procedure for granting the right to pay by
instalments. Managerial staff in some of the Fund's departments were found to
have committed abuses.
24. In order to eliminate
these breaches of the law affecting the activities of the Pension Fund and its
regional offices, procurators recorded over 800 submissions and protests, filed
more than 140 actions, and instituted 13 criminal cases.
25. The results of these
inquiries were discussed by a top-level meeting at the Office of the Russian
Federation Procurator General. The need to strengthen working relations between
the Procurator General's Office and the Pension Fund was acknowledged,
especially with regard to complaints concerning unlawful acts committed by
constituent members of the Federation having a bearing on central federal
jurisdiction, and procurators took measures to address the situation. The
matter of the timely payment of pensions has now been resolved to a large
extent.
26. Investigations into
compliance with the Act "Medical insurance for citizens of the
27. In certain cases, medical
institutions are illegally demanding payment, including from minors, for
services they are supposed to deliver free of charge. For example, in
28. Contrary to the relevant
legislation, members of the public are being denied the right to obtain fringe
health benefits under voluntary health insurance agreements over and above
those included in compulsory insurance programmes, and the procedure for
concluding such agreements is being flouted.
29. In 1999, the Procurator
General called for an inspection of compliance with the legislation on higher
education, which revealed that access to higher education was becoming
increasingly dependent on parents' social and material standing. It was also
found that students were being asked to pay for places that had already been
allocated under the federal budget. As a result of the inspection, the
Procurator General made representations to the Ministry of Education, and the
information was transmitted to the Federal Government and the State Duma.
30. In 2000, the Procurator
General's Office inspected compliance with the legislation on initial and
intermediate occupational training in 30 constituent members of the Federation,
in the process discovering flagrant violations of the Constitution and the
Education Act; discriminatory clauses were being included in the entrance
requirements of training establishments, payment was being demanded for regular
state-provided training, grants were being reduced, and the rights of trainees
who were orphans or who had been deprived of parental care were being ignored.
31. Procurators have taken
steps to address the above-mentioned violations.
32. The Procurator General
also examined the situation regarding observance of the rights and freedoms of
the population living in the administrative districts of the Far North,
ascertaining that the "support for the northern territories"
proclaimed by governmental departments in fact remained only rhetoric.
Programmes undertaken at the federal level were not being implemented, and no
one at the federal level was responsible for them. With the consent of the
Russian Ministry of Finance, there was widespread acceptance of practices in
which direct budgetary funding for production purposes was replaced by
cross-cancelling of debts, with commercial banks issuing credits and bills that
carried high subsequent interest payments.
33. The authorities in the
34. Out of the 273,000
infringements of human and civil rights and freedoms uncovered by procurators,
almost two thirds concern the labour laws. Illegal dismissals are being
permitted on a wide scale, and delayed salary payments and breaches of labour
protection regulations are becoming increasingly common at enterprises under
all forms of ownership. Every year, the courts restore the rights of up to
20,000 illegally dismissed workers.
35. More than 138,500
occupational safety checks carried out by governmental labour inspectors in
2000 revealed almost 1.5 million violations of workers' rights (1.7 million in
1999). More than 135,500 court orders were issued in dealing with them.
Almost 33,000 officials were found to be administratively liable (fined) for
gross violations.
36. Following governmental
labour inspectors' inquiries into accidents in the manufacturing sector, over
15,000 files were sent to procurators with a view to initiating criminal
proceedings; the result was 1,300 court cases, with 100 persons being
sentenced.
37. Problems of protecting
social rights persist in the area of occupational safety in
38. In the first half of 2000,
the Procurator General of
39. According to the Russian
State Committee on Statistics (Goskomstat), industrial injuries were sustained
by 151,800 workers (35,000 women; 570 under 18's), of whom 4,400 died (255
women; 23 under 18's). The number of people whose capacity for work was reduced
so that they had to be transferred to other duties for at least one day per
week on health grounds was 5,300, including 927 women. The industrial
injury rate was 5.1 per 1,000 workers. The number of workers first diagnosed
with an industrial disease in the year in question was 7,500. The loss of
working time at the entities concerned arising from temporary incapacity for
work caused by injuries was 4.3 million person-days.
40. The statistics supplied by
Goskomstat show that in recent years the trend has been relatively positive
with regard to the number of industrial injuries sustained in the Russian
Federation: in 1996, the figure was 212,500; in 1997, 185,200; in 1998, 158,000;
in 1999, 153,000; and in 2000, 151,800. The same is true of the number of
industrial accidents leading to death before the year 2000, except that the
absolute number of industrial deaths went up again in that year: in 1996, 5,420
deaths; in 1997, 4,730; in 1998, 4,290; in 1999, 4,260; and in 2000, 4,400.
Again, Goskomstat's figures indicate that, in 2000, virtually one in six people
worked in conditions which did not meet public health standards. In the
industrial, construction, transport and communications sectors alone, 1.47
million people worked in conditions characterized by excessive noise,
ultrasound and infrasound levels, 350,000 suffer high levels of vibration, and
1.75 million work in conditions polluted by excessive dust or gas.
41. Violations of the laws
governing occupational safety and industrial safety practices were found at
enterprises under all forms of ownership, but mainly in private enterprises,
and mainly in the Republics of Altai and Komi, and in the Archangelsk,
42. Procurators are taking
steps to deal with all breaches of labour legislation. In the current year, they
uncovered over 60,000 such violations, including almost 14,000 unlawful legal
transactions. For the purpose of restoring workers' violated rights, over
13,000 protests were filed, almost 11,000 applications to remedy legal
violations were made, over 6,000 people were subjected to disciplinary,
administrative and financial proceedings, almost 16,000 petitions went to the
courts, and almost 200 criminal cases were initiated.
43. In recent times,
violations of the housing laws have multiplied. A large proportion of cases
concern the issuance of unlawful legal documents imposing restrictions on
people's rights to receive housing or housing subsidies, housing privatization,
and the housing of minors and of citizens unable to look after themselves. An
investigation carried out by the Procurator General has revealed evidence of
malpractice by officials in connection with the provision of housing subsidies
to persons moving from regions of the Far North and similar localities to live
in Kamchatka Region.
44. In 1997, the Office of
Human Rights Commissioner came into existence in the
Equal
rights of men and women (article 3)
45. Information relating to
this article is contained in paragraphs 92-94 of this report, in Russia's fifth
periodic report on its implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW/C/USR/5) submitted to the
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in 1999, and in
the Russian Federation's report on its implementation of the Platform of Action
adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women (attached).
The
right to work (article 6)
46. The processes taking place
in the labour market have been shaped to a large extent by the consequences of
the 1998 financial crisis. Since 1999, the number of people in employment in
47. The overall number of the
unemployed stood at 6.6 million on
48. The biggest cuts in
workforce over the period 1996-2000 occurred in the fields of science and
scientific services, industry, transport and communications. At the same time
enterprises and organizations involved in general commercial activity, communal
housing provision, consumer services and the power industry experienced a
certain increase in employment. The workforce engaged in the wholesale and
retail trades and in public catering is increasing steadily.
49. Acute problems of
unemployment persist in the territories. At the beginning of 2001, the numbers
of the registered unemployed in 48 constituent territories of the
50. Concealed unemployment
(significantly greater than the number of officially unemployed) is
concentrated mainly in unprofitable enterprises - which represent about 50 per
cent of the total - and also in single towns and in areas where labour market
conditions are at their worst. At the macro-level, it acts as a kind of buffer
between effective employment and open unemployment, preventing the latter
attaining avalanche-like proportions and thus avoiding a sharp rise in social
tensions. Experts estimate that concealed unemployment in the
51. Having
peaked in 1998, involuntary partial employment has begun to decline gradually
over the past two years. In the first quarter of 2001, managerial bodies
transferred 800,000 people to partial employment. The number of workers offered
unpaid or partially paid leave by their management was 1.1 million.
Partial employment was most marked at enterprises and organisations in
industry, construction, transport, science and scientific services.
52. To a certain extent, the
policy of supporting the real economy has led to growth in the numbers of
people employed in the economy. Goskomstat estimates that in 2000 this increase
amounted to 600,000 compared with 200,000 in 1999; the absolute number of
people employed in the economy was 64.6 million. By the end of 2000 the
total number of the unemployed, using the ILO method, was 7 million, or
9.8 per cent of the economically active population. Those officially registered
unemployed numbered 1.1 million, or 1.4 per cent of the economically active
population. By the end of June 2001, the total number of the unemployed, using
the ILO method, was 6.6 million, or 9.6 per cent of the economically active
population. The total number of officially unemployed persons was 1 million, or
1.4 per cent of the economically active population.
53. Women are in the most
difficult situation as regards the labour market. In 2000, the total number of
women officially registered as unemployed at state employment offices was
710,000 (over 68.9% of the official total). The average period of unemployment
for women was 2 months (6 months for men). By the end of 2000, the number of
officially unemployed women stood at 710,000 (71% of the official total).
The average period of unemployment for women had risen to 6.2 months.
54. At the end of 2000, 78 per
cent of unemployed parents with underage or disabled children were women, as
were 93 per cent of unemployed single parents and 75 per cent of unemployed
parents with more than one child. At the end of 2001, the respective figures
were 76.5 per cent, 94 per cent and 75.3 per cent.
55. The reasons for this preponderance of women among
the unemployed are the drastic cutting of jobs in "women's"
industries, the abolition of a number of civil service technical grades
normally dominated by women, and the fact that women are not able to compete as
well in the labour market owing to the interruptions to their working lives
(pregnancy, childcare, etc.).
56. In order to promote jobs for
unemployed women, they have been included among the high-priority groups
targeted under the national employment programme. They thus enjoy the right to
privileged treatment as jobs are created, in the following order: single
mothers or mothers with several children whose charges are disabled or
under-aged; disabled women; women of pre-retirement age, etc.
57. Regional employment
programmes devote considerable attention to women's employment. In addition,
special programmes are being devised to improve the lot of unemployed women;
they include a range of measures focussing on job placements, career guidance
and retraining, job retention and job creation. The main measures being taken
to boost women's employment are:
a)
placement in existing posts and in jobs
protected by quotas;
b)
vocational training and retraining in
accordance with labour market requirements;
c)
temporary employment, including public;
d)
promotion of entrepreneurial initiatives by
women and their self-employment;
e)
retention and creation of jobs for women.
58. In 2000, two and a half
million women approached state employment offices for help in finding a work
placement (53% of the total number of users). The employment service assisted
1.7 million women in finding paid employment (52.1% of those placed in jobs).
In 2000 over 371,000 women were involved in social work. The employment
services helped around 20,000 previously unemployed women to start their own
entrepreneurial activities.
59. Additional information is
supplied in the
60. In the first nine months of 1999, young people accounted for
some 32.7 per cent of the officially unemployed total. The following main steps
have been taken to try to solve this group's employment problems:
a)
development of a system offering young people
initial and further occupational training, and retraining, together with help
in joining the labour market;
b)
special job placement programmes for young
people, such as "New start";
c)
incentives designed to make young people
remain longer in mainstream education.
61. Alongside the burgeoning
nation-wide unemployment, there has been a noticeable increase in
discrimination against the disabled in the labour market. By 1 January 2000,
the Russian Federation had 10.6 million disabled inhabitants, of whom almost 50
per cent were of working age. Every year, 1 million more people are recognized
as disabled. On that date, only 15 per cent of disabled people of working age
had a job. By the end of 2000, the ranks of the officially unemployed included
39,700 disabled persons, of whom 86 per cent were receiving unemployment
benefit. In 1999, the federal government submitted a report to the ILO on Russia's
implementation of ILO Convention No. 159 on Vocational Rehabilitation and
Employment (Disabled Persons), in which it described in detail its policy and
the main measures being taken in Russia to address the problem of employment
for the disabled.
62. The Russian Government is
attempting a balanced approach to its employment policy, on the one hand not
allowing mass unemployment to surge out of control, and on the other not
interfering with the release of superfluous labour as the economy is restructured.
63. Accordingly, the
Government intends to step up its measures designed to stimulate output and
improve the financial situation of enterprises. The main thrust of its general
economic, budgetary and lending policy is to boost investment activity and
carry out major investment programmes designed to create jobs. The Government's
current labour market policy is geared to the following main concerns:
a)
continuing to secure employment through a
policy of providing state support for the real economy and making maximum use
of the potential offered by domestic and foreign investment in the economy and
the mobilization of people's savings;
b)
offering strengthened support for the regions
worst affected by labour market problems, in particular by ensuring that they
can transfer payments on time;
c)
improving the operational effectiveness of
employment offices with regard to the provision of appropriate retraining and
job placements for laid-off workers, and reducing long-term (more than one
year) unemployment;
d)
boosting small and medium enterprises;
e)
amending employment legislation with a view
to strengthening the social support network available to the unemployed,
ensuring that the amount of benefit more closely reflects work experience,
period of insurance and reasons for dismissal, clarifying the criteria used in
defining people as unemployed, and making more effective use of the State
Employment Fund;
f)
ensuring that all policy aimed at increasing
employment genuinely helps to overcome the downturn in production and restore
gradual growth;
g)
enhancing public employment by improving its
status, widening the nature and scale of its operations and changing the
conditions affecting access to such employment;
h)
developing and improving the systems of
occupational and in-service training;
i)
protecting the national labour market.
64. As a further guarantee in
this regard, the Russian Government has adopted a Federal programme to boost
employment for the period 1999-2000 (Governmental Decree No. 828 of 24
July 1998), whose main objectives are job creation and retention, the raising
of work effectiveness, the development of small enterprises and non-traditional
forms of employment, and the formulation of specific governmental employment
measures jointly with the town planning authorities in territories where labour
market conditions are at their worst.
65. Particular attention is
being devoted to the reorganization of occupational training at all levels and
to retraining, especially for young people and the unemployed, with the overall
objective of making training more suited to the requirements of the free labour
market. The current situation is so unbalanced that three fifths of university
graduates, one third of trade school graduates and three quarters of those
leaving technical schools do not take up employment in the field in which they
were trained, while almost a quarter of all unemployed young people have
diplomas from high school or occupational training establishments.
66. The main problem is to
overhaul the system of occupational training and in-service training which
existed before the reforms. Most employers, imposing harsher conditions on
workers against a background of increasing unemployment, do not take the
necessary steps to retrain their workers or to regenerate or create productive
staff training arrangements. The average interval between workers' retraining
periods has increased since 1991 from five to nine years. In 1998, the number
of workers who had undertaken training in industry was two times less than in
1991, and the number of those who had improved their qualifications was six
times less. In 1998, about 1.5 million workers received training in industry,
and 1.9 million workers and 1.1 million specialists and managers improved
their qualifications.
67. In 1998 the Russian
Government submitted to the ILO its report on Russia's implementation of ILO
Convention No. 142, the Human Resources Development Convention, giving
detailed information.
68. With regard to the issue
of discrimination in the field of labour and employment, article 37 of the
Russian Constitution states that "Everyone shall have the right…. to
remuneration for work without any discrimination…". Moreover, article 16
of the Labour Code forbids direct or indirect discrimination in the field of
labour and employment in respect of race, nationality, sex, creed, political
beliefs or social origin. This matter has been covered in detail in the Russian
Government's report on Russia's implementation of ILO Convention No. 111
concerning Discrimination in respect of Employment and Occupation, submitted to
the ILO in 1999.
69. The widespread illegal
migration of labour remains a serious problem in Russia, exacerbating the
tensions in the labour market. In light of this situation, the Government
issued a decree establishing a federal migration programme for the period
1998-2000, subsequently extended to 2001. The main aims of this programme are
to strengthen state control over migratory flows, deal with the negative
consequences of spontaneous migration, create the conditions for unimpeded
implementation of migrants' rights, and protect migrants' legal rights and
interests.
70. In 2000, according to
official statistics, 2, 132, 293 foreign workers from over 150 countries were
recruited to work in the Russian Federation. The largest groups comprised
workers from Ukraine (63,797, or 29.96%), followed by China (26,222; 12.32%),
Turkey (17,847; 8.38%), Viet Nam (13,256;6.23%) and Moldova (11,895;5.59%).
71. The greater part of this
foreign workforce was used in construction (83,766), industry (26,725), public
catering outlets (25,913), farming and forestry (20,132) and commerce (18,272).
72. During the first half of
2001, some 120-125,000 foreign workers were recruited from over
30 countries (latest figures) to work in the Russian Federation. The
largest groups came from Ukraine (29.06%), Turkey (7.96%), China (12.85%), Viet
Nam (6.04%) and North Korea (4.3%). As before, foreign labour was used mainly
in construction, trade, public catering, and farming and forestry.
73. The significant levels of
partial employment, the low wages and delays in paying them, and the lack of
effective control over job placement in the private sector, especially in small
and medium enterprises, are all attributable to the wide-scale introduction of
secondary and unofficial employment. Experts estimate that almost 8 million
people have a second job. In 2000, almost 1.8 million people were officially
hired by large and medium enterprises under civil contracts to occupy two jobs at
once. The highest numbers of such people were to be found in insurance,
arts and culture, education and science, health care, public catering outlets
and construction. The number of persons working in the unofficial sector for
whom this kind of employment is the only source of income is estimated to be
7.5 million.
74. The legal provisions
governing labour and employment were supplemented by the following major new
laws during the period 1996-2001:
–
Federal Act No. 125 of 24 July 1998,
"Compulsory social insurance against industrial accidents and occupational
diseases";
–
Federal Act No. 181 of 17 July 1999,
"Fundamentals of occupational safety in the Russian Federation";
–
Federal Act No. 22 of 4 February 1999,
"Regulation of worker remuneration in public-sector organizations";
–
RSFSR Act No. 1032-1 of 19 April 1991,
"Employment in the Russian Federation", Revision No. 36-FZ of 20
April 1996, and subsequent amendments and additions, the latest dating from 7
July 2000.
75. The State Duma of the
Federal Assembly is currently examining the Government's draft labour code,
which will regulate the employment of Russia's citizens on the basis of modern
labour relations. The draft is designed to achieve a balance between
workers' and employers' interests, to increase workforce mobility and to reduce
the effect that hidden processes exert on the labour market. It proposes
gradually to squeeze out "informal" working practices and replace
them with widespread registered employment, thereby bringing greater equilibrium
to the labour market and minimizing unemployment. A greater role is
envisaged for contractual agreements in labour relations, initially on the
basis of strengthened collaboration between trade unions and employers. The
role of individual labour contracts will also be strengthened considerably,
with greater scope for the use of fixed-term individual contracts,
simplification of the procedure used by employers to cancel them (while
maintaining the required level of protection for workers' rights and interests),
and a widening of the range of considerations governed directly by contracts.
The Government reserves the right to consolidate and give expression to
guarantees of labour rights for mandatory application throughout the national
territory. At the level of collective bargaining, sectoral, regional,
occupational and other types of organizations will be established, thus
genuinely enhancing the level of workers' labour guarantees. Individual
contractual arrangements will become the main means of establishing, with his
direct involvement, a worker's working conditions and remuneration, of defining
the nature and content of his work duties, any special circumstances
conditioning their fulfilment, and the workers' capabilities, and of widening
the scope for applying the various types of incentives.
76. In response to the delays
and failures occurring in the payment of salaries, the existing legislation on
employer liability has been strengthened by the adoption of Federal Act
No. 48 of 15 March 1999 entitled "Supplementary article 145 (1)
to the Russian Criminal Code", which sets out the liability measures
(fine, deprivation of the right to exercise certain occupations for a fixed
period, deprivation of freedom for up to seven years) applicable for non-payment
of wages, pensions, grants, benefits, etc.
The
right to the enjoyment of just and favourable conditions of work (article 7)
77. The Russian Federation is
a party to the following ILO conventions: No. 14 concerning Weekly Rest in
Industry, 1921; No. 81 concerning Labour Inspection, 1947; No. 100
concerning Equal Remuneration, 1951; No. 106 concerning Weekly Rest in
Commerce and Offices, 1957; No. 155 concerning Occupational Safety and
Health, 1981. The Russian Government has submitted periodic reports on its implementation
of these conventions, as follows: No. 14 in 1994; No. 100 in 1996;
No. 106 in 1994; No. 155 in 1996. The Russian Federation has ratified
Conventions Nos. 81 and 155 in 1998, and no questions relating to Russian
Government's submission of initial reports in relation to the application of
their provisions were received in 1999. The Russian Federation has not ratified
ILO Conventions No. 129 (1969) concerning Labour Inspection in
Agriculture, No. 131 (1970) concerning Minimum Wage Fixing, and No. 132
(1970) concerning Holidays with Pay (Revised).
78. In Russian law there is as
yet no clear definition of the term "salary" or "wages".
Under the heading "Remuneration for labour", article 77 of the
Russian Labour Code states that "payment for a worker's labour is
conditional upon his personal working contribution and the quality of his work,
and shall not be restricted to a maximum amount", and that "no
reduction whatsoever of a worker's wages shall be permitted on grounds of sex,
age, race, nationality, religious belief, or membership of public
associations".
79. Under a bill adopted by
the State Duma on 27 October 1999 entitled
"Amendments and additions to the Labour Code of the Russian
Federation", articles 77 and 78 were reworded as follows:
"Article 77.
Remuneration for labour
The
wages of every worker shall be conditional upon his skills, the difficulty of
the work he performs and the quantity of labour he invests therein, and shall
not be restricted to a maximum amount. No discrimination whatsoever shall be
permitted in determining and altering wage amounts and terms. Men and women
shall be guaranteed equal remuneration for work of equal value.
Article 78. Amount of
minimum wage
The
amount of the minimum wage is a social requirement, and shall be determined by
federal law for the purpose of regulating wage levels. The minimum wage shall
be guaranteed to workers by the state. The minimum wage shall be introduced
simultaneously to the whole territory of the Russian Federation. The wages of a
worker who has completed the standard number of monthly working hours and
performed his working duties (work quota) shall not be lower than the amount of
the legal minimum wage. The amount of the minimum wage shall not include
extra payments, allowances, bonuses and other payments of an incentive nature,
payments for working in particular climatic conditions and in areas subjected
to radioactive contamination, and other entitlements".
80. In the draft of the new
Russian Labour Code submitted to the State Duma in 1999, the term
"wages" (oplata truda or zarabotnaya plata) denotes the
prescribed remuneration a worker receives for completing his working duties.
81. The minimum wage is
defined as the lowest amount of wages payable to unskilled workers performing
simple duties under normal working conditions.
82. The rate of pay (salary)
shall be the fixed amount of wages a worker receives for fulfilling his work
quota (working duties) at a certain level of difficulty (skill level) in a
single month.
83. The economic
transformations of recent years have significantly weakened the influence
exerted by governmental departments on working relations and sharply reduced
central government's influence on wage-setting, restricting it to the so-called
"public sector". State and municipal enterprises comprise only 11 per
cent of the national economy, including 5 per cent accounted for by industry
and construction. Over 60 per cent of the Russians active in the economy work
for enterprises outside the direct influence of State and municipal
departments. The Russian economy may be divided into four sectors
differentiated by wages:
a)
enterprises and institutions which receive
funds from the national budget, i.e. the public sector, mainly comprising
governmental institutions at the federal and regional levels and institutions
concerned with education, science, culture and health care;
b)
state institutions enjoying significant
financial autonomy (these include mixed-ownership enterprises in which the
state holds the controlling share);
c)
privatized enterprises transformed into
joint-stock companies;
d)
new private companies.
84. In 2000, the population's
income totalled over 3,742.3 billion roubles, and its expenditure
3,640.3 billion roubles. Wages still provided the basis for meeting the
living requirements of the population (over 50 million economically active
people), and comprised more than 65.6 per cent of people's monetary income. The
income derived from entrepreneurial activity in 2000 amounted to 12.6 per cent,
that from social transfers 13.4 per cent, and that from property over 7.4 per
cent.
85. In 2000 the average
monthly wage in Russia was 2,223 roubles (79 US dollars). The proportion of
workers with wages equal to or below the subsistence level was 40 per cent.
86. The gulf between the
highest and lowest workers' wage levels across the 36 main branches of the
economy and industry in 2000 amounted to a factor of 12-13. The highest wages
were enjoyed by workers in the sectors that actively exploited a monopoly
situation in the domestic market and favourable conditions for marketing their
products world-wide. The lowest wages were in agriculture and the
socio-cultural sector.
87. The problem of low wages
was made worse by late payment. At the beginning of 2001, over 9 million
people working in 55,000 enterprises and organizations were owed outstanding
wages equivalent, on average, to twice the monthly wage bill for the entities
concerned.
88. In 1999 the Russian
Government submitted to the ILO its periodic report on Russia's application of
ILO Convention No. 95 (1949) concerning Protection of Wages.
89. The minimum wage is set by
Federal Act No. 82 of 16 June 2000 entitled "The Minimum wage".
On 1 July 2000, this amounted to 132 roubles per month, on 1 January 2001, 200
roubles per month, and on 1 July 2001, 300 roubles per month. The act
stipulates that the minimum level set for relevant benefits and other social
payments shall be equivalent to100 roubles. In the third quarter of 1999, the
minimum wage amounted to 7.9 per cent of the subsistence level.
90. Wages in the public sector
are set in accordance with the Unified Wage Scale introduced in December 1992.
The Scale allows for 18 wage categories, each with a set of corresponding
coefficients relating to the first category which are revised regularly to take
account of inflation, the cost of living and the national budgetary situation.
91. In accordance with Federal
Act No. 22 of 4 February 1999, "Wage setting for workers in
public-sector organizations", and Governmental Resolution No. 309 of
10 March 1999 concerning "Increases in Unified Wage Scale pay rates
(salaries) for workers in public-sector organizations", the minimum rate
in the first wage category in 1999 was 110 roubles. In the third quarter the
minimum amount of expenditure with respect to the first category of the Unified
Wage scale represented 10.5 per cent of the average subsistence level for the
whole of Russia. The ratio between the highest and lowest categories of the
Unified Wage Scale (categories 1 and 18) was 1: 8.23, with the rate of pay in
the lowest category set at 110 roubles and that in the highest set at 905
roubles. With effect from 1 April 2000, Governmental Order No. 282 of 30
March 2000 raised, by a factor of 1.2, the Unified Wage Scale pay rates for
workers in the public sector.
92. Wage coefficients are
approved by the Federal Government in agreement with the national trade unions'
and employers' associations (articles 1 and 3 of the above-mentioned Federal
Act No. 22 of 4 February 1998).
93. For persons in government
service, earnings are paid in the form of monetary wages or allowances
determined by decree of the Russian President. The wages comprise basic pay,
supplements payable to higher categories (first-class rank, diplomatic grade)
and special conditions relating to state service, length of service and
productivity bonuses. Allowances are paid in fixed amounts. They are determined
on the basis of the wage, the supplements and other payments.
94. In order to provide social
guarantees for those in government service, their wages and allowances are
index-liked to price rises over the same periods as those applicable to
public-sector workers.
95. Across the board, the wage
system in Russia is in need of reform, and a set of measures is being drawn up
with a view to gradually resolving this problem. One of the Government's main
areas of concern in this context is how to change the formula used to determine
the minimum wage. The minimum wage has been maintained at a level significantly
beneath the value of the average subsistence level for the whole country (less
than 10 per cent at the end of 1999). The result has been the impairment of the
incentive function of wages; the minimum wage, instead of acting as a minimum
guarantee, has taken on the unintended role of the standard used to define
social benefits and administrative payments.
96. Careful thought is now
being given to restoring the incentive function of the minimum wage, bringing
it closer to the value of the subsistence level, and separating it from social
benefits. It is proposed to introduce new rules on minimum wage indexing under
which amounts will be determined by correlating a minimum amount of wages with
the value of a subsistence minimum set every year by the Federal Budget Act.
The frequency of minimum wage indexing will depend on the inflation level.
97. Other issues being
examined carefully are the vitally important one of raising the real value of
wages in all branches of the economy and all types of enterprise, significantly
increasing their relative significance in manufacturing output (services) and
in people's monetary incomes, and restoring their incentive role.
98. The legislation currently
in force in Russia contains no discriminatory provisions with respect to
remuneration for work of equal value.
99. At the same time, there
are certain differences between men's and women's average incomes, mainly due
to so-called segregation in the labour market and the existence of
"women's" and "men's" occupations with differing skill
levels and correspondingly different levels of pay. For example, according to
the Russian State Committee for Statistics (Goskomstat) the average monthly pay
of women in large and medium enterprises is almost 30 per cent lower than that
of their male colleagues. Also, a "leakage" of male workers is
occurring towards better paid sectors formerly reserved for women in Russia,
such as commerce, public catering, finance and insurance.
100. Additional information on
this matter has been submitted in Russia's report on its implementation of the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
101. During the reporting
period, the following changes and additions have been made to Russia's national
legislation concerning the right to the enjoyment of just and favourable
working conditions.
102. On 17 July 1999, the
Federal Act "Fundamentals of Labour Protection in the Russian
Federation" was adopted. The act clearly delimits the departmental powers
of the Russian Federal Government and of the Federation's constituent members,
and sets out their obligations to introduce labour protection units in
organizations engaged in production. The act defines the sphere of application
of the labour protection laws, and also develops and expresses more accurately
individual workers' rights in each type of employment as they correspond to the
labour protection requirements. In this way, it incorporates every worker's
entitlement to compulsory employer's insurance against industrial accidents and
occupational diseases.
103. The inclusion in the
above-mentioned act of a provision concerning the compulsory introduction of a
labour protection unit by productive organizations employing over 100 workers,
together with a requirement not to abolish such units, will greatly strengthen
in-house capabilities for resolving complex labour protection issues.
104. A number of additional
employer obligations have been introduced into the act which make them more
accountable for failure to comply with labour protection requirements or to
protect workers' interests.
105. The act's coming into force
emphasizes the increased attention being devoted to labour protection in
governmental agencies and economic entities at all levels, by both employers
and workers, and will facilitate a more disciplined approach to production,
improved monitoring of compliance with labour protection requirements, and
better training delivery and testing of workers' knowledge (including managers)
in the labour protection field. As a result, industrial accidents and
industrial diseases are expected to decline, leading to a reduction in costs to
the State and an improvement in workers' social situation.
106. The Federal Act "
Compulsory Social Insurance against Industrial Accidents and Occupational
Diseases" offers safe protection for the interests of those injured at
work. The act's introduction and application have made it possible to eliminate
almost entirely the problems relating to compensation payments.
107. The experience gained to
date in applying the legislative and other regulatory instruments adopted in
the field of social insurance against industrial accidents and occupational
diseases shows that there is a need for substantial amendments to the current
sectoral and sub-sectoral classification based on categories of occupational
risk. There is a need to increase the number of classified sub-sectors so that
the scale of insurance contributions is more commensurate with the overall cost
of the compensation payments sustained in industry. To achieve this, the
Ministry of Labour, the National Social Insurance Fund and the Ministry for the
Economy have been collaborating with federal departments and the national
association of industrialists. At the end of 2000, Federal Act No. 17,
"Rates of compulsory social insurance against industrial accidents and
occupational diseases", was completed. It establishes the insurance rates
for groups of economic sectors and sub-sectors on the basis of 22 occupational
risk categories (formerly 14) and amounts ranging from 0.2 per cent to 8.5 per
cent (formerly 0.2 to 10.7) of accumulated salary, for all types of income.
108. The task of bringing the
amount of insured persons' contributions more closely into line with the actual
cost of compensation sustained in production will continue. Further progress
towards this goal will be made when the rules governing insurance rate
reductions and surcharges are approved and brought into force in 2001.
109. Work is currently
continuing on formulation of the legal measures needed for full implementation
of the Federal Act on Compulsory Social Insurance against Industrial Accidents
and Occupational Diseases.
110. In 2000 the Ministry of
Labour and the National Social Insurance Fund jointly organized training in
labour protection for the various categories of insured person. In over 250
training organizations, selected by competition, almost 175,000 people received
training. The Russian Social Insurance Fund disbursed 164 million roubles for
this purpose.
111. During the period from 1995
to June 2001, 17 intersectoral labour protection codes were approved, the
Russian Government endorsed by decree the "Provisions concerning the
investigation and reporting of industrial accidents"; the documents to be used
for those purposes were approved; the Russian Government endorsed by decree the
"Provisions concerning procedures for notification, investigation,
recording and reporting of occupational diseases (toxicosis); and the
"Regulations on the provision of special clothing, footwear and other
means of personal protection for workers", and the "Sectoral rules on the free issue to
workers of special clothing, footwear and other means of personal
protection" were also approved.
112. As regards occupational
health and safety, in the Russian Federation there are currently almost 1,000
intersectoral and almost 700 sectoral regulatory instruments in legal force.
113. There are over 250
regulatory instruments in force concerned with the minimum conditions of
occupational health and safety.
114. State supervision and
monitoring of compliance with the labour protection regulations is the task of
the Federal Labour Inspectorate and other bodies belonging to the executive
authorities; these entities have the right to perform supervision and
monitoring within the limits of their powers.
115. The legislative methods
employed in Russia with regard to dangerous, heavy and harmful types of work
range from an overall ban on the performance of such work by women and minors,
to sectoral or occupational restrictions on work involving specific substances
or reagents, and specific restrictions applicable only to pregnant and
breastfeeding women.
116. As part of the 1998-2000
special federal programme on improving working conditions and labour
protection, the Government has approved, by Decisions Nos. 162 and 163 of 25
February 2000, new schedules of heavy, harmful and dangerous work which may not
be performed by women or by persons younger than 18.
117. The above-mentioned
schedules were compiled in accordance with scientifically based
medico-biological criteria relating to the evaluation of working conditions,
which were developed specially to establish indicators applicable to work done
by women, and indications and contraindications applicable to work done by
minors. The categories were approved by the Ministry of Health with the
agreement of the Ministry of Labour.
118. In drawing up these
schedules, due attention was paid to the provisions of the ILO Conventions
which Russia has ratified.
119. The actual situation
regarding labour protection is that wide-scale industrial injuries are
occurring owing to the tendency to retain harmful industrial practices and use
outdated machinery, equipment and processes. An investigation[1]
carried out at enterprises in 11 branches of the economy has revealed that
1,585,000 people suffered from injuries and temporary incapacity for work in
1998, including 640,300 in the manufacturing sector alone. In the same year
4,300 people died of injuries sustained while working in industry, including
1,700 in manufacturing, 600 in construction and 500 in the transport sector.
120. Every year, an average of
one in eight of those who suffer injury while working in industry do so because
their workplace does not comply with the safety regulations or because
compulsory labour protection regulations have not been observed (Appendix 2).
121. As Appendix 2 makes clear,
in recent years there has been a decline in industrial injuries, mainly owing
to the overall reduction in time worked by staff resulting from the leave taken
without pay at the management's behest, the fall-off in the numbers of
employees in the sectors examined, and the closure of the most dangerous
factories.
122. Losses of working time
caused by incapacity for work due to injuries suffered at the enterprises and
organizations covered by the investigation amounted to 4.3 million man-days,
including 1.9 million in manufacturing. The average period spent absent from
work by those who sustained an industrial injury during the year was almost a
month (28.3 days in the sectors which participated in the investigation into
industrial injury levels).
123. Work carried out under
harmful conditions is the cause of many occupational diseases. Appendices 3 and
4 show data supplied by the Ministry of Health on numbers of patients diagnosed
with an occupational disease.
124. In the past five years,
according to Ministry of Health data, 53,661 people were registered as having
been diagnosed for the first time with an occupational disease.
125. Mainly as a result of
substantial cuts in the funding available for improving working conditions, the
higher noise and vibration levels emanating from machinery that is more often
than not obsolete, and a fall-off in the provision of medical services in the
regions, the indicator for the number of occupational diseases per 10,000
workers showed an increase, from 1.437 to 1.694. There is a growing need to
perform assessments of workstation conditions and to certify work compliance
with labour protection requirements in organizations, and to ensure that the
ensuing deficiencies are dealt with.
126. For the purpose of
implementing the Federal Act entitled "Ratification of ILO Convention
No. 81 of 1947 concerning Labour Inspection, and its 1995 Protocol, ILO
Convention No. 150 of 1978 concerning Labour Administration, and ILO
Convention No. 155 of 1981 concerning Occupational Safety and
Health", a new Federal Act No. 181 of 17 July 1999 entitled "
Labour fundamentals in the Russian Federation" and Governmental Decision
No. 1035 of 9 September 1999 entitled "State supervision and
monitoring of compliance with national legislation on labour and labour
protection" have been adopted.
127. In accordance with
Presidential Decree No. 934 of 18 June 1996 on "Preparation for the
social reform programme", the Russian Government approved a social reform
programme for the Russian Federation for the period 1996-2000 (Governmental
Decision No. 222 of 26 February 1997). The programme provides for reforms
in the spheres of labour and labour relations (labour protection, protection of
citizens' labour rights, growth of social partnership), employment and the
development of management potential, migration policy, social insurance reform,
pension provision, the social welfare system, and other areas of social
concern.
Trade
union rights (article 8)
128. The Russian Federation is a
party to ILO Convention No. 87 of 1948 concerning Freedom of Association
and Protection of the Right to Organize, and Convention No. 98 of 1949
concerning The Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining. The Russian
Government submitted periodic reports on its application of these conventions
to the ILO, in 1996 in the case of Convention No. 87, and in 1997, 1998 and
1999 in the case of No. 98.
129. Guarantees pertaining to
the right to form trade unions are contained in article 30 of the Constitution,
which states:
"1. Everyone shall have the right to association, including the
right to create trade unions in order to protect one's own interests. The
freedom of public associations' activities shall be guaranteed.
2. No one may be coerced into joining any
association or into membership thereof."
130. The implementation of this
right is assured by Federal Act No. 82 of 19 May 1995 entitled
"Public associations" and Federal Act No. 10 of 12 January 1996
entitled "Trade unions, their rights and operating guarantees".
131. Trade union activities are
also regulated by Chapter XV of the Russian Labour Code, under the heading
"Trade unions. Worker participation in the management of enterprises,
institutions and organizations".
132. Article 2 of the Federal
Act "Trade unions, their rights and operating guarantees" states,
under the heading "Right to association and trade unions", that
"A trade union is a voluntary public association of citizens brought
together by common industrial and occupational interests according to their
type of activity, and created for the purposes of representation and the
protection of their socio-occupational rights and interests. All trade unions
shall enjoy equal rights. Everyone who has reached the age of fourteen and is
engaged in a labour (occupational) activity shall have the right to establish
trade unions at his own choice to protect his own interests, to join them, to
carry out trade union activities and to leave trade unions". This right is
exercised freely, without prior permission. Citizens of the Russian Federation
living beyond its borders may be members of Russian trade unions.
133. Foreign citizens and
stateless persons living within the borders of the Russian Federation may be
members of Russian trade unions, except in the cases prescribed by federal law
and by Russia's international agreements.
134. Under the existing
legislation, no restrictions are placed on the right of certain categories of
workers to join or establish a trade union; this holds even for governmental
employees, including military personnel and the staff of the Interior Ministry.
Thus, in practice, governmental employees of all grades attached to the
executive authorities join the union of employees of government institutions.
Those working as civilians in the armed forces have formed a federation of
unions of the Russian armed forces.
135. In accordance with article
2, paragraph 5 of the Federal Act "Trade unions, their rights and
operating guarantees", trade unions have the right to form their own
associations on a branch, territorial or other basis that incorporates a
specific occupational identity - All-Russia associations of trade unions,
interregional associations of trade unions, territorial associations of trade
union organizations. Trade unions and their associations have the right to
collaborate with the trade unions of other countries, join international trade unions
and other associations and organizations, and to conclude treaties and
agreements with them.
136. The largest trade union
association in Russia is the Russian Federation of Independent Trade Unions,
which belongs to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions.
137. Russian law grants Russian
workers the right to strike. Article 11 of Federal Act No. 119 of 31 July
1995, "Principles of governmental service in the Russian Federation",
imposes a restriction in the form of a ban on strikes by government employees.
Under the Federal Act entitled "The status of military personnel",
military personnel are banned from participating in strikes or in any other
suspension of their military duties used as a means to settle matters relating
to their military service.
138. Since there have been no
recorded instances to date of strikes mounted by military personnel, Russia has
no experience of enforcing such a ban.
139. By comparison with 1999, in
2000 the level of strike activity declined significantly, both with respect to
the number of organizations on strike (89%; 925 organizations) and the number
of participants (86%; 35,000 people).
140. In May 1999, Federal Act
No. 92 entitled "Russian Tripartite Committee on the Governance of
Socio-occupational Relations" was adopted. The main aims of this
Committee, which comprises representatives of the All-Russian trade union
associations, the All-Russian employers associations and the Russian
Government, are to regulate socio-occupational relations and to reconcile the
socio-economic interests of the parties involved.
141. On 31 July 1999 the
Regulations of the Russian Tripartite Committee were approved; these confirm
the executive authority of its work and clarify its decision-making.
142. In order to facilitate
timely and complete implementation of the agreements reached during discussions
between the All-Russian trade union associations, the All-Russian employers
associations and the Government, a general agreement was signed at the
beginning of 2000 to cover the period 2000-01. This agreement obliges the
parties to combine their efforts with a view to stabilising and promoting the
economy, increasing the real value of wages, and restoring the function of
wages as an incentive to greater productivity and higher incomes.
The
right to social security (article 9)
143. The Russian Federation has
not ratified ILO Conventions No. 102 of 1952 concerning Minimum Standards
of Social Security, No. 121 of 1964 concerning Employment Injury Benefits,
No. 128 of 1967 concerning Invalidity, Old-Age and Survivors' Benefits,
No. 130 of 1969 concerning Medical Care and Sickness Benefits, and
No. 168 of 1988 concerning Employment Promotion and Protection against
Unemployment.
144. Article 7 of the
Constitution declares that "The Russian Federation shall be a federal
state, whose policies shall be aimed at creating conditions which ensure a
dignified life and free development of man", and that "The Russian
Federation shall protect the work and health of its people, establish a
guaranteed minimum wage, provide state support for family, motherhood,
fatherhood and childhood, and also for the disabled and for elderly citizens,
develop a system of social services and establish government pensions, benefits
and other social security guarantees".
145. The following types of
social security exist in the Russian Federation[2]:
a)
the health service;
b)
sickness benefits;
c)
pregnancy and family benefits;
d)
old-age benefits;
e)
invalidity benefits;
f)
benefits to cover loss of the main
breadwinner;
g)
industrial injury benefits;
h)
unemployment benefit;
i)
grants to assist with children's birth and
upbringing.
146. In order to guarantee the
population's social rights, Federal Act No. 178 of 17 July 1999,
"State social assistance", was adopted. This law establishes unified
legal and organizational principles for the provision of state social
assistance to needy families or to impoverished individuals who live alone.
147. In 1999, Federal Act
No. 165 of 16 July 1999, " The principles of compulsory social insurance",
came into force. The act defines the scope and subjects of compulsory social
insurance, the types of social risk and the social insurance applicable to
them, the rights and obligations of insured persons and insurers, and also how
social insurance is to be administered and funded.
148. The provision of state
social assistance is intended to meet the following objectives: to maintain the
living standards of needy families and needy persons living alone whose average
income falls below the subsistence level set by the relevant constituent member
of the Russian Federation; to achieve well-directed and efficient use of
budgetary resources.
149. In accordance with article
11 of the Federal Act "State social assistance", the amount of such
state aid shall be defined by the laws of the Russian Federation's constituent
members.
150. State social assistance is
offered either once or for a period of not less than three months in the
following forms: a) cash payments (social benefits, subsidies, compensation and
other payments); and b) assistance in kind (fuel, food, clothing,
footwear, medicines, etc.).
151. State social assistance is
provided out of the national budget, the budgets of the constituent members of
the Federation and local budgets.
152. In order to ensure that
veterans may live an active life, respected and appreciated by society, on
12 January 1995 Federal Act No. 5 entitled "Veterans" was
adopted (and subsequent amendments and additions thereto). This offers veterans
privileges with regard to:
a)
pension provision, taxation, payment of
benefits;
b)
the allocation, acquisition, construction and
maintenance of living accommodation;
c)
payment of communal housing fees and
commercial costs;
d)
medical care, orthopaedic services and
prosthetics, treatment at sanatoria and health spas, purchase of medicines and
medical products;
e)
use of means of transport and payment for
travel;
f)
job placement, training, retraining and
working conditions;
g)
access to the services of institutions
providing communications and cultural and sporting facilities;
h)
access to social services and to welfare and
legal assistance.
153. Sickness benefits are paid
at the rate of 60 per cent of salary for at least five years' continuous
service, 80 per cent of salary for 5-8 years' continuous service, and 100 per
cent of salary for more than eight years' continuous service (or when there are
three or more dependent children in the family). The minimum amount of
benefit is equivalent to 90 per cent of the minimum wage.
154. The old-age pension offered
on the usual terms is available to men who have reached 60 years of age having
worked for at least 25 years, and women who have reached 55 years of age having
worked for at least 20 years. The pensionable age and length of service
are reduced for persons who have worked either underground or in especially
harmful and difficult conditions, and for certain other categories, including
women who have had five or more children and raised them up to the age of
eight, the mothers of children disabled since infancy, and persons with a
first-degree visual disability.
155. The pension amounts to 55
per cent of salary, plus one per cent of salary for each full year worked in
excess of the normal requirement for a pension. Pensions calculated by this
method may not exceed 75 per cent of salary.
156. The average monthly salary
for pension purposes is calculated on the basis of the 24 months worked prior
to the application for a pension, or any 60 months worked consecutively during
the entire working period leading up to the application.
157. The minimum amount of
pension due in respect of a length of service which meets the minimum
requirements for a full pension shall not be less than the amount fixed by
federal law.
158. The amount of pension due
in respect of incomplete length of service (not less than five years) is
calculated proportionately in accordance with the amount of full pension set
for men's 25-year length of service and women's 20-year length of service.
159. Supplements to the pension
are payable in respect of non able-bodied dependants (two thirds of the minimum
pension per elderly dependant), and the care of a pensioner who has
first-category disablement or who is at least 80 years old (amount equal to the
old-age pension).
160. At the end of 1999,
according to statistics supplied by the Russian Ministry of Employment, there
were 38 million pensioners living in the Russian Federation.
161. In order to strengthen the
relationship between employment pensions and length of service, and taking into
account the national increase in wages, Federal Act No. 113 of 21 July
1997, "Procedures for assessing and supplementing State pensions" was
adopted. Under this law, the amount of an employment pension is calculated in
accordance with an individual pension coefficient (IPC). Pensions calculated on
the basis of the IPC are reviewed on a quarterly basis following submission by
the Russian State Committee for Statistics (Goskomstat) of information
concerning fluctuations in the average national monthly salary. Increases to
pensions not calculated in accordance with the IPC are effected not less than
four times per year by means of index-linking to the increase in the average
national monthly salary.
162. The existing pension
legislation provides for the granting of two pensions in the cases specified in
article 5 of Federal Act No. 340-1 of 20 November 1990, "State
Pensions in the Russian Federation" (as revised by Federal Acts Nos.
72 of 7 May 1995, 110 of 1 June 1991, 163 of 14 July 1999 and the Act of 29
December 2000). The categories concerned are war invalids, Second World War
combatants, persons disabled by non-specific disease, severe industrial injury
and other causes, widows whose new husbands died in the war with Finland, the
Second World War or the war with Japan, and the parents of combatants who were
called up to serve.
163. Federal Act No. 27 of
1 April 1996, "Individual (personalized) accounting in the state pension
insurance scheme" sets forth the legal basis and organizational principles
of individual (personalized) accounting of data for the citizens covered by the
Russian Federation legislation on state pension provision.
164. Federal Act No. 75 of
7 May 1998, "Non-state pension funds in the Russian Federation" is
intended to improve pension provision for the population by regulating the
legal, economic and social relations involved in the creation, operation and
winding-up of non-state pension funds, and by establishing the guiding
principles for state monitoring of their activities.
165. A non-state pension fund is
a special kind of legally constituted and non-commercial social organization
whose activities are confined to providing non-governmental pensions for its
members on the basis of agreements.
166. The activities of such a
fund are to accumulate pension contributions, allocate fund reserves and keep
records of the fund's obligations, independently of the state pension system.
167. The Russian Government is
examining the question of reforming the pension system. The Presidential
Committee for Pension Reform, established by Presidential Decree No. 137
of 8 February 2001, has approved a programme of reform for the whole
Federation.
168. In order to standardize
payment patterns and the repayment of debts to the Pension Fund in accordance
with Presidential Decree No. 1647 of 28 December 1998, "Supplementary
measures on the normalization of accounts with the Russian Federation Pension
Fund", and Federal Law No. 56 of 30 March 1999, "The budget
of the Russian Federation Pension Fund for 1999", measures have been taken
to restructure the debts of the organizations concerned with insurance premium
payments. To increase the financial resources of the Pension Fund, the
Government of the Russian Federation has adopted decisions authorizing it to
borrow from the Savings Bank and issue its own securities (notes and bonds).
169. Thanks to the stabilization
of its income during 1999, the Pension Fund had succeeded in fully meeting its
obligations, in terms of the payment of outstanding pensions and the timely
payment of current pensions, by 10 September of that year. During 1999 pensions
were re-indexed twice (by a factor of 1.12 on 1 May and by a factor of 1.15 on
1 November), and two increases were made to the amount of the differentiated rebate
received by the most disadvantaged categories of pensioner. All pensioners
received a single rebate in April and October 1999.
170. Federal Law No. 81 of
19 May 1995, "State benefits for citizens with children", establishes
the following five types of benefit in relation to motherhood, childbirth and
child-rearing:
a)
maternity benefit;
b)
a one-time payment of benefit for women who
have registered at a hospital in the early stages of pregnancy;
c)
a one-time payment of benefit on the birth of
a child;
d)
monthly benefit during leave taken to care
for a child, until the latter is eighteen months old;
e)
monthly child benefit.
171. The following are entitled
to maternity benefit:
a)
women who belong to the state social
insurance scheme, and women who have been dismissed owing to the liquidation of
an enterprise, institution or organization during the twelve months preceding
the day of their registration as officially unemployed;
b)
women studying at vocational training
institutions on day-release from their normal employment (initial,
intermediate, higher and postgraduate levels);
c)
women performing contractual military
service, and those of all ranks serving in units of the Interior Ministry and
the institutions and departments of the penal system;
d)
women attached as civilians to Russian
military units situated on the territory of a foreign State in circumstances
covered by the Russian Federation's international treaties;
e)
all the above-mentioned categories of women
when adopting a child.
172. Since 1999 a special adoption
benefit has been available. Workers who adopt a child may be granted leave from
the day of adoption for up to 70 days from the adopted child's date of birth,
and for up to 110 days from the date of the children's birth if two or more are
adopted.[3]
173. The following amounts have
been set for pregnancy and family benefits:
a)
average wage (income) at place of work for
women subject to the State social insurance scheme, and also women among the
civilian contingent in Russian military units situated on the territory of a
foreign State in circumstances covered by the Russian Federation's
international treaties. The procedure for calculating the average wage (income)
shall be determined by the Government of the Russian Federation;
b)
100 roubles for women dismissed as a result
of the liquidation of an enterprise, institution or organization during the
twelve months preceding the day of their registration as officially unemployed;
c)
a grant for women studying on day-release
from their normal employment at vocational training institutions at the
initial, intermediate, higher and postgraduate levels;
d)
a monetary allowance for women performing
contractual military service and those of all ranks serving in units of the
Interior Ministry and in the institutions and departments of the penal
system.
174. The right to a one-time
payment over and above pregnancy and family benefit is granted to women who
have registered at a hospital in the early stages of pregnancy (up to the
twelfth week). The amount payable is 100 roubles.
175. The right to a one-time
payment in respect of a child's birth (adoption up to the age of three months)
is granted to one of the parents or to a substitute.
176. In the event of the birth
(adoption) of two or more children the benefit is payable for each child.
The amount of the one-time grant paid for a birth (adoption) is 1,500
roubles.
177. The following are entitled
to benefit in respect of leave taken in order to care for a child until it
reaches the age of eighteen months:
a)
the mother, father, other relative or
guardian who is actually caring for the child and is subject to the State
social insurance system;
b)
a mother who is studying on day-release from
her normal employment at a vocational training institution (initial,
intermediate, higher and postgraduate);
c)
a mother performing contractual military
service or serving at any rank in an internal affairs unit or an institution or
department of the penal system;
d)
a mother dismissed during her pregnancy,
maternity leave, or leave taken to care for a child until it reaches the age of
eighteen months, owing to the liquidation of an enterprise, institution or
organization, including enterprises, institutions, organizations or military
units located beyond the frontiers of the Russian Federation;
e)
a mother who is part of the civilian
contingent of a Russian military unit situated on the territory of a foreign
State circumstances covered by the Russian Federation's international
agreements;
f)
a mother dismissed during her pregnancy,
maternity leave, or leave taken to care for a child until it reaches the age of
eighteen months, owing to the expiry of her employment contract at a military
unit situated beyond the frontiers of the Russian Federation, or because of her
husband's transfer from such a unit to the Russian Federation;
178. The amount of the monthly
allowance payable during leave taken to care for a child aged up to eighteen
months is 200 roubles, irrespective of the number of children being cared for.
179. Entitlement to child
benefit is granted to one of the parents (adoptive parent, guardian) of each
child born, adopted or taken into guardianship who lives with him or her, until
the child's sixteenth birthday (the eighteenth birthday in the case of a child
in non-specialized education), in families whose average income does not exceed
the value of the subsistence level set in the relevant constituent territory of
the Federation.
180. Monthly benefit in respect
of a child aged up to sixteen (up to eighteen for a child attending an institute
of non-specialized education), amounting to 70 roubles, is paid by the social
security service at the family's town of residence. Monthly child benefit is
increased by 100 per cent if the child is looked after by a single mother, by
50 per cent in cases where the child's parents avoid paying maintenance or, in
other circumstances defined in the Russian Federation legislation, the recovery
of maintenance is impossible, and also by 50 per cent in respect of the
children of those called up for active military duties.
181. Families whose average
monthly income exceeds the value of the subsistence level set in the relevant
constituent territory are not entitled to receive monthly child benefit.
182. Benefit in respect of care
for a sick child aged up to seven years is paid to one of the parents or to
another member of the family (legal representative) for the whole period in
which outpatient treatment is given or the carer has to remain in hospital with
the child, and the same benefit in respect of a child older than seven is
payable for a period of not more than 15 days, unless medical opinion deems
that a longer period is necessary.[4]
183. Benefit in respect of care
for a sick child is payable for the first seven calendar days, and for the
first ten calendar days to single mothers, widows (widowers), divorced women
(men) and the wives of conscripted servicemen, the amount varying from 60 per
cent to 100 per cent of salary depending on length of continuous service. From
the eighth calendar day onwards - the eleventh in the case of single mothers,
widows (widowers), divorced women (men) and the wives of conscripted servicemen
- the same benefit is payable at the rate of 50 per cent of salary irrespective
of continuity of service.
184. Benefits in respect of care
for a sick child aged up to three years or a disabled child aged up to sixteen
years whose mother is ill are paid in accordance with the standard rules.
185. Federal Act No. 122 of
7 August 2000, "Procedure for determining the amounts of grants and social
payments in the Russian Federation" which sets fixed amounts for benefits
in 2001 rather than percentages relating to a minimum wage, provides for the
annual updating of benefit amounts.
186. The funding of state
benefits for those with children is assured by the Russian Federation Social
Insurance Fund, the federal budget, and the budgets of the constituent
territories of the Russian Federation.
187. Alongside the social
guarantees enjoyed by citizens in the form of the benefits paid at federal level,
additional measures are taken in the constituent territories to support
families with children, in the framework of the regional social support
programmes. The amounts of benefit set by the legislation may be topped up by
additional payments for the most needy families, such as those with many
children or with a parent missing.
188. The rules guaranteeing
material assistance in the event of temporary incapacity for work are
underpinned by the Russian Federation Labour Code, whose article 240 states that
the payment conditions and amounts pertaining to state social insurance
benefits shall be stipulated by law.
189. In 1998 the law entitled
"Compulsory social insurance against industrial accidents and industrial
diseases" was adopted, which sets forth the legal, economic and
organizational basis for compulsory social insurance against accidents and
illnesses suffered in the workplace and establishes the procedure by which
workers may seek compensation for injury to life and health suffered in the
course of their contractual duties, and in other circumstances defined by law.
190. In order to implement
Presidential Decree No. 729 of 26 June 1998, "Matters relating to the
Federal Compulsory Social Insurance Fund", Governmental Decision
No. 857 of 29 July 1998 approved the Fund's statute, which stipulates that
the Fund shall give effect to governmental policy on compulsory public health
insurance as a component part of the state social security system.
191. Workers who suffer
incapacity while carrying out their normal working duties may be paid monetary
compensation equivalent to their salary (or part thereof) in accordance with
the degree of incapacity for work caused by the industrial accident or
industrial disease, additional amounts in respect of disablement (treatment,
prostheses, etc.), a one-time payment in prescribed cases, and compensation for
moral injury.
192. Industrial injury benefit
is payable at the rate of 100 per cent of salary pending certification of
disablement. After certification, the amount paid corresponds to the proportion
of the average monthly salary received during the previous twelve months,
depending on the degree of incapacity for work suffered. The benefit is paid
until the worker recovers or until he begins receiving disablement pension.
193. The pension for the first
and second disablement categories is set at 75 per cent of salary, and that for
the third category at 30 per cent. The disablement pension for members of the
first and second categories with incomplete service records cannot be less than
two thirds of the minimum old-age pension.
194. The social pensions of disabled persons in the first category,
including those disabled from childhood in the first and second categories and
disabled children aged eighteen, are equivalent to the minimum old-age pension.
The social pensions of those in the third disablement category are equivalent
to half the minimum old-age pension.
195. In the event of the death
of a main provider, members of the family who are unable to work and who were
dependent on him/her are assigned a pension set at 30 per cent of the main
provider's salary for each incapacitated family member, and which may not be
less than two thirds of the minimum old-age pension; a child who loses both
parents receives one and a half times the amount of the minimum old-age
pension.
196. In accordance with the
Federal Act of 19 April 1991, "Employment in the Russian Federation"
(as amended by Federal Acts Nos. 36 of 20 April 1996, 85 of 30 April 1999, 175
of 17 July 1999, 195 of 20 November 1999 and 122 of 7 August 2000), those
acknowledged as officially unemployed must be citizens with no job or salary
who have registered at a State employment office in search of suitable work,
and who are actively looking for, and ready to start, employment. The procedure
for registering citizens as unemployed is laid down by the Government of the
Russian Federation.
197. Benefit for unemployed
persons who have been dismissed for any reason is calculated as a percentage of
the average salary received over the last three months at the previous place of
work (60 per cent during the first three months of unemployment, 45 per cent
thereafter) if, in the 12 months preceding the start of their unemployment they
had paid work for not less than 26 calendar weeks but did not work a full day
(week) or did not work a full day (week) which can be converted to 26 calendar
weeks on a full-day (full-week) basis.
198. However, in all cases this
benefit may not exceed, nor amount to less than 20 per cent of, the minimum
subsistence level set officially in the relevant constituent territory of the
Federation. Unemployment benefit may not be less than 100 roubles.
199. Benefit equivalent to 20
per cent of the official subsistence minimum for the relevant constituent
territory (but not less than 100 roubles) is payable to persons officially
registered as unemployed who are either seeking work for the first time having
never worked, those attempting to resume working life after a break of longer
than one year, or those who have been dismissed for any reason by an
organization during the twelve months preceding the start of unemployment and
who have not completed 26 calendar weeks of work in that period.
200. Persons who are entitled to
an old-age pension under the regulations on the basis of their overall length
of service, including pensions in reduced circumstances, but who have not
reached pensionable age, may continue to receive unemployment benefit beyond
the 12-month limit at the rate of two calendar weeks for each year worked in
excess of the official length of service requirement.
201. Unemployment benefit may
not be paid for longer than twelve months, except in the cases defined by
existing law. The overall payment period may not exceed 24 calendar months
calculated cumulatively within a period of 36 calendar months.
202. Persons on the official
unemployment register who suffered irradiation as a result of the Chernobyl
disaster or other radiation accidents may receive a further grant in addition to
their unemployment benefit, in accordance with the Russian Federation Act
"Social protection for citizens suffering from the effects of radiation as
a result of the accident at Chernobyl nuclear power plant".
203. Additional payments are
made in respect of persons being supported by someone on the unemployed
register, the latter's benefit being increased by 10 per cent of the minimum
subsistence rate set in the constituent territory concerned; such payments may
not amount to less than 50 roubles per person. Such additional payments may not
exceed 30 per cent of the minimum subsistence rate.
204. Expenditure on unemployment
benefits after the abolition of the Russian Federation State Employment Fund on
1 January 2001 will be met from the federal budget.
Protection
of the family (article 10)
205. The Russian Federation is a
party to ILO Convention No. 103 of 1952 concerning maternity protection,
ILO Convention No. 138 of 1973 concerning the minimum age for beginning
work, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Russian Government
submitted reports to the ILO on its implementation of Conventions Nos. 103 and
138 in 1997 and 1996, respectively. Russia's second periodic report on
implementation of the rights of the child was submitted to the Committee on the
Rights of the Child in 1997 and considered in September 1999.
206. There is no single term
used to express the idea of family in Russian legislation. In regulatory and
legal documents the concept is treated differently according to the particular
field and objective. For example, Federal Act No. 134 of 24 October
1997, "The minimum subsistence
level in the Russian Federation", states that, for the purposes of
granting social assistance, the family comprises "persons bound by kinship
and (or) related by marriage, who live together and maintain a shared
household".
207. According to the Russian
Federation Civil Code (article 22) people do not attain active civil status
until they are eighteen years old. Minors (aged 14-18) have the right to conclude
civil law transactions with the agreement of their parents, adoptive parents or
guardians. A minor aged 16 may be declared as having full civil status if he is
employed under an employment agreement or contract, or undertakes a business
activity with the agreement of his parents, adoptive parents or guardians. Such
a declaration is made by decision of a board of trustees with the agreement of
both parents, the adoptive parents or the guardian, or, in the absence of such
agreement, by a court.[5]
208. The main body of
legislation regulating marital and family relations is the Russian Federation
Family Code, which came into force on 1 March 1996.
209. According to article 12 of
the Family Code, matrimony requires the mutual and voluntary consent of the man
and woman proposing to marry, both of whom must also be of marriageable age.
Marriage between the following is not permitted:
a)
couples in which one member is already
registered as married to another person;
b)
close relatives (relatives by direct line of ascent
and descent - parents and children, grandfather, grandmother and
grandchildren);
c)
full brothers and sisters and half brothers
and sisters (having the same mother or father);
d)
adoptive parents and their adopted children;
e)
couples in which one member is recognized by
a court as being not fully of age owing to a mental disturbance (article 14).
210. In the event of failure to
comply with any of the above-mentioned conditions, the marriage is deemed null
and void (article 27). A husband or wife whose rights have been violated
by the contracting of the marriage is entitled to demand its annulment, and a
procurator may do so if the marriage was contracted without the voluntary
consent of one of the parties, as a result of constraint, deception or error, or
because the condition of the party concerned at the time of the marriage was
such that he or she was incapable of understanding or controlling his or her
actions.
211. Efforts are currently being
made to establish the "National plan of action to advance the situation of
women and enhance their role in society, for the period 2001-05", and a
women's and children's health service has been created to ensure that they have
access to skilled medical care.
212. During the period
1995-2000, the basic concepts of a state social policy for improving the
situation of children in the Russian Federation by 2000 were implemented (The
National Plan of Action in the Interests of the Child). The draft of the
corresponding plan for the period until 2010 has now been completed. Since 1993
there has been a Presidential programme called "Children of Russia",
and 2001 saw the start of special two-year federal projects for improving
children's situation in the Russian Federation[6],
under which measures are being introduced to tackle the most acute problems
affecting families with children[7].
213. The main aims of family
policy are defined in Presidential Decree No. 712 of 14 May 1996. They
comprise:
a)
guaranteeing the conditions needed to
overcome negative tendencies and stabilize the situation of Russian families;
b)
ensuring that workers with children enjoy
conditions enabling them to combine work with the fulfilment of their family
responsibilities;
c)
fundamental improvement of the family health
system;
d)
strengthening of the assistance provided to
families for the upbringing of the children.
214. The Government's family
policy is based on the notion of independence and family autonomy in
decision-making concerning its own development. Accordingly, the Government
assumes responsibility for protecting the family from poverty and neglect
arising from enforced migration, natural or man-made disasters, wars and armed
conflicts[8].
215. State measures to guarantee
the rights of the child include:
a)
state benefits for families with children;
b)
income-tax concessions for citizens with
children;
c)
introduction of social services departments
for families with children, etc.
216. Several categories of
family are entitled to additional concessions intended to eliminate the
inequalities their children suffer for economic, geographical and other
reasons.
217. Large families enjoy
concessions with regard to the cost of medicines, public housing, urban
transport (tram, trolleybus, underground and bus, but not taxis), and also bus
journeys on suburban and interregional buses made by students in
non-specialized education. Families can receive free school meals (breakfast
and lunch), school uniforms (or a set of replacement clothing for attending
school) and sports gear, for the entire period of their children's
non-specialized education. Unemployed people with children receive a higher
amount of unemployment benefit. Disabled children receive medicines and
necessary medical appliances free of charge, and enjoy free treatment in
sanatoria and rest homes, free travel to their place of treatment, rent
rebates, and other advantages.
218. As part of the effort to
support families, greater emphasis is being placed on the provision of direct
social assistance, especially concerning the payment of state benefits.
219. In the Russian Federation a
number of legal, administrative and socio-economic measures are being taken to
protect motherhood.
220. Women are entitled to 70
calendar days' maternity leave (84 for a multiple pregnancy) prior to partition
and 70 calendar days thereafter (86 for a difficult birth and 110 for the birth
of two or more children)[9].
Maternity leave is calculated cumulatively and is granted to women irrespective
of the actual number of days used prior to the birth.
221. Women can receive necessary
medical assistance, maternity benefits, a one-time payment for registering with
a hospital in the early stages of pregnancy, a one-time payment on the birth of
a child and monthly payments during leave taken to care for a child until it
reaches the age of eighteen months[10].
222. According to Goskomstat,
over 252,000 persons aged 15-17 were active in the economy in 2000 (over
214,000 in 1999). Twenty-four per cent of these adolescents were working in
agriculture, 29 per cent in industry and 14 per cent in commerce and public
catering facilities[11].
223. In the Russian Federation
all categories of children are entitled to protection of their rights and to
receive social assistance.
224. In recent years the growing
trend in the number of orphaned children and children abandoned without
parental care has been reversed. In 2000, the overall number of orphans was
662,500, of whom more than 72 per cent were being brought up by a family
(329,000 were in the care of guardians or custodians, and 153,500 in adoptive
families). In accordance with the Russian Federation Family Code, local
autonomous agencies for custody and guardianship monitor the upbringing of the
above-mentioned children and ensure their rights and legal interests are
protected. Regular monitoring of the living conditions and upbringing of the
children in substitute families virtually excludes the possibility of their
being exploited. Should a child's health suffer through exposure to work, the
custody and guardianship agencies can remove the child from his family and
decide on his future.
225. In the national and local
institutions for orphans and abandoned children, a social programme of
"work therapy" is organized for children, which takes into account
their development and state of health.
226. The work undertaken by
children with physical or mental incapacity takes account of their abilities
and the advice of a physician or the decision of a board convened to assess his
fitness for work.
227. Under the Federal Act
entitled "Amendments and additions to the Russian Federation Education
Act"[12],
it is forbidden to recruit the students and pupils of public educational
establishments for work not included in their programme of study, without their
and their parents' (legal representatives') agreement.
228. With a view to improving
the situation of orphans and abandoned children and protecting their rights, a
special federal programme called "Orphaned children" was started in
1993; it is now included with the special federal programmes for improving children's
situation in the Russian Federation for 2001‑02. In 1996 the Federal Act
"Additional guarantees of social protection for orphans and abandoned
children" was adopted. This law provides additional guarantees in respect
of labour, education, medical care and housing. In particular, it entitles such
children to receive free vocational education, larger student grants, free
medical treatment and free visits to sanatoria and rehabiliation camps and
health spas. A quota system helps them in finding employment.
229. Following a decision by the
Federal Government, an interdepartmental programme of measures to prevent
orphanhood and improve the situation of orphans and abandoned children has been
drawn up and approved for the period 2001-02. The Russian Government has
adopted Decision No. 374 of 14 May 2001 entitled "Immediate measures
for improving the situation of orphans and abandoned children".
230. The above-mentioned
instruments provide for a range of measures designed to reform custody and
guardianship agencies and the educational establishments for orphans and
abandoned children, develop the types of family structure available to orphans,
support the families who raise and educate such children, and improve the
regulatory and legal framework protecting the rights of children left without
parental care.
231. As of 1 January 2001, the
Russian Federation's social protection agencies were providing a social pension
to over 675,000 people aged under eighteen with a physical or mental
disability. The significant increase in the number of disabled children by
comparison with 1999 (592, 200 children) is due to the re-definition in that
year of disabled children as being under eighteen, in accordance with
international standards.
232. On the whole, such children
are brought up in families (some are taught in correctional schools), with a
mere 4.3 per cent living in boarding establishments for children with a
physical disability[13].
233. The Russian Federal
Government's policy on the disabled is to ensure that they have the same
possibilities as other Russian citizens of realizing their civil, economic,
political and other rights and freedoms as enshrined in the Russian
Constitution, in accordance with the universally recognized principles and
rules of international law and Russia's international treaties[14].
234. In 2000 the Russian
Government adopted the following decisions: "Ratification of the
regulations governing the hand-over of children for adoption and the monitoring
of their upbringing and education in their adoptive families in the Russian
Federation, and of the regulations governing the placement of children into the
care of the Russian Federation's consular authorities, be they citizens or
persons without citizenship"[15];
"The activities of foreign agencies and organizations with regard to the
adoption of children on the territory of the Russian Federation"[16];
and "The interdepartmental committee on matters concerning the adoption by
foreign citizens of children who are citizens of the Russian Federation"[17].
235. In accordance with the
Russian Federation Family Code, the Government has adopted a decision entitled
"Ratification of the procedure for establishing a central register of
abandoned children"[18].
236. In October 2001, Federal
Act No. 44 of 16 April 2001 entitled "National databank concerning
abandoned children" came into force, which lays down the procedure for
setting up and using the databank in question.
237. With regard to
international collaboration on this matter, both the UNICEF programme of joint
action and the Russian Government's programme cover the following main
concerns:
a)
the protection of health and development in
early childhood;
b)
young people: health and development
(preventing the spread of drug-use and Aids);
c)
children in need of basic protection
(development of boarding establishments, rehabilitation of disabled children,
preventing neglect, etc.);
d)
society and the protection of children's
rights (introduction of authorized regional children's rights institutes,
development of the juvenile justice system, dissemination of knowledge about
the Convention on the Rights of the Child, etc.).
The
right to an adequate standard of living (article 11)
238. Current living standards in
the Russian Federation are characterised by the rapidly spreading horizontal
and vertical differentiation of society and the formation of several powerful
social groupings with very different living standards and lifestyles. Across
the country, a number of models are emerging which offer social and economic possibilities
for developing human potential on the basis of different income levels,
regional characteristics and type of habitation.
239. The different social layers
and groupings have been able to adapt in their different ways to the current
economic circumstances and use them to further their own interests. The
prolonged national crisis, which came to a head in 1998, brought with it a
substantial reduction in the material
and financial resources available to the Government and spiralling national
debt - external in particular; these, together with the social gulf created by
the Government's efforts to restructure the economy, exacerbated the situation,
providing the conditions for the further growth of social and material
inequality and the erosion of the social economy.
240. After years of market
reforms, the actual cash income of the population fell by a factor of 2.1
compared with 1991 (48.3 per cent), real wages by a factor of 2.3 (43 per cent)
and actual pensions by a factor of 2.4 (41 per cent).
241. The population's cash
income in 2000 exceeded 3,700 billion roubles. The proportion represented by
remuneration, including hidden earnings, was almost 65.6 per cent, the income
from entrepreneurial activity 12.6 per cent, and that from social transfers
13.4 per cent. In 2000, hired labour (including hidden labour) accounted for
almost 40 per cent of GDP. The average monthly wage in 2000 was 2,223 roubles,
the average pension 694.3 roubles, and the average monthly minimum subsistence
level per capita was 1,210 roubles[19].
242. The average cash income
levels of the richest ten per cent of the population outstripped those of the
poorest ten per cent (assets ratio) by a factor of 14.0 in 1999, and by 13.7 in
2000. The level of the average monthly wage was equivalent to 79 US dollars in
the first half of 2000, the decimal coefficient for salaries being 34.
243. The average individual cash
income in May 2000 stood at 2,548.3 roubles - an increase of 27.5 per cent over
the same period a year before.
244. At the same time, the
regional differences in cash income levels remained substantial.
245. Those constituent
territories of the Federation with the highest cash incomes, exceeding the
All-Russian monthly average by a factor of two or more, are: in the Central
federal region - Moscow (9,504.2 roubles), in the Urals federal region -
the Yamal-Nenets autonomous area (11,598.5 roubles), the Khanty-Mansi
autonomous area (8,645.9 roubles) and the Tyumen region (6,783.4 roubles)[20].
246. In only 19 regions out of
88 (not including the Chechen Republic) does individual cash income exceed the
Russian average.
247. The lowest average incomes
are found in the republics of the south federal region and individual
territories of the Privolga, Siberian and Central federal regions. In 13
constituent territories of the Federation, the average monthly income in May
2001 was less than half the Russian average.
248. In May 2001 the lowest
coefficient of average monthly income in relation to the national average
(38.2) was that of the Ingush Republic (south federal region). In the
Ust-Ordynsky Buryat and Aginsky-Buryat autonomous areas (Siberian federal
region) these levels were 26.4 per cent and 40.9 per cent, in the Republic of
Mari El (Privolga federal region) 36.7 per cent, in the Ivanono region 35.6 per
cent, and in the Komi-Permyak autonomous area 35.7 per cent.
249. The highest minimum
subsistence levels in 1999 were those set by the Far-Eastern, Northern and
Central federal regions. The prices for basic goods and services in Moscow far
exceeded those in some other cities. The monthly minimum subsistence level set
in Moscow by agreement of its tripartite committee (the local council, trade
union federation and workers' federation) in 1999 amounted to
2,830 roubles for women and 2,810 roubles for men.
250. In the Russian Federation
the official indicators of poverty used are the number and proportion of a
population whose cash income falls below the minimum subsistence level.
251. Federal Act No. 134 of
24 October 1997 (as amended on 27 May 2000), "The minimum subsistence
level in the Russian Federation", lays down the legal basis for setting
and calculating a subsistence minimum, for the purposes of providing the
Russian people with state guarantees of a minimum cash income and carrying out
other social protection measures on their behalf.
252. In 2000 the proportion of
the population whose cash income fell below the value of the subsistence
minimum was 30.2 per cent, and in 1999, 28.7 per cent. Apart from the groups
normally in need of social protection (pensioners, families with many
dependants, the unemployed, the disabled, etc.), this cohort includes a
significant number of public-sector workers. Among other measures it has taken
to alleviate this problem, the Government has raised the salary of certain
groups of public-sector workers by 150 per cent.
253. The following instruments
have been adopted in order to give effect to the law concerning the minimum
subsistence level: Federal Act No. 201 of 20 November 1999 (as extended by
Federal Act No. 97 of 13 July 2001) entitled "The consumer basket for
the whole Russian Federation"; Governmental Decision No. 192 of 17
February 1999 entitled "Methodological guidelines on determining the
consumer basket for the main socio-demographic groups in Russia and in the
constituent territories of the Russian Federation"; and Governmental
Decision No. 494 of 5 July 2000 entitled "Assessment of consumer
baskets in constituent territories of the Russian Federation".
254. The Government of the
Russian Federation has also adopted Decision No. 152 of 22 February 2000
entitled "Procedure for estimating the earnings and calculating the income
per capita of needy families and individuals for the purpose of granting state
social assistance" and Decision No. 1096 of 29 September 1999
entitled "Determining a procedure for calculating and estimating the value
of per capita income, for the purpose of establishing entitlement to receive
child benefits".
255. The adoption of a complete
regulatory and legal framework for implementing the Federal Act "The
minimum subsistence level in the Russian Federation" established the basis
for determining the minimum subsistence level to be taken into account in
providing state social guarantees for needy citizens - the minimum wage and
old-age pension, grants, benefits and other social protection measures.
256. In addition, the change to
a new method of calculating the consumer basket has led to an increase in the
value of the subsistence minimum, which in turn has meant that more people now
have a cash income below the minimum subsistence level. As a result of the
change to a new method of determining the subsistence minimum, which triggered
greater volumes of the low-level expenditures needed to sustain human health
and lives, the value of the subsistence minimum rose to a level 15 per cent
higher than it had been when calculated by the earlier method. For pensioners,
it even rose by 25 per cent, for children by 20 per cent, and for the
active working population by 12 per cent.
257. The problems of the poor
have been made worse by widespread non-payment of salaries, resulting in
arrears of 77 billion roubles at the end of 1998. Steps taken by the Government
reduced this to 56 billion roubles by 1 September 1999. In addition, a
wide-ranging campaign was launched to recover unpaid salaries through the
courts. In 1998, 33 billion roubles were recovered in this way, and by
31 December 2000, the total of unpaid salaries stood at 31.7 billion
roubles.
258. The minimum subsistence
level per capita for the fourth quarter of 2000 was 1,285 roubles, which
increased by a factor of 1.2 by the corresponding quarter of 2001 using a
comparable method of calculation. The value of the subsistence minimum for the
active working population was 1,406 roubles, that for pensioners 926 roubles
and that for children 1,272 roubles. The cost of the minimum selection of food
products included in the subsistence minimum for the fourth quarter of 2000 was
644 roubles, or 102.1 per cent of the corresponding selection in the third
quarter.
259. Across Russia's regions,
the value of the subsistence minimum fluctuates from 65 per cent to
36.7 per cent in relation to the national average. In 1999 the highest
value for the minimum subsistence level (in the Koryak autonomous area) was 4.9
times the lowest value (in Ulyanovsk region); in 1998 the corresponding factor
was 5.4.
260. Calculation of the minimum
amounts of subsistence for the constituent territories of the Federation in
accordance with the Federal Act "The subsistence minimum in the Russian
Federation" will take place in 2001, once the Ministry of Labour has
evaluated the proposed consumer baskets for the main socio-demographic groups
in the constituent territories and their introduction by the legislative
authorities of the territories.
261. In order to give effect to
the right to adequate nutrition, the Government is taking measures to regulate
the manufacture and sale of food products. Particular emphasis has been placed
on standardization, in order to ensure the quality and safety of the food
products on sale.
262. A Federal Act entitled
"State regulation of agro-industrial products" has been passed, which
establishes the legal framework for economic actions taken by the state in the
agro-industrial sector.
263. Steps are being taken to
strengthen state regulation of the production and sale of ethyl alcohol and
alcoholic goods. In this context, amendments and additions have been made to
Federal Act No. 18 of 7 January 1999, "State regulation of the
production and sale of ethyl alcohol and goods containing alcohol and
spirits", in order to tackle illegal alcohol production, protect the
market from the incursion of low-quality goods and increase the available
quantity of legally produced products of proven quality.
264. The domestic food industry
can meet approximately three quarters of the population's nutritional needs. In
2000 (according to provisional data) the levels of demand met were: 70 per cent
for meat products, 87 per cent for dairy products and 67 per cent for vegetable
fats. From January to May 2001 Russia imported more than 904, 000 tonnes of
cereals at a cost of 113.1 million US dollars (36.4 per cent of the total
compared with 40.6 per cent in the corresponding period last year), of which
149,900 tonnes came from the USA and the European Union at a cost of 25.1
million US dollars.
265. The food supply system has
deteriorated during the years of reform. Consumption of meat, dairy products,
vegetables and gourds, and fruit has gone down. In 2000 (preliminary figures)
individual consumption of meat and meat products fell from 75 kg to 43 kg. In
1990 consumption of milk and milk products fell from 386kg to 215kg, and of
vegetables and gourds from 89kg to 84kg. By contrast, consumption of potatoes
increased in 1990 from 17 kg to 123kg.
266. All this points to the need
for urgent measures designed to strengthen the state's role in the expansion of
agricultural productivity and in protecting and regulating the market for
foodstuffs. To this end, the Government is introducing special laws, decrees
and programmes, and is developing new approaches to agricultural production
which reflect its status as a sector of vital strategic importance.
267. The Government has adopted
a decision concerning the introduction and further development of wholesale
foodstuff markets, of which thirty currently exist. Specialists are being
trained to work in wholesale food markets, whose distribution mechanisms
determine the balance of supply and demand.
268. The Government has also
adopted Decision No. 940 of 12 December 2000 entitled "Russian
Federation Governmental Committee for matters concerning the agro-industrial
sector". Similar committees have been set up in the constituent
territories.
269. One of the major tasks of
the above-mentioned Committee is to supervise implementation of the major
components of the Government's agro-industrial policy for the period 2001-10.
270. In accordance with article
40, paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Russian Constitution, "Everyone shall have
the right to a home. No one may be arbitrarily deprived of a home. State bodies
and organs of local government shall encourage home construction and create
conditions for the realization of the right to a home."
271. On 30 March 2000 the
Government approved the basic framework of a long-term state housing policy
designed to create the conditions for allowing citizens to realize their
constitutional right to a home.
272. The main function of state
housing policy is to provide the conditions for a lasting and effective
turnover of reasonably priced dwellings which meet the public's demand for
accommodation. Measures will be taken to provide social protection during the
transition to a market-based system of financing public housing.
273. In the process of
introducing its housing reforms, the Government has established a legal
framework for developing the housing sector. Since the very start of the
process in 1992, over 200 legislative and other regulatory instruments
have been approved in respect of house construction, the public housing network
and housing transactions.
274. The Russian Federation
State Committee for Housebuilding and the Public Housing Network is supervising
the drafting of a Russian Federation Housing Code, whose adoption will pave the
way for completion of a legal framework that will regulate housing matters on a
wholly new footing and renew and transform the main institutions concerned with
housing legislation in accordance with the Constitution.
275. In accordance with article
40, paragraph 3 of the Constitution, " Low-income citizens and other
citizens defined by law who are in need of housing shall be housed free of
charge or for affordable payment from governmental, municipal and other housing
funds in conformity with the norms stipulated by the law."
276. At present several
legislative and other instruments ensure that the categories of the population
concerned receive social assistance. They include Presidential Decree
No. 1815 of 2 October 1993 entitled "Measures to prevent vagrancy and
begging", Federal Act No. 122 of 2 August 1995 entitled "Social
services for the elderly and the disabled", Federal Act No. 181 of 24
November 1995 entitled "Social protection for the disabled in the Russian
Federation", Federal Act No. 195 of 10 December 1995 entitled
"Fundamentals of social services for the population of the Russian
Federation" and Federal Act No. 178 of 17 July 1999 entitled
"State social assistance". In addition, in accordance with sections
1, 4, 7 and 8 of the special federal programme to strengthen measures against
crime for the period 1999-2000, a draft federal law has been drawn up entitled
"Social assistance for persons who have served a criminal sentence in the
form of deprivation of freedom". Russia's housing stock comprises 2,779
million square metres[21].
277. Over 73 per cent of the
available housing stock has running water, 69 per cent waste-water disposal
facilities, 73.3 per cent central heating, 63.8 per cent bathrooms, 59.4 per
cent hot water, 70.1 per cent gas and 16.1 per cent electrical hotplates.
278. Dilapidated and dangerous
housing accounts for 65.4 million square metres, or 2.4 per cent, of the
available stock.
279. Out of the 54,892,000
apartments in the whole of Russia, over 745,000 (1.4%) are communal [kitchen
and toilet facilities shared by a number of people]; these are inhabited by
over 3 million people, or 2 per cent of the population.
280. There are over 5.36 million
families on the waiting list for better housing, of whom 777,000 live in
communal apartments and over 640,000 in boarding houses. Over 1.79 million
families (33.4 per cent) have been on the waiting list longer than ten years.
Last year 248,600 families (2%) were taken off the waiting list and moved into
better accommodation.
281. The largest groups among
those waiting are found in St. Petersburg (25%), Lipetsk region (18%), Tyumen
region (17%), the Republic of Bashkortostan and Olyanovsk region (each 16%),
and the Republic of Tatarstan, Voronezh, Vologda and the Khabarovsk territory
(each 15%).
282. At the beginning of 2001
the rural housing stock amounted to 766.2 million square metres, of which 86%
was privately owned. The total area of such housing accounted for by
privatization and private house building increased by half as much again during
the period 1991-99. In the same period, the municipal housing stock almost
fourfold, and the volume of housing owned by central governmental shrank by a
factor of seven.
283. During the period 1991-2000
the rural housing stock grew by 66 million square metres; although new
construction in this period reached 90.1 million square metres, one third of it
replaced dilapidated, dangerous and other dwellings.
284. The greater part of the
rural housing stock has no basic public utilities. Compared with urban housing,
it has half as much provision of running water, waste-water disposal and
central heating, and four times less hot water provision. Seventy two per cent
of rural settlements have no central water supply, and 96 per cent no sewage
system.
285. With regard to the
availability of engineering services the situation of rural households is as
follows: running water 39.4 per cent; central heating 29.5 per cent; bathrooms
23.5 per cent; gas 73.9 per cent; hot water supply 17.2 per cent; and
electrical hotplates 2.6 per cent.
286. Owing to the shortage of
good-quality drinking water, the majority of rural areas are at risk of an
epidemic. Many rural inhabitants use water from wells, rivers and natural
reservoirs for cooking and other domestic purposes. Only 28 per cent of rural
settlements have running water.
287. People in rural localities
enjoy on average 19.8 square metres of living space per person, compared with
19.1 square metres in towns. In three constituent territories of the Federation
(Tver, Pskov and Novgorod regions) the amount is 27 square metres per person,
and in eight territories it is less than 15.
288. Professionals (doctors,
teachers, and certain others) working in rural localities are entitled to free
apartments with heating and lighting. They retain this right when it comes to
claiming their pension, provided they have worked for at least ten years in
rural areas.
289. Housing provision for those
working in agriculture varies markedly according to age and level of seniority.
Managers and senior professionals enjoy 30 per cent more living space for each
family member than unskilled workers, and farmers half as much again as the
average farm worker.
290. Young people who have not
managed to acquire a house or apartment by the age of 30 now face far worse
housing problems than did previous generations.
291. Housing for agricultural
workers with large families (six or more people) is far more scarce than for
smaller families or single people. Large families have on average 9.9 square
metres of living space per person, with 29 per cent of them having only 7
square metres per person. For single people, the corresponding figures are 21
square metres and 19 per cent.
292. The majority of rural
inhabitants would prefer to solve their housing problems by building their own
dwelling in the country, but many cannot because of insufficient income.
293. In order to tackle the
rural housing problem, a special federal programme entitled "Your own
home" was launched in 1996, a substantial part of which comprises a
sub-programme called "A home for country people". In constituent
territories of the Federation, regional house-building programmes have been
started which allow individuals to borrow money from support funds in order to
build a house in their rural area. The funds bring together all the fiscal and
non-fiscal sources available for building individual dwellings and ensure that
the services needed to complete the construction projects are provided.
294. These measures have tripled
the volume of private housing construction in rural areas since 1991.
295. By 1999 the ongoing land
reform in Russia had produced changes in the pattern of land ownership.
Alongside the governmental and municipal sectors, a new class of owners had
emerged - citizens and corporate entities.
296. The reorganization of 23,
500 state collective farms has brought into existence over 44,000 new
agricultural enterprises under various types of ownership, and 116.2 million
hectares of agricultural land has been privatized. In the process, 11.8 million
rural inhabitants have become owners of a plot of land.
297. As part of the
reorganization of farming, many land users were offered the opportunity to quit
collective farming and start their own enterprises on either of the following
two legal bases:
a)
peasant farmers (farmers); 261,700 (a total
of 15.3 hectares of land placed at their disposal);
b)
agricultural associations and societies,
commercial co-operatives and non-commercial organizations (these now hold 141.3
million hectares of agricultural lands).
298. The amount of land now in
private use is 13.2 million hectares, including 6.2 million hectares for
cultivation (15.5 million families), 1.3 million hectares for collective and
individual garden plots (14.1 million families), 0.4 million hectares for
collective and individual horticultural plots (5.1 million families), 0.5
million hectares for the construction of individual dwellings (5 million
families), and 4.8 million hectares for collective and individual
livestock breeding concerns (1.8 million families).
299. Out of the 10.9 million
landowners who received the relevant documentation, two thirds exercised their
right to change the use to which their land is put; 75 per cent of that group
(5.4 million) now lease their land. In 13 constituent territories of the
Federation, all those granted title to a plot exercised their right, while in a
further five territories 95 per cent did so, in six more 80 per cent did so,
and in nine more 70 per cent did so. At the same time, in the Sakhalin region
the level was only 0.7 per cent, and in the Smolensk region 4.4 per cent. Less
than 20 per cent of owners exercised their right in five territories, and in 13
territories the take-up varied from 20 to 40 per cent.
300. The basis for the reform of
land is the federal legislation. At the same time, for the lack of a new Land
Code, many issues are resolved on the basis of laws enacted by self-governing
local authorities in the constituent territories. The adoption of a Land Code
will make it possible to:
a)
limit the scope of local authority regulation
of land issues in the constituent territories of the Federation;
b)
establish mechanisms for regulating the
purchase, sale and rental of land and settling mortgage transactions relating
to agricultural lands, and for transferring land to competent managing
organizations;
c)
regulate the problems relating to land
registration in agriculture;
d)
establish criteria enabling the quality and
economic value of agricultural land to be reflected accurately in its price.
301. In 1999 the transformations
in the agro-industrial sector continued, with the aim of building a mixed
economy, creating a large agricultural production sector based on
semi-commercial types of management, and developing agro-industrial integration
in various forms.
302. The majority of
agricultural organizations have been reorganized and re-registered in
accordance with the legislation in force. The proportion of agricultural
enterprises in the state sector of the agrarian economy is 9 per cent, with the
remainder accounted for by enterprises rooted in private ownership of land and
property.
303. The agrarian sector now
contains enterprises under several different forms of ownership and management.
By the end of 2000 there were 27,600 large and medium enterprises in
agriculture, of which 18,500 (67%) were associations of all kinds, mixed-stock
companies and producer co-operatives.
304. In the regions, work
continues on the task of bringing the constitutive documents of agricultural
enterprises into line with the provisions of the Russian Federation Civil Code
and the Federal Acts on "Co-operation in agriculture",
"Joint-stock companies" and "Limited-liability companies".
305. As part of the process of
adapting agricultural manufacturing to market economic conditions, various
types of integrated systems are being formed in the agro-industrial sector:
joint-stock companies, co-operatives, unions, associations, financial
industrial groups, and also holding companies, including businesses concerned
with agricultural production, processing, services, trading and banking. The
integrated systems will bring together the production, processing, services and
sales aspects in a way that facilitates policy agreement, develops productive
capacity and ensures improved control of investment.
306. The task of strengthening
the legislative basis for the various types of organization continues. Bills
currently awaiting approval are "Special developmental characteristics and
legal standing of joint-stock companies in agriculture", and
"Companies with limited liability in the sphere of agricultural
production"; a bill is being drawn up concerning "Sector-specific
manufacturers' associations (unions) in agro-industry".
307. The work of establishing a
mixed agrarian economy will continue in the medium term. The main areas of
activity will be:
a)
refining the legislative structure to reflect
the different types of organization;
b)
bringing the constitutive documents of all
types of enterprise into line with the current legislation;
c)
developing and introducing sound mechanisms
for the establishment of large-volume agricultural production based on small
enterprises;
d)
ensuring that land and capital is
concentrated under effective ownership: leasing and distribution of plots,
granting of entitlement to use plots and to purchase plots and shares in
property, lifetime rental and lifetime tenure; amalgamation of ailing
enterprises into more effective units;
e)
strengthening the internal structures of
enterprises through more thorough accounting, greater autonomy for individual
departments, and improved training and selection of senior staff;
f)
further improving agricultural co-operation
and agro-industrial integration across the board.
308. The continuous downward
trend in industrial productivity in recent years has been accompanied by a
certain reduction in the man-made burden sustained by the environment. At the
same time, there are still urgent problems relating to the contamination of
agricultural land and water bodies by heavy metals, fluorine and other
dangerous toxins emitted by industrial concerns. Livestock breeding also poses
a serious threat to the environment and human health, especially pig farming
and poultry plants. Despite the fact that the numbers of livestock and poultry
have decreased in virtually all the constituent territories of the Federation
as a consequence of outdated methods, obsolete equipment and poor land-use, the
large stockbreeding concerns continue to operate in environmentally hazardous
conditions.
309. Current Russian legislation
seeks to protect the environment and assist sustainable development.
310. Presidential Decree
No. 440 of 1 April 1996, which proclaims the principle of Russia's
transition to sustainable development, calls for agricultural development based
on environmentally progressive farming methods adapted to local conditions,
measures designed to enhance soil fertility and protect it from erosion and
contamination, and a system of social protection for the rural population.
311. The "National plan of
action to protect the natural environment in the Russian Federation for the
period 1999-2001" specifies the environmental problems which must be
resolved as a priority, provides guidance on achieving this in the next few
years, and sets out urgent measures for upgrading the existing environmental
protection network, including measures designed to reduce the strain on the
environment generated by Russia's agro-industrial sector.
312. The Russian Government has
adopted a series of programmes intended to stabilize and reform the
agro-industrial sector, and also special programmes for stabilizing and
improving the environmental situation throughout the Russian Federation, with
particular emphasis on making the agro-industrial sector more responsible.
Examples of the main initiatives are: "Integrated state programme to
improve soil quality in Russia", "Special federal programme to
stabilize and improve agro-industrial production in the Russian Federation for
the period 1996-2000", the special federal programmes on "Furtherance
of land reform in the Russian Federation for 1999-2002", "Improving
the ecological condition of the River Volga and its tributaries, and
rehabilitating and preventing the further decline of the Volga basin system for
the period until 2010", and "Waste". There are also special
programmes concerned with improving the natural environment and human health in
specific areas where the natural environment is in a particularly poor state:
examples are Orenburg, Tula and Sverdlovsk.
313. The above-mentioned
measures, once put into effect, will not only prevent agro-industrial concerns
from causing further environmental damage and reduce the man-made burden
inflicted on farming by the large-scale industry, but will also pave the way
for a changeover to less environmentally harmful methods which will ultimately
produce better food for the population.
Health
protection (article 12)
314. Since 1993 the main focus
of the legislative activities being carried out by all the branches of state
power has come to be the drafting of basic federal laws defining the principles
that underpin the work of Russia's national health service. It is these
principles which have shaped the Russian Federation's system of medical law.
315. The most important and
revolutionary legal instrument in this regard is "Fundamentals of the
legislation on public health protection, 1993", which is the first
legislative document to examine public health protection from a nation-wide
prospective. Its provisions touch upon a wide range of public issues, and not
simply the health system.
316. In addition to basic laws,
the past decade has seen the adoption of legislative documents to regulate
specific aspects of the health service. Examples are the laws on
"Psychiatric assistance and guarantees concerning its availability to the
public", "Donation of blood and its components", "
Transplants of human organs and (or) tissues", and the governmental
decisions entitled "Special federal programme on the development of the
medical products industry for the period 1998-2000 and thereafter until
2005" (1998), "The licensing of pharmaceutical businesses and of
wholesale trading in drugs and medical products" (1999), "State
monitoring of drug prices" (1999), and "Procedure for the supply of
information on activities relating to the sale of narcotics and psychotropic
substances, and the recording of operations involving such activities"
(2000).
317. The same period has also
brought the adoption of statutory instruments regulating legal relations in
matters with an influential bearing on public health, such as "Protecting
the public against epidemics" (1999 - second amendment), "Quality and
safety in food products" (2000), "The air in the atmosphere",
"Natural healing resources, healing locations and health resorts" and
"Radiation protection for the public".
318. The adoption of the law on
"Immunoprophylaxis of infectious diseases" provided the legal basis
for reducing the number of infectious diseases (controllable infections) which
currently pose a serious threat to the nation's health.
319. The Federal Act
"Narcotics and psychotropic substances" provided backing to the
Government's commitment to comply with the international laws and agreements on
narcotics and created the conditions for effective international collaboration
to tackle the illegal trafficking of narcotics.
320. Over the past decade, more
than thirty laws have been adopted dealing with health care and public health
protection.
321. The following 21 bills
(draft federal acts) are currently undergoing parliamentary scrutiny:
–
"Traditional and folk medicine
(homeopathy)";
–
"Medical products";
–
"Amendments and additions to the Federal
Drugs Act" (with particular emphasis on control of the importation of
drugs into the Russian Federation);
–
"Health care in the Russian
Federation" (adopted at first reading on 27 January 1998; second reading
scheduled for 2001);
–
"Amendments and additions to the Federal
Act "Narcotics and psychotropic substances" (concerning the
strengthening of state controls over the trafficking of narcotics, psychotropic
substances and their precursors, and also the revision of the laws relating to
the medical examination of persons with drug addiction and their treatment with
drugs); first reading scheduled for 2001;
–
"Amendments and additions to RSFSR Act
"Medical insurance for citizens of the Russian Federation"
(concerning the curtailment of the insurance infrastructure in the system of
compulsory medical insurance, state regulation of the latter, and state
monitoring of the targeted use of its resources); adopted at first reading on
11 June 1998, second reading scheduled for 2001;
–
"Amendments and additions to the Federal
Drugs Act " (concerning support for the national producer); examination
scheduled for 2001;
–
"Amendments and additions to article 11
of the Russian Federation Act "Donation of blood and its components"
(concerning the revision of the term "public transportation");
adopted at first reading on 19 April 200, second reading scheduled for 2001;
–
"Amendments and additions to the Federal
Act "Monitoring the treatment in
the Russian Federation of diseases caused by HIV infection"; due for
consideration in 2001;
–
"Sport for children and young people in
the Russian Federation"; not yet considered - first reading scheduled for
2001;
–
"Pathological-anatomical
examination"; first reading scheduled for 2001;
–
"Forensic medical examination";
first reading scheduled for2001;
–
"Legal basis of bio-ethics and
guarantees regarding its control"; first reading scheduled for 2001;
–
"Advertising of medical services,
medical products and drugs"; due for consideration in 2001;
–
"Regulation of the private medical
sector"; first reading scheduled for 2001;
–
"Basic matters concerning health resorts
in the Russian Federation"; first reading scheduled for 2001;
–
"Restricting the smoking of
tobacco"; adopted at second reading in June 2001;
–
"State support for the health-spa city
of Sochi, for the period until 2003"; scheduled for consideration in 2001;
–
"The health-spa region of federal
significance "Caucasian Mineral Springs"; scheduled for consideration
in 2001;
–
"The Russian Red Cross society, and the
use of the Red Cross symbol and the term "Red Cross" in the Russian
Federation"; scheduled for examination in 2001;
–
"Preventing the spread of tuberculosis
in the Russian Federation", taken up by the State Duma and the Council of
the Federation for three readings, rejected with a number of observations. The
drafters and the federal executive bodies concerned are working urgently to
amend this bill in accordance with the observations of the President of the
Russian Federation.
322. In accordance with the
"Blueprint for the development of health care and medical science in the
Russian Federation", approved by Governmental Decision No. 1387 of 5
November 1997, and the "Blueprint for public health care in the Russian
Federation for the period until 2005", approved by Governmental Order
No. 1202-r of 31 August 2000, the structural changes to the health care
system continue. These blueprints embody the main aspects of the reforms being
carried out in respect of the control systems, funding and sectoral operations.
Their objective is to create a more efficient type of health service that uses
less expensive medical technology, without reducing the volume of treatment or
lowering quality.
323. This process has been
complicated greatly by the socio-economic and political factors which have
emerged. It has become necessary to adopt a series of instruments providing
assurance of people's rights to health care and free medical assistance, as
guaranteed by article 41 of the Constitution. In particular, in 1998 the
"Programme of state guarantees concerning the provision of free medical
assistance to the population of the Russian Federation" was adopted
(Governmental Decision No. 1096 of 11 September 1998); amendments and
additions were later introduced by means of Governmental Decisions
Nos. 1194 of 26 October 1999 and 907 of 29 November 2000, with the aim of
refining the system.
324. Article 41 of the
Constitution stipulates that the state must fund and carry out federal
programmes to protect and improve public health. Thus, since 1993 a
presidential programme called "Children of Russia" has been in
operation which includes the special federal programmes "Safe
motherhood", "Disabled children", "Children of
Chernobyl", and the programmes "Diabetes", "Urgent measures
to tackle tuberculosis in Russia for the period 1998-2004", "Improvements
to the Russian medical emergency services", "Anti- HIV/Aids",
"Preventive vaccines" and others. Since 1999, the programmes on safe
motherhood, disabled children and the children of Chernobyl have been funded
completely from the federal budget.
325. Governmental Decision
No. 625 of 25 August 2000, "Special federal programmes for improving
children's situation in the Russian Federation, for the period 2001-02"
authorizes the special federal programmes on safe motherhood, disabled
children, the development of the All-Russian children's centres "Eaglet"
and "Ocean", the development of social services for families and
children, preventing neglect of minors and their involvement in crime, gifted
children, orphans, children whose families are refugees or have been forcibly
resettled, and "Children of the North". The main aspects of the
special federal programmes are reflected in regional programmes being carried
out in virtually all constituent territories of the Federation.
326. During the course of the
special federal programmes on family planning and safe motherhood (1998-2000),
a national family planning service was established (448 centres for family
planning and reproduction and 70 perinatal centres, most of them provided with
office, audio and video equipment, and endoscopy equipment). There are now 15
young people's centres providing adolescents with medical and social advice, as
well as a network of related public organizations. More than 90 obstetrics
centres in the regions of the Russian Federation now have medical diagnostic
apparatus (ultrasound, endoscopy, foetal heart monitoring), bringing modern
technology to bear on the birth process and the perinatal aspects.
327. As before, the sources of
health care funding derive from the state budget. Budgeting at all levels
accounts for 62 per cent of the overall structure of health care spending,
compulsory insurance contributions 19 per cent, fee-based services to the
public 4.8 per cent, the resources of organizations and enterprises 12.8 per
cent, and voluntary insurance 1.4 per cent.
328. Budgetary disbursement on
health care for 2000 was set at 1.9 per cent of all federal spending, compared
with 1.8 per cent in 1999, thus providing the public with better assurance of
its constitutional right to free medical assistance in state and municipal
health care facilities.
329. Greatest priority was
attached to mother and child protection measures, child vaccination, improving
the materials and equipment in children's hospitals and health resorts, and
implementing the above-mentioned special federal programmes.
330. Within the framework of the
special federal programme "Urgent measures to tackle tuberculosis in
Russia for the period 1998-2004", over 2.98 million roubles have been
spent on supplying children's hospitals with anti-tuberculosis drugs. First priority
is given to the territories worst affected by tuberculosis. As a further
measure, X-ray equipment to the value of 15 million US dollars has been
purchased.
331. In 1998 the population of
the northern regions benefited from medical equipment worth over 70 million roubles and 3 million US dollars, dietetic treatments worth 5
million roubles and medicines worth 30 million roubles.
332. In 1998 the cost of the
medicines dispensed to veterans in outpatient care throughout Russia amounted
to 800 million roubles. Steps are being taken to implement the agreements
between the Russian Ministry of Health, the Federal Compulsory Medical
Insurance Fund and the main executive organs of the constituent territories
concerning joint action to fulfil the territorial programmes intended to
provide free medical assistance to Russia's people.
333. Against the background of
socio-economic instability, strong attention is being paid to the issue of
social protection for medical workers. A federal law on "Professional liability
insurance for medical workers" is currently in preparation, together with
other legal and regulatory documents.
334. The constraints affecting
the supply of medicines to hospitals and members of the public have eased to
some extent, owing to the adoption of a series of governmental decisions to
regulate the procedures and conditions for the supply of medicines and medical
products to exempted categories of the population:
a)
"State measures to control the price of
medicines"; No. 374 of 30 March 1999;
b)
"Guaranteed provision to the public of
essential and important medicines, and situations in which certain categories
of the population are given privileged access to medicines"; No. 393
of 8 April 1999. (The Russian Ministry of Health ensures the supply of the
minimum range of medicines needed for health care. All pharmaceutical outlets
and organizations will be required to stock them);
c)
"Additions to the register of essential
and important medicines and medical products, the profits from whose sale by
all legally recognized types of enterprise shall not be taxable";
No. 546 of 20 May 1999;
335. Furthermore, the system
under which medicines are produced and purchased for hospitals has been
reorganized. In particular, Presidential Decree No. 305 of 8 April 1997,
"Immediate measures to prevent corruption and reduce public spending with
regard to the purchase of products to meet national requirements"
authorizes procedures for the purchase of medicines by tender.
336. In recent years the
reproductive health indicators for women in a number of age groups (fertility,
age of transition, adolescents) have shown a declining trend, and the figures
for abortions and for maternal and child mortality and morbidity remain high.
337. A prominent feature of the
current situation regarding women's reproductive health is the level of
gynaecological disease. In the past five years the indicators for the
prevalence of these per 100,000 women have risen: by 46 per cent for
endometriosis, by 30.5 per cent for inflammatory ailments, and by 21.8 per cent
for complications during pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period. Almost 15
per cent of married couples are affected by infertility, of which 50-60 per
cent is due to the woman.
338. The quality of life of
poorer women continues to decline. The past ten years have seen a more than
threefold rise in cases of anaemia during pregnancy, and a significant increase
in cases of pregnancy-related kidney and cardio-vascular disease. In the same
period the number of women suffering from late toxicosis during pregnancy
increased threefold. The proportion of normal births declined sharply to
31.1 per cent for the whole of Russia, and in some constituent territories
this figure was 25 per cent.
339. The situation regarding the
health of neonates is no more positive, with every third child born suffering
from a health defect. There is a notably high percentage of premature and
immature births, which cost the federal government some 250-300 times more than
if the children were born on or near the due date.
340. Russia's paediatric
services attach great importance to child immunization, which is carried out in
accordance with a national inoculation schedule. In the past five years, a high
national rate of coverage has been achieved, starting with children in their
earliest years. Since 1997, injections against viral hepatitis and rubella have
been introduced into the national schedule, as well as re-vaccination against
parotitis. In 1999 the level of coverage for all types of inoculation exceeded
95 per cent.
341. This consistently high
level of child immunisation has brought about a steady decline in diphtheria
and measles and a noticeable reduction in cases of whooping cough and
parotitis; there has not been a single case of poliomyelitis resulting from
natural polio virus. The vaccination of children against tuberculosis during
the current epidemic is preventing children from contracting the most serious
forms of the disease.
342. Maternal mortality, one of
the most important indicators of women's health and health care provision, is
two and a half times greater on average in the Russian Federation than in
Europe; the figure for Russia in 2000 was 39.7 maternal deaths per 100,000 live
births.
343. Despite the steadily
improving national indicators for perinatal and infant mortality (from 17.4 per
thousand in 1994 to 13.2 in 2000, and from 18.6 per thousand in 1994 to 15.3 in
2000, respectively) the levels remain high. The main causes of infant deaths
are problems arising in the perinatal phase (44.2%) and congenital defects
(23.1%). In 2000 there were 6.7 per 1000 stillbirths per 1000 live births (7.8
in 1994). Overall, child mortality decreased from 15 per 1000 population in
1995 to 15.4 per 1000 in 2000.
344. In recent years the
problems of improving public health and reforming the public health care system
have been at the forefront of the government's social policy.
345. A series of step-by-step
measures to integrate health care and strengthen the public health care system,
together with a programme of a more urgent nature, have broadened the sector's
material and legal foundations and created the conditions for gradual
stabilization of the population's health.
346. The Russian Ministry of
Health has formulated and begun to put into effect a set of primary measures in
accordance with the "Blueprint for the development of health care and
medical science in the Russian Federation and of its public health system, for
the period until 2005".
347. Over recent years the
Russian Government has gradually formulated a policy on the protection of
mother and child. The key instruments here are the CEDAW Convention, the
Convention on the Rights of the Child and the World Declaration on the
Survival, Protection and Development of Children. Their ratification has led to
the adoption of presidential decrees setting out the main planks of the
Government's social policy in this area.
348. The following have been
adopted as a result of the above-mentioned developments: the "Plan of
action for improving children's situation in the Russian Federation for the
period 1998-2000"; the "National plan of action for improving women's
situation and enhancing their role in society for the period until 2000";
and the Presidential programme "Children of Russia", which includes
ten special programmes designed to tackle acute problems in areas relating to
mothers' and children's health protection, namely reproductive health, safe
motherhood, child disability, and improvements to women's and children's
situation and health.
349. Currently it is being
suggested that Russia should ratify the Hague Convention on the Protection of
Children and Cooperation in respect of Inter-Country Adoption, which Russia
signed on 7 September 2000, and the United Nations Convention against Transnational
Organized Crime and its Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in
Persons, Especially Women and Children.
350. Approval has been given to
an interdepartmental convention on protecting the reproductive health of
Russia's population for the period 2000-04.
351. A special federal programme
entitled "Healthy child" is being drawn up for implementation over
the period 2002-06.
352. Special attention is paid
to matters concerning public health provision for small indigenous peoples, and
a special federal programme called "Economic and social development of the
small indigenous peoples of the north for the period until 2000" has been
adopted. The special federal programme "Children of the north" is
under way, and activities continue to be carried out in the framework of the
international decade of indigenous peoples (1995-2004).
353. Matters of public health
protection never fail to feature in the President's annual address to the
Federal Assembly. In particular, under the heading "Main aspects of
socio-economic policy for 1999-2000" in his 1999 address entitled
"Russia on the verge of an epoch", the President noted that Russia
supports WHO's "Health for All Strategy", which is basically
concerned with health care provision.
354. In the context of Russia's
socio-economic policy, the major reform taking place in this sector focuses on
the maintenance of the national health service, sound centralized management,
the introduction of multi-channelling to health care funding, and the funding of
hospitals in accordance with the volume and quality of health care.
355. In the future, the reform
process will also be geared to improving the effectiveness of first-level care
through greater emphasis on preventive care and treatment at the pre-hospital
stage, to which end the work of extending the network of day hospitals and
out-patient clinics and introducing a general practitioner service continues.
The Ministry of Health has approved a scheme for developing family medicine
across the country.
356. The emphasis placed on
outpatient care has already seen the percentage of public health problems
resolved at this level rise to 75-80 per cent.
357. Not less than 35 per cent
of the available resources in this sector - with a further 20 per cent devoted
to specialist outpatient care - will be allocated to strengthen first-level
health care, including all kinds of preventive treatment.
358. Steps are being taken to
reorganize the hospital network and the range of treatment it provides in order
to reflect the pace of the developments occurring in diagnostic medicine. The
government has instituted a programme for the development of high technology in
medicine. Regulations governing the functioning of units to provide intensive
care, rehabilitation for the chronically ill and medical-social care are being
drawn up.
359. The objective of the
current policy is to lower the level of hospitalization from 20 per cent to 17
per cent, the average hospital waiting period from 18 to 14 days, the number of
bed-days per 1000 population from 3,500 to 2,700, and reduce the number of
emergency service call-outs, by making outpatient care more effective and by
linking emergency care provision to the establishment of a general
practitioners' institute. The task of strengthening Russia's first-level health
care system, including preventive care, will also be helped by the introduction
of a system of preventive health centres across the country, based on the
former network of health education centres. In many cases the new centres will
be combined with sports clinics, Aids prevention and treatment centres and
mental health clinics (numbering 82), but there will also be preventive care
units in the main establishments (over 1,400).
360. Owing to the extremely
varied nature and purposes of these preventive care centres and units, these
measures are currently proving relatively ineffective, and the level of
coordination between them and other governmental and public bodies when it
comes to the joint implementation of shared tasks is still poor. Economic and
organizational mechanisms must be put in place in order to encourage the
population, the health service and other interested departments to assist in
the drive to prevent illness and improve health.
361. Under the auspices of the
TACIS Project, pilot schemes are being carried out in Chelyabinsk region and
the city of St. Petersburg with the aim of developing models for public health
schools, which would help tackle preventive health issues, both within the
public health system and at interdepartmental level.
362. In 1999, as compared with
1995, the proportion of hospital deaths in relation to the number of people
released from hospital care declined from 1.6 per cent to 1.5 per cent. The
number of surgical operations conducted in hospitals rose by 6.7 per cent.
There was a drop in the number of post-operative deaths arising from emergency
surgery on organs in the abdominal cavity, for all types of acute problems.
363. Growth in the proportion of
the population living in rural areas, from 26.1 per cent in 1995 to 27 per cent
in 2000, has been accompanied by contraction of the network of rural
institutions providing health care. The number of rural hospitals fell by 19.5
per cent, the number of beds by 17.2 per cent, and the number of paramedical
and obstetrical centres by 2.6 per cent, significantly complicating the task of
providing health care for the rural population. The number of hospital beds
fell sharply in the Krasnoyarsk and Altai territories, and in the Irkutsk, Omsk
and Tyumen regions.
364. The problems affecting
health care have become particularly acute in the areas inhabited by the
indigenous minorities of the north, who have a nomadic way of life, and
especially in the Taimyr (Dolgan-Nenets), Evenk and Nenets autonomous areas.
365. For the past six years
Russia has operated a control system based on the licensing and certification
of medical activities and specialists, the production and sale of medicines,
and medical equipment, and the accreditation and licensing of medical and
pharmaceutical training establishments.
366. Measures are being taken to
establish a quality control system for health care, the areas of interaction
between the interested parties are being defined, and the regulatory framework
governing the relevant institutions is being revised.
367. Urgent measures are being
taken to supply the population and the health care institutions with medicines.
The Government has adopted a series of important instruments intended to
support Russian manufacturers of medical products.
368. The Government is
examining the possibility of collaborating further with the World Bank on a
project entitled "Promoting the structural rebuilding of the health care
system", whose main objective is to improve the efficiency and quality of
health care provision through the rebuilding of the medical services, an
overhaul of the health system's command structure, the strengthening of
federalist principles in order to guarantee the population equal access to
health care, and the creation of a unified sector from the economic and legal
standpoints.
369. This project, still at the
preparatory stage, will promote joint actions for implementing the
"Blueprint for the development of health care and medical science in the
Russian Federation", as well as part of the governmental programme
"Structural rebuilding and economic growth for the period 1997‑2000".
370. In the framework of a World
Bank pilot project called "Public health reform" conducted in the
Kaluga and Tver regions since 1998, issues relating to the basic principles of
family health care are being examined thoroughly: taking measures to prevent
cardiovascular diseases and promote the image of the healthy family, improving
the work of the services concerned with mother and child protection, and making
best use of the funding available for preventive health facilities through a
shift from a hospital-based service to an outreach-type service offering
preventive care.
371. Life expectancy at birth
rose from 64.6 years in 1995 to 65.9 years in 1999.
372. The continuing need for
emergency action in the social and economic spheres has meant that the
demographic situation remains difficult.
373. The difference between
average life expectancy in Russia and in the developed countries is
considerable: 15-17 years for men and 7-10 years for women.
374. Across most of Russia, the
main reproductive indicators (fertility, mortality, balance of births and
deaths) testify to the decrease in people's quality of life. In the past nine
years (since 1992) the population of Russia has declined by 3.5 million, or 2.3
per cent.
375. During 2000 the population
decreased in 79 out of the 89 constituent territories, where 128 million, or
88.4 per cent of the population, currently live (in 1999 it decreased in 82
territories, and in 1998 in 68). The population rose in the republics of Altai,
Dagestan, Ingushetia and North Ossetia-Alania, in the Belgorod and Tyumen
regions, in Moscow city, and in the Khanty-Mansi, Yamal-Nenets and Taimyr
(Dolgano-Nenets) autonomous areas.
376. The highest rates of
population decline in the past year were registered in the Chukchi (4.2%),
Koryak (2.7%) and Evenk (2.1%) autonomous areas and in the Magadan region
(2.3%). A decline of 1.2-1.4 per cent occurred in the Tula, Pskov, Smolensk,
Murmansk, Tver and Sakhalin regions.
377. Since 1990 the child
population has declined in both the urban and rural sectors.
378. The difficult
socio-economic situation began affecting the rural population before it took on
any great significance in the towns and cities.
379. Deaths in the countryside
caused by respiratory diseases occur 1.6 times more frequently than in urban
areas.
380. Owing to the low birth rate
and growing numbers of elderly people, the overall population is ageing still
faster. At the end of 1990, there were fewer children than people of
pensionable age in 19 regions of the country; nine years later, this was true
of 42 regions.
381. As before, the most
pressing problem remains the high number of premature deaths. In 2000, the
number of able-bodied people who died (631,000) represented 28.4 per cent of
the total number of deaths (in 1990 the number was 410,000 or 25%).
382. The trends relating to
overall morbidity remain pessimistic, as do those for child and juvenile
mortality, and mental illness and alcohol-related diseases are on the increase.
383. In recent years, the
epidemics of socially-related diseases have reached alarming proportions. Since
1992 the incidence of active tuberculosis has increased by a factor of 2.4.
384. In 1999 Russia, especially
the regions of the far north, was brought to crisis point by the tuberculosis
epidemic. According to the official data, by the end of 2000 almost 380,000
people had contracted the disease, and during that year 130,700 were first
diagnosed as having it.
385. This was the situation
which triggered the special federal programme "Urgent measures to tackle
tuberculosis in Russia for the period 1998-2004".
386. The areas causing greatest
concern are the republics of Buryatia, Tuva, Khakasia and Komi, the Tyumen
region, the Jewish autonomous region and the Evenk autonomous area, where
levels are 2-5 times the Russian average.
387. The part of the population
most vulnerable to tuberculosis comprises the indigenous minorities. In
particular, the 62,000 strong indigenous population of the Altai republic (the
Altai), already with the lowest life expectancy of all Russia's peoples, is
officially recognised as being the most susceptible to infectious disease.
388. Among the indigenous
population of the Kola Peninsula the incidence of tuberculosis is seven times
the Russian average.
389. In the past three years the
incidence of the disease among adults belonging to the indigenous groups of the
Magadan region has risen two and a half times (the incidence of children with
tuberculosis is ten times greater than in the southern regions). The incidence
of diseases and deaths among the local population in Kolyma has risen
catastrophically (the average age of the indigenous inhabitants is 49).
According to demographic experts, the historical health reserve of the Magadan
region's indigenous people may be exhausted within a few generations.
390. The health care authorities
are concerned at the recent appearance of previously rare diseases such as
hepatitis A and B and diphtheria. The latter, previously restricted to
individual cases, affected 838 people from 1990 to 1999 925 deaths). Other
examples are Western Nile fever (34 cases recorded in the Volgograd area in
2000) and Crimean haemorrhagic fever (in Stavropol territory, the Kalmykia and
Dagestan republics and the Astrakhan and Volgograd regions there were 83
recorded cases in 2000).
391. Despite the problems
encountered in reorganizing the health service, some success has been achieved
in tackling a number of dangerous diseases. Thus, the type of trachoma found
most often among the indigenous minorities of the northern regions has been
eradicated. Since 1997 not a single case of poliomyelitis due to the
"natural" virus has been recorded in Russia. The documentation
certifying that the Russian Federation is free of poliomyelitis has been
approved by the national standards council and sent to WHO for consideration
and approval.
392. Owing to the emergence of
environmental conditions favouring the spread of the vectors, the relaxation of
preventive measures and the worsening socio-economic circumstances, typhoid -
previously thought to have been eradicated - has made a re-appearance in
Russia.
393. The towns of
Anzhero-Sudensk, Prokopyevsk and Novokuznetsk, in the Kemerovo region, are at risk of a typhoid outbreak.
The authorities there have issued an order entitled "Measures to prevent
the spread of typhoid among the region's population" (the department of
social protection and public health has spent over 1 million roubles on drugs
to treat typhoid).
394. According to data from the
endocrinology research unit of the Russian Academy of Medical Science, iodine
deficiency is becoming another matter of concern affecting the whole country.
In view of the seriousness of the situation, the Government adopted Decision
No. 1119 of 5 October 1999 entitled "Measures to prevent the diseases
caused by iodine deficiency". The decision authorized measures to
supplement those already being taken under the first phase of the
"Blueprint of state policy concerning a healthy diet for the population,
for the period until 2005".
395. The environmental and
socio-economic problems encountered in the northern regions and elsewhere in
Russia have been exacerbated by the spread of drug addiction and alcoholism.
Experts estimate that there are now 2-3 million people using narcotics and
psychotropic substances. In Kondopoga, a regional centre with a population of
40,000 in the republic of Karelia, a programme called "Hope" [Nadezhda]
was launched in 1999 to try to prevent alcoholism, drug-taking and toxin abuse.
By the end of the third quarter of 1999, the number of suicides in this town
was twice the number recorded for the same period of the previous year. In the
city of Novosibirsk a month-long campaign called "Protect our children
from drugs" was carried out. The city has 13,000 registered drug users
(including 7,000 diagnosed as addicts, of whom 80 per cent inject; 45% of the
latter have HIV).
396. In recent years the
proportion of the population with HIV has risen sharply, by a factor of 4.6 as
compared with 1997.
397. The HIV/Aids epidemic in
Russia entered a new phase in mid-1996 with a flare-up of HIV infections among
intravenous users in Kaliningrad and a number of other cities (Tver,
Novorossiisk, Saratov, Niizhny Novgorod). The number of people discovered to
have HIV was 280 per cent higher in 1997 than in 1996. The situation stabilized
somewhat in 1998, with an 18 per cent decline in newly identified cases from
the previous year. Over 1999 and 2000 the disease again spread because of
serious outbreaks in Moscow city, Moscow region and Irkutsk region, which
together account for over 70 per cent of the newly reported cases.
398. As a result the total
number of HIV cases in the Russian Federation rose sharply to 56,471 in 2000,
up to 90 per cent of them infections occurring during intravenous drug use.
Incidents of HIV infection have now been recorded in 82 of the constituent
territories of the Federation.
399. Of the newly recorded cases
of HIV infection, 75 per cent are in young people aged between 15 and 29.
400. The Russian health care
authorities and institutions have taken a series of organizational and
practical steps to limit the spread of HIV infection.
401. An epidemiological
monitoring system is successfully tracking the spread of HIV infection within
the country. The early detection and tallying of HIV-positive individuals makes
it possible to provide medical and social assistance, to offer prophylactic
treatment earlier, and thus to prolong their physical, working and social
lives. A system to monitor the safety of donated blood, organs and tissue and
immunity-enhancing substances has been set up and is functioning successfully.
402. Funding from the special
federal programme to tackle Aids in 1999 enabled the objective, laid down in
the Federal Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-related Disease (Prevention)
Act, of offering free diagnosis and specific treatment of HIV infection, to be met.
Despite a marked rise in the incidence of HIV/Aids, the constituent territories
of the Federation were centrally supplied, out of Federal budget resources,
with enough diagnostic kits and Timazid to treat HIV infection. The Federal and
eight regional Aids centres have been supplied with new, up-to-date laboratory
equipment. The Russian Clinical Aids Centre at the Republic Hospital for
Infectious Diseases in St. Petersburg has been supplied with the latest
generation of drugs for triple-therapy treatment of infected children. Clinical
trials of a new drug, Phosphazid, have been successfully concluded.
403. Work with the high-risk
groups, particularly intravenous drug users, is still one of the most ways of
combating the epidemic.
404. To this end 16 teaching
seminars were held in 1999, in collaboration with the Joint United Nations
Programme on HIV/Aids and the Dutch chapter of Médecins sans Frontières; they
were attended by over 300 skilled staff from the Aids centres, drug
dispensaries and non-governmental institutions, who were taught new methods of
going about the prevention of HIV infection in a drug-taking milieu.
405. A large-scale campaign,
"Rational people, rational choices", to inform young people about
means and methods of avoiding HIV/Aids and sexually transmitted infections, is
still being run in collaboration with the Russian NGO "Focus".
Further steps to prevent HIV/Aids in Russia have been devised within the Joint
Russian-American Commission on Economic and Technical Cooperation. The US Agency
for Economic Development held a two-week training course in the United States
on the organization of preventive-care programmes, which was attended by
skilled staff from Russian state and non-governmental organizations. Video
clips, posters and pamphlets on HIV prevention for young people have been
published, marketing research has been conducted into the availability of
condoms, and special, low-priced condom selections for young people have been
put on the market.
406. Work is now in progress on
a new federal HIV/Aids programme of urgent action to prevent the spread in the
Russian Federation of HIV-related disease over the period 2002-2007.
407. The indicators for diseases
of the respiratory and digestive organs and for complications during pregnancy,
birth and the postnatal period remain high.
408. The numbers of the disabled
are increasing, especially among people of working age.
409. The loss of labour capacity
sustained by the country in recent years because of premature deaths has a
number of causes, broken down as follows:
–
injuries and toxicosis, 41.4 per cent of
losses;
–
juvenile deaths, 18.1 per cent;
–
diseases of the circulatory system, 9.3 per
cent;
–
neoplasms, 6.3 per cent;
–
diseases of the respiratory system, 5.4 per
cent;
–
congenital defects, 4.9 per cent;
–
infectious diseases, 3.2 per cent.
410. These are the main causes
of the loss of labour capacity to society caused by premature death, which
accounts for almost 90 per cent of such losses. In monetary terms, these deaths
cost the state over 30 billion US dollars per year.
411. Sport is being promoted as
a means of making the country healthier. A Federal Act adopted on 29 April
1999, entitled "Athletics and sport in the Russian Federation", lays
down the following principles for governmental policy on physical education and
sport:
a)
continuity and succession in the physical
education provided for the various age groups at all stages of their active
lives;
b)
taking everyone's interests into account in
developing and carrying out the federal programmes to foster athletics and
sport, and recognition by the population of responsibility for its own health
and physical condition;
c)
the granting of autonomy to all sports and
athletics associations that comply with federal legislation, and equal entitlement
to state support for all of them;
d)
creation of favourable conditions for funding
athletics/sporting and sporting/technical organizations, the Russian Olympic
movement, sports and athletics clubs, and the sports goods industry.
412. Health spas occupy an
important place in the rehabilitation of Russia's people. Their retention and
further development comprise one of the Government's more socially significant
tasks. To this end, Federal Act No. 26 of 23 February 1995, "Natural
healing resources, medical rehabilitation centres and health spas" was
adopted. The act lays down basic governmental policy and the regulations
concerning the study, use, development and protection of natural healing
resources, medical rehabilitation centres and resorts in the Russian
Federation.
413. A Governmental Decision of
2 February 1996 authorized a special federal programme called "Development
of health spas of federal significance", which has led to the introduction
of 25 similar programmes in the regions.
414. The data based on many
years of observation have made it possible to analyze the correlation between
air pollution and sickness rates among the population. In Russia only 15 per
cent of town dwellers are in territories whose air pollution level complies
with the health regulations. The volume of contaminated material emitted from
stationary sources is more than 19 million tonnes per year.
415. Tens of millions of people
live in conditions under which the permissible concentration of toxic
substances in the atmospheric air is repeatedly exceeded. The number of
inhabitants living under the effects of a cocktail of substances ten times more
potent than the permissible concentration is 40‑50 million, while
50-60 million must live with a mixture five times higher.
416. The health protection zones
of manufacturing enterprises situated in many constituent territories of the
Federation contain between 800 and 100,000 people.
417. Research has revealed a
whole series of territories and cities whose natural environment has been
devastated: Norilsk, Tolyattin, Bratsk, Cherepovets, Kemerovo, Nizhniy Tagil,
and towns of the Perm region and Bashkyria.
418. It has been found that the
type of disease varies according to the composition of the emissions and the
type of enterprise. Thus, the effects of the emissions from non-ferrous metals
are associated with higher levels of cardiovascular disease. The emissions from
enterprises processing ferrous metal and from power plants are prevalent among
the causes of lung diseases.
419. In the areas around
chemical and petrochemical plants there is a greater prevalence of allergic
illnesses (dermatitis, asthmatic bronchitis, bronchial asthma and others). High
levels of allergic illness have been found in the following towns and cities:
Sterlitamak, Voskresensk, Yaroslavl, Perm, Kazan, Volgograd, Kirov and
Blagoveshchensk.
420. In recent years it has been
established that the heavy metals found in the emissions from copper-smelting
plants have a detrimental effect on the genital functions and on embryo growth.
In Kirovgrad, Krasnouralsk, Sredneuralsk and the Sverdlovsk region, where the
heavy metal concentrations in the air far exceed the permissible level, the
incidence of toxicosis per 1,000 women is twice as high as in towns with a
relatively clean atmosphere.
421. A study of the distribution
of congenital growth defects among children living in major industrial centres
where chemical, petrochemical and engineering production is highly developed
has found such defects in 108-162 neonates per 10,000 population; the level in
rural areas is 39-54 per 10,000.
422. The overall economic
situation in Russia is limiting the operations and causing the shutdown of
large numbers of manufacturing plants and factories in the industrial regions,
which in turn is reducing the volume of emissions of contaminated material into
the atmosphere. In these circumstances the emissions from motor vehicles, whose
numbers continue to increase in the towns, are taking on a greater role and
influence. The percentage of poor-quality samples taken in the vicinity of main
roads is considerably higher than in the areas around industrial plants and at
permanent sampling stations.
423. In 1997, at a meeting of
the governmental committee on the environment and resource management, the
national epidemiological inspectorate (Gossanepidnadzor) raised the issue of
strengthening the mechanisms that protect the atmospheric air in Russia's major
cities from pollution caused by motor vehicle emissions. The committee decided
to revise its existing standards for petrol content in order to make it less
harmful to the environment, and to align Russia's regulations on the
composition of car exhaust emissions with those of the European Commission.
424. The quality of the drinking
water available for public consumption remains poor. The state of Russia's
watercourses and drinking water is such that the risk of epidemic exists in a
large number of constituent territories of the Federation, including the
republics of Buryatia, Dagestan and Kalmykia, the Maritime Territory, and the
Archangelsk, Kaliningrad, Kemerovo, Kurgan, Tomsk and Yaroslavl regions.
425. In 1999, 29 per cent of the
water samples taken by the health authorities failed to meet the existing
hygiene standards (28.7% in 1995, 29.0% in 1991). This proportion was three and
four times higher (from 39% to 81%) in 18 constituent territories of the
Federation, including the republics of Kalmykia and Karelia, the Tomsk,
Voronezh, and Arkhangelsk regions and the city of Moscow.
426. Microbiological testing has
revealed that 9.4 per cent of water supply points fail to meet the required
standards (11.24% in 1995, 13.84% in 1990). The worst levels of microbial
contamination are in St. Petersburg (64%) and the republics of Kalmykia, Dagestan
and Karachayevo-Cherkessia (33.2%-25.4%).
427. This is the consequence of
the increasing pollution of water sources, the unsatisfactory condition of
water supply equipment and distribution networks, lack of the necessary
cleaning equipment and decontamination facilities for pipelines, and inadequate
stocks of the materials and equipment mange supplies in communal housing
facilities. The recent increased tendency to cut off water supplies because of
non-payment has brought with it the serious risk of epidemics.
428. Surface water bodies, which
are virtually all polluted, supply 68 per cent of the water for household and
drinking purposes. Only 32 per cent is derived from better protected
underground sources.
429. The Russian Ministry of
Health is taking measures to overhaul the legislation on water cleanliness.
Since 1998 new hygiene regulations pertaining to the quality of central
drinking water supplies have been introduced across the country (SanPin
2.1.4.559-96 entitled "Drinking water"). In 1999 preparations for the
implementation of this document were completed.
430. The national
epidemiological monitoring centre (TsGSEhN) has been instrumental in drawing up
a commercial programme of laboratory testing for water quality.
431. The national epidemiological
inspectorate is conducting extensive work on the methodology to be used in
commercial and governmental testing of water quality. Approval has been given
for implementation of the following; "Drinking water", "Drinking
water; hygiene requirements relating to the quality of central drinking water
supplies; quality control", and "Testing of water for parasitic
content".
432. In accordance with an
agreement of 27 August 1996 between the Russian Federation and the World Bank,
a project called "Medical equipment" is being carried out; the total
amount of the loan is 270 million US dollars. The participants include 38
constituent territories of the Russian Federation and more than 1,600
preventive care institutions. Under the project, medical equipment and consumables
will be supplied to first- and second-level medical establishments.
433. During the period 1994-98,
Russia's hospitals were equipped with 1,150 X-ray and ultrasound systems made
by the Philips company, at a total cost of 550 million German marks. This has
helped considerably to renew the national stock of diagnostic equipment.
434. In 1999 the public health
committee of the Murmansk region carried out a campaign called "Save the
child", in which a large joint company (Finland/Sweden/Russia) took part.
The company donated medicines and equipment free of charge, including drugs for
treating neonatal breathing disorders, analgesics, antipyretics and dressings
(total value 20,000 US dollars).
The
right to education (article 13)
435.
The Constitution of the Russian Federation
(article 43) guarantees citizens of the Russian Federation the right to
education; pre-school, basic general and secondary vocational training in
public and municipal educational establishments and institutions are accessible
to all and free of charge.
436.
Also, according to the Federal Education Act
(as amended on 13 January 1996, No. 12), the Russian State guarantees all
citizens access to free elementary general, basic general, secondary (full)
general and elementary vocational training, and also on a competitive basis,
free secondary vocational, higher vocational and postgraduate vocational
training in state and municipal establishments and institutions, within the
limits of the state educational standards provided the citizen is receiving
education at the given level for the first time.
437.
Ensuring the right of each child to receive
basic general education remains a priority of the education system of the
Russian Federation.
438.
In the 1999-2000 scholastic year, there were
20.8 million children (in 1998-1999, 21.4 million) being educated in State
general education day schools. In 1999-2000 there were 205, 000 fewer children
enrolled in the first class than in 1998-1999.
439.
The value of education was rated higher among
children, as shown by the increase in the number of children continuing their
education in the tenth class. Whereas in the 1997-1998 scholastic year 65 per
cent of all children finishing basic schooling entered the tenth class, in
1999-2000 66.4 per cent of basic school leavers continued into the tenth class.
440.
At the beginning of the 1999-2000 scholastic
year, there were 66, 900 State general education establishments in Russia,
including 45, 700 village schools. Changes in the network of general education
establishments show a trend towards an increase in the number of elementary and
secondary schools in towns and at the same time a decrease in the number of
basic schools. As compared with 1998-99, in Russian towns the number of
elementary schools increased by 21 and secondary schools by 55. In rural areas
for the same period the number of elementary schools decreased by 374, basic
schools by 163, while the number of secondary schools, as in the towns,
increased by 137.
441.
Of the general education establishments,
there are 15, 400 level I schools (1-3(4) classes), 12, 900 level I-II
schools (1-9 classes), and 36, 500 level I-III schools (1-11 classes).
442.
The increase in the number of elementary
schools and the decrease in the number of basic schools in towns indicates a
trend in the school system in towns towards the establishment of large general
education establishments. In the four preceding scholastic years, the number of
level I-III schools (1‑11(12) classes) with more than 1, 601 students
dropped by 59, while the number of level I schools with 61-100 students
increased by 150, and the number of level I schools with 121-180 students
increased by 80.
443.
Elementary and basic schools have a number of
advantages compared with level I-III schools. Level I and level I-II schools
enable children to be grouped according to specific stages of age development.
In addition, the transfer of a child from a level I or level I-II school
to a level III school is a factor affecting the social development of the
child’s personality.
444.
A positive trend has been observed towards a
decrease in the number of schools operating on two or three shifts, with their
total number decreasing to 1,300.
445.
In the 1, 700 evening (shift) general
education establishments and in the 3, 100 educational-advisory centres there
were 489, 600 students (491, 000 in the 1999-2000 scholastic year), and
compared with 1998-99 there were 11, 400 fewer students in the 16-17 age group.
The number of students entering the tenth class in evening schools decreased
compared with the preceding scholastic year by 6, 500. As before, there
are a considerable number of drop-outs from evening schools: 20, 600 for
reasons of failure, 14, 400 because of systematically being delayed at work,
and 8, 300 because of conscription into military service.
446.
In addition, the number of children receiving
secondary (full) education at residential schools is increasing. While in 1998
there were 6, 500 children in boarding schools, in 1999 that number was 7, 600
(6, 000 in 1997).
447.
In 1999, the range of choice in the types of
establishment in the education system is continuing to expand.
448.
In the 1999-2000 scholastic year in Russia
there were 7, 400 schools with classes offering specialized subjects, schools
offering specialized subjects, and state gymnasiums and lycées, accounting for
14.9 per cent of the total number of level II and III general education
establishments, and attended by 12.8 per cent of children (16.6 per cent in
1998-99).
449.
These types of educational establishment are
more characteristic of towns, where there are 5, 900 such schools attended
by 17.2 per cent of children. In rural areas, 2.6 per cent of children are in
schools offering specialized subjects, gymnasiums and lycées.
450.
Non-state general educational establishments
participate in meeting the educational requirements of children. In the
1999-2000 scholastic year there were 607 establishments of this type, or 0.9
per cent of the total number of general educational establishments (in 1997 –
570, or 0.8 per cent, and in 1998 – 568, or 0.8 per cent). There are 53, 400
schoolchildren attending non-state general educational establishments,
or 0.3 per cent of the total number of pupils (in 1997 and 1998 the
percentage was 0.2). In the 1999-2000 scholastic year there were 2, 700
children attending level I schools, or 5.2 per cent of the total number of
pupils (5.3 per cent in 1998-99); 13.4 per cent attending level I-II schools
(16.6 per cent in 1998-99); and 81.4 per cent attending level I-III
schools (78.1 per cent in 1998-99). The problem of “children outside education”
remains a pressing one.
451.
According to data from an exercise carried
out in September-October 1999, which took the form of a federal State
statistical enquiry entitled “Report on the number of children aged 7-15 not
attending educational establishments, and children of no fixed abode as of 1
September 1999” (approved under Decision No. 61 of 26 July 1999 of the
Russian State Committee for Statistics), there were 68, 159 children and
adolescents in Russia aged 7-15 (0.3 per cent of the total number of minors in
this age category) not attending school. Of these, 27, 410 (40.2 per cent)
children were not attending for reasons of sickness, of which 23, 788 (86.8 per
cent) were not subject to compulsory education and 2, 909 (10.6 per cent) were
released for a year.
452.
In actual fact, there were 40, 749 minors
who, according to the current legislation, should have been attending school
(59.8 per cent of the total number of children not attending school), of which
37, 531 (92 per cent) should have been attending general educational
establishments. Of these, 2, 598 children and adolescents (6.4 per cent) did
not even have an elementary general education; 11, 153 (27.4 per cent) had left
educational institutions without receiving a basic general education; 3, 003 (7.4
per cent) had never attended school; 11, 263 (27.6 per cent) had not attended
because of the material situation of their parents (legal guardians); 2, 854 (7
per cent) had left educational establishments for elementary vocational
training and had not continued their education, and 364 (0.9 per cent) had left
educational establishments for secondary vocational training. In addition, it
was found that there were 1, 400 children from refugee families or families
subject to enforced resettlement aged 7-15 not attending educational
establishments (3.4 per cent) of which 1, 389 (99 per cent) were the children
of families subjected to enforced resettlement.
453.
The survey showed that in the older age
groups there were relatively more children who should have been attending
school but were not. Thus, approximately 4 per cent of all the 7-year olds who
should be attending school are not, whereas the figure for the 15-year olds is
34.7 per cent. A considerable difference was noted in the numbers not attending
in different constituent territories of the Russian Federation (from several
tens and hundreds of non-attendee minors to several thousands). Such a
difference is basically due to the real problems prevalent in certain regions
(difficult socio-economic situation, large numbers of children from enforced
migrant families, including children from areas of interethnic and military
conflict, etc.).
454.
In Russia, the average number of children and
adolescents subject to compulsory education who are not attending school is 0.2
per cent of the total number of minors aged 7-15 (in the Russian Federation the
total number of minors in this age category is 20.7 million).
455.
In the interests of the child’s personality
development, priority is given to the development and introduction of fundamentally
new educational courses and the establishment of the most favourable conditions
for all-round personality development.
456.
Practical implementation of the foundation
curriculum in the educational process and of elements of the State educational
standards for general education has provided additional guarantees to pupils of
a high quality education.
457.
The diversity and adequacy of education, and
how far it meets the requirements and challenges for development of the
economy, culture, science and technology, in the all-Russian, as well as the
regional, context, are laid down in the structure and content of the
educational courses for “Philology”, “Mathematics”, “Social studies”, “Natural
sciences”, “Art”, “Physical education” and “Technology”.
458.
In 1999, work continued on updating the
curriculum pursuant to the “Provisional requirements for a compulsory minimum
curriculum for basic general education” and the “Compulsory minimum curriculum
for secondary (full) general education”. “Model programmes for basic general
education” and “Model programmes for secondary (full) general education” have
been elaborated and issued. These model programmes ensure educational
consistency throughout the Russian Federation. The programmes indicate the
recommended number of hours of study for the basic course elements and it is
foreseen that 10-15% of available time will be spent on the regional component
of the curriculum. The model programmes are a guideline for establishing author
programmes. The programmes include matriculation standards for basic and higher
schools. Handbooks on “Evaluating the standards of secondary (full) school
leavers” in all subjects have been prepared. These handbooks contain all the
documents required by special subject teachers: the compulsory minimum
curriculum, the model programme, the school leaving standards, and all possible
material for evaluating school leavers.
459.
A list of the textbooks and educational aids
recommended by the Russian Federation Ministry of Education has been prepared
for general educational schools. The first part of the list includes the
textbooks required for the compulsory minimum curriculum. The second part
includes the textbooks for advanced levels, supplementary academic material for
study beyond the compulsory minimum curriculum, and textbooks for optional
studies.
460.
A catalogue entitled the “Russian textbook”
is published annually for general educational establishments, containing a list
of textbooks, educational aids, model programmes and recommended methodological
material for teachers, parents and pupils.
461.
The Russian Federation laws on education and
on freedom of worship and religious associations embody the principle of
separation of secular and religious education. Pursuant to this, State and
municipal educational establishments do not, and may not, give religious
instruction, and may not observe any religious ceremonies, rituals or
festivals.
462.
In view of the current growth of interest in
religion as the most important cultural phenomenon in society, the country’s
schools run courses on the history of religions and religious knowledge.
Educational establishments in different regions offer optional courses with a
religious content, which includes study of the fundamentals of Orthodoxy,
Islam, Buddhism and other religions, and taking into account the interests and
questions of participants.
463.
The educational level of teachers is
continually improving, both in state and non-state general educational
establishments, and their work has the most significant influence, among other
factors, on the educational level of children. In 1999, 77.3 per cent of the
teachers with a higher education worked in state general educational
establishments (in 1997, 75.6 per cent of teachers had a higher education, and
in 1998 76.4 per cent). In the 1999-2000 academic year, non-state educational
establishments employed 709 postgraduates and 110 doctors of science, that
is 4.8 per cent of the total number of teachers.
464.
It has been estimated that, in the 1999-2000
academic year, for each rural teacher there were 9 pupils, for each
municipal teacher 14 pupils, and in non-state establishments 3 pupils per
teacher.
465.
In schools in the constituent territories of
the Russian Federation pupils were tested and certified with a view to
determining their educational standard, and the outcome showed an improvement.
466.
The rising standard of education is
demonstrated by the increase in the number of school leavers with “gold” and
“silver” medals. In 1999, 18, 700 school leavers had gold medals, and 49, 500
had silver medals (in 1998 the figures were 17, 900 and 47, 100, respectively).
467.
In the Russian education system, priority
continues to be given to supporting gifted children. One of the most important
instruments for solving the problems associated with establishing the conditions
for identifying and developing talented youngsters, and realizing their
potential is the special federal programme “Gifted children”.
468.
Within the framework of the “Gifted children”
programme special support is given to the material and technical resources for
6 regional and federal educational establishments for gifted children, which
are developing new technologies; the qualifications of the teachers working
with these children has improved. The children are given direct financial
support: annual state stipends are granted, there is partial funding of
children’s stays abroad, and assistance is given for children to participate in
all-Russia and international olympiads.
469.
More than 441, 000 roubles were allocated for
the granting of annual stipends. 93 stipends worth 4, 000 roubles each were
awarded to gold and silver medallists at all-Russia and international subject
olympiads, and to the prize winners and winners of all-Russia and international
events in core subjects. Approximately half of the young stipend holders are
children of one-parent and low-income families.
470.
To support the participation of children in
all-Russia special subject olympiads, assistance was given to children from 10
far-distant constituent territories of the Russian Federation (the Jewish
Autonomous Region, Magadan, Amur, Chita, Sakhalin and Kamchatka regions, the
Republics of Sakha (Yakutia) and Buryatia, and the Maritime and Khabarovsk territories), and the Russian
teams were equipped for participation in international olympiads, etc.
471.
To support talented youngsters, the Russian
Ministry of Culture awards 450 stipends each year for pupils and students at
academic establishments for culture and the arts. There are 18 all-Russia
projects for work with gifted children, which have received a grant from the
President of the Russian Federation.
472.
A Programme for the development of education
in the Russian education system for 1999-2001 has been elaborated with a view
to educating citizens capable of creative work, defending the mother country,
displaying moral qualities, and who are family-oriented persons fit to
represent his/her nation. The programme focuses on improving educational
standards in educational establishments, and on updating the structure and
content of education according to the provisions of the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Constitution of the Russian
Federation, the Russian Federation Education Act and the national doctrine on
education.
473.
In recent years the initial vocational
training system has been undergoing improvement and reform, in particular to
optimize the network of educational establishments by changing their areas of
specialization, and by predicting the volume and profile of training and
retraining and the attainment of further qualifications needed on a budgetary
and extrabudgetary basis for general education school leavers and the adult
unemployed population, etc.
474.
In the Russian Federation, at the end of 2000
there were 3, 898 elementary vocational training establishments, including 3,
526 day establishments. There was a signficant reduction in the number of
establishments compared with 1999 (0.5 per cent) as a result of measures taken
to optimize the network of elementary vocational training establishments by
amalgamating them in order to make rational use of textbooks, equipment and the
budgetary resources allocated for their maintenance. The number of students at
elementary vocational training establishments has dropped. In 2000 there were
1, 679, 300 students (315, 000 or 16 per cent more than in 1999), with 1, 591,
700 in day vocational establishments and lycées (15, 300 or 1.0 per cent more
than in 1998).
475.
The main indicators for guaranteed access to
elementary vocational training are the number of pupils in the initial
vocational training establishments per 10, 000 of the population and control
figures for the number of pupils being enrolled in these establishments.
476.
In the Russian Federation there are 116
students at initial vocational training establishments per 10, 000 of the
population (114 in 1998).
477.
As of 1 January 2000, the initial vocational
training system was employing 160 000 [sic] teaching staff, of which 190, 300
(56 per cent) had a higher education, 58, 900 (36.8 per cent) had a secondary
specialized education, and 12, 800 (8.0 per cent) had a secondary education.
478.
In 1999, the vocational establishments and
lycées admitted 21.9 per cent (9th
class) general educational school leavers and 15.1 per cent (11th
class) general education school leavers (1.2 and 0.4 per cent more,
respectively, than in 1998).
479.
In the last three years the number of 9th
class school leavers entering vocational establishments and lycées has remained
constant at about 22 per cent.
480.
On the whole, the number of places available
in initial vocational training establishments is about the same as the number
of students opting for this level of education.
481.
Of the 645, 600 young workers graduating from
the day initial vocational training establishments in 2000 in the Russian
Federation: 341, 100 (52.8 per cent) entered the job market, 67, 700 (10.5 per
cent) entered higher education and secondary specialized education
establishments, and 11 per cent found no employment because of job shortages.
The educational establishments in the Russian Federation trained a total of
769, 600 qualified workers and specialists in 1999.
482.
On the whole, in Russia a gradual
redistribution of training for workers is taking place with regard to the
production industries and non-manufacturing branches in favour of the latter.
In 1999 the ratio was 71.6 to 28.4.
483.
To supply sectors of the economy with workers
and to meet the needs of young people, work has continued in the educational
services to develop a social partnership between labour and employment bodies
at all levels, initial vocational training establishments, and employers and
their associations. The organizational basis for this work is the special
federal programme to promote employment in the population of the Russian
Federation for 1998-2000, approved by Government Decision No. 828 of
24 July 1998. The education authorities, the labour and employment bodies
at all levels, and employers and their associations are participating in
projecting the need for worker training, for determining the curriculum for
initial vocational training, and harmonizing State educational standards for
initial vocational training.
484.
The control figures for the enrolment of
pupils at initial vocational training establishments starting from 1997 are
established and confirmed with the direct participation of the social
partners. Under international projects
entitled "Reform of professional education and training in the
North-western region of Russia", and "Development of educational
links and initiatives in higher and professional education – DELFI”, supported
by the European fund for professional training, the European Commission and
other international organizations, new approaches are being developed for
establishing interaction between the educational services market and the needs
of the labour market, including via the social partnership. For the
executive authorities of the constituent territories of the Russian Federation
recommendations are being drawn up concerning the implementation of social
partnership principles. Also, on the basis of the development of social
dialogue, under a cooperation programme with the British Council, the town of
Samara has formulated a programme of professional support for children and
young people with handicaps.
485.
On the basis of the general provisions of the
special federal programme for employment assistance for the population of the
Russian Federation, a legislative and regulatory basis is being established,
the network of initial vocational training establishments is being optimized,
and educational methods and information support for educational activity are
being established.
486.
In accordance with the needs of the changing
labour market and taking into account proposals made by the constituent
territories of the Russian Federation, Government Decision No. 1362 of 8
December 1999 (list of professions requiring initial vocational training) has
been approved.
487.
The new list of professions requiring initial
vocational training was elaborated and adopted because of the need to meet more
fully the socio-economic requirements of the regions and the state as regards
training workers and specialists who are competitive on the labour market. The
new list has expanded the number of professions for which training is given: it
comprises 286 professions (instead of the previous 257).
488.
It should be noted that the educational
methods and information support for training at the initial vocational training
establishments, and the strengthening of their material and technical basis,
are ongoing tasks.
489.
The right of the child to full participation
in cultural and creative life is ensured by the various establishments offering
supplementary child education. The main focus of the supplementary child
education system is to afford each child a free choice with respect to
educational sphere, programme profile and time spent on it; many varied
activities are offered for very different interests; the individual nature of
the educational process allows each child to satisfy his/her thirst for
knowledge and creativity, professional self-determination and self-realization.
490.
In accordance with Government Decision
No. 1847 of 27 December 2000 and with the aim of maintaining and
developing the supplementary child education system, an interdepartmental
programme for the development of a supplementary education system for 2001-05
has been established.
491.
Opportunities for developing the individual
interests and abilities of children are provided for in the Russian Federation
by 18, 000 educational establishments for child supplementary education, which
come under different departments. Expansion of the network of supplementary
education establishments in the education system and of the number of attendees
confirm the demand for this type of education by children. From 1997 to 2000
the number of child supplementary education establishments increased by 2, 900
and in 2000 they already numbered 8, 700 (5, 700 in 1997 and 7, 800 in 1998),
the number of attendees rose by 1.3 million
to 10 million children (4.4 million in 1997 and 7.0 million in 1998). In
2000 in the supplementary education establishments of the education system
alone, 38.8 per cent of attendees regularly pursued artistic and technical
creative subjects, ecology, physical education and sport, tourism, regional
studies, and scientific and research activities.
492.
In the Russian Federation there are 3, 579
centres, "palaces" and homes where children can exercise their
creativity, as well as other establishments offering a variety of supplementary
educational programmes attended by 4.3 million children (in 1998 there were 3,
519 establishments attended by 4.1 million children).
493.
Some of the most keenly followed and popular
supplementary education activities for children continue to be artistic and
aesthetic activities, which are attended by more than 54 per cent of all those
going to establishments in the education system. There are 3, 500 supplementary
education establishments for artistic and aesthetic activities offering a wide
range of opportunities for children’s artistic education and which take into
account their abilities and interests, including centres for local handicrafts,
creative craft shops, studios and other associations enabling early
professional orientation and self-determination of the child. By its very
nature this work helps establish contacts between generations, and gives
families a chance to play an active role in their children’s education.
494.
An important place in the child supplementary
educational system is held by physical exercise and mass sports. In 2000 there
were more than 3, 030 children's and youth sport schools and physical training
clubs in the education system offering different sports and attended by 2.0
million children, as well as 1, 632 children's and youth sport schools run by
the State Sports Committee of Russia, trade unions and other organizations,
attended by 790, 200 children and adolescents. In Russia the all-Russia winter
and summer games for schoolchildren have been revived, and the mass “
Presidential contests” for schoolchildren are becoming established events.
495.
The number of children attending sports
schools and clubs is constantly on the increase and last year alone the numbers
attending establishments of this type run by the Russian Ministry of Education
rose by 393, 500, while in the sport establishments run by the State Sports
Committee of Russia, trade unions and other organizations the numbers of
children rose by 122, 200.
496.
Supplementary education for children in
ecology and biology is offered at 458 ecology and biology centres, stations for
young naturalists, "palaces" and clubs which are attended by 355, 700
children. New establishments of this type have been opened in regions and towns
in the Leningrad, Orenburg, Sverdlovsk and Tomsk regions. Supplementary
education for children is carried out in associations and scientific societies
and takes the form of field (walking tours, expeditions) and correspondence
courses which aim to develop the child’s interest in the study and conservation
of nature, biology, geography, ecology and other earth sciences. At the same
time, this is a special part of ecological education which is linked to
pre-professional training for future ecologists. Also, on the whole in Russia
there has been a noticeable tendency for a reduction in the number of
establishments offering ecological and biological subjects, which can be seen
as a negative trend since there are fewer opportunities for children to satisfy
their needs regarding research and nature conservation. In 1999 compared with
1998, the number of establishments of this type dropped by 30. Activities at
the regional level have practically ceased and can be regarded as development
co-ordinates for this particular child supplementary education subject in the
Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), in the Arkhangelsk, Kamchatka, Magadan, Murmansk,
Novgorod, Sakhalin and Sverdlovsk regions, and in the Jewish Autonomous Region.
497.
A major branch of child supplementary
education continues to be the development of tourism and regional studies for
children. For tourism and regional studies, there are 609 centres, stations for
young tourists and tourist bases attended by 427, 700 children. This branch is
now linked with the federal special federal programme for the tourism-regional
studies “Mother country” movement involving more than a million children.
History and culture, feats of arms and the destiny of compatriots, genealogy
and traditional handicrafts – these and many more topics are studied by the
children and foster their social, personal and spiritual development, and their
upbringing as Russian patriots. In 1999 compared with 1998 there was a drop in
the number of establishments and children attending (in 1998 there were
634 establishments and 450, 100 children). In recent years in a number of
constituent territories of the Russian Federation, centres for children's and
youth tourism have been reorganized by simple amalgamation with other
establishments (in the Moscow, Novgorod, Chelyabinsk, Kurgansk, Saratov and
Kaliningrad regions, and in the Stavropol Territory). Similar centres have been
closed down in the Kabardino-Balkarsk Republic, and in the Bryansk, Kaluga,
Magadan, and Sakhalin regions. In parallel, a number of establishments that
were closed down previously have been reopened, such as the child-youth tourism
centres in St. Petersburg and in the Murmansk region.
498.
Each year more than 2.5 million children take
part in two-day and longer walking tours and study excursions.
499.
From year to year there is an increase in the
social and pedagogical role of military-patriotic clubs, centres, societies for
young commandos, parachutists, border guards, pilots, cosmonauts, sailors and
river-men, and there are now more than 300, 000 adolescents attending. Their
choice is not random. Opting for the martial arts, a serviceman’s career, the
history of the army and navy, is usually deliberate. Many of these youths
cannot imagine a future or professional career that does not entail joining the
army, navy or frontier guards. At present, it is clear that the 500 clubs,
centres and other military-patriotic societies in Russia offering
military-patriotic education and self-determination for children are too few.
The demand for establishments offering this type of supplementary child
education, particularly for boys (including “ difficult” boys), exceeds the
number of military-patriotic societies currently available. In the future, they
could provide a serious social-pedagogic foundation for a professional army in
the Russian Federation. Following the adoption of the state programme for the
patriotic education of citizens of the Russian Federation for 2001-05 the
number of these societies is on the increase.
500.
An important place is held in the child
supplementary education system by establishments offering technical studies:
stations and centres, clubs and technical houses. At the present time, in the
Russian Federation there are 700 establishments in which 55, 000
scientific-technical and sport-technical societies (sections, groups) teach
600, 000 children and adolescents. However, the changing social conditions are
making it much more difficult for establishments of this type to exist. It is
becoming increasingly difficult to maintain sport-technical and
defence-technical activities: cars and motor sports, planes and model ship
building, rocket construction, training vessels and others, despite the fact
that developing technical creative skills has a great influence on the
socio-economic, scientific and technical and the defence potential of society
and the State. The lack of the necessary material and technical resources is
leading to a reduction in the quality of supplementary education, which in turn
is leading to a drop in numbers in the oldest age group (15-18).
501.
Special attention and support are needed for
the different forms of distance learning, which have developed in the regions.
This has been facilitated the activities of the external physics and technical
school of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, at the Moscow
Physical and Technical Institute. Over the past 33 years, the external physics
and technical school has had more than 58,000 students, and the quality of
education at the Institute has been demonstrated by the fact that students
subsequently enter leading higher education establishments, and many have gone
on to follow scientific careers. Over the years the Institute has developed a
unique scientific methodological system for distance learning, which enables
all capable children to receive supplementary education in physics and
mathematics free of charge.
502.
Besides the creative societies, there are
more than 66, 000 other establishments and societies (more than 11, 000 in the
country) in Russia’s supplementary education system, including various special
interest clubs, societies for research activity, historical research, and many
others.
503.
To enhance the role and authority of teachers
engaged in supplementary child education the Ministry of Education of the
Russian Federation has established an all-Russia competition for supplementary
education teachers entitled “ I give my heart to children”, which has been held
since 1998 for eight nominees, demonstrating the high professional level of
teachers and the importance of the competition. With a view to further
development and improvement of the supplementary education system, a monthly
scientific-methodological journal called “External pupil” has been founded,
promoting closer links between supplementary education teachers and the
dissemination of leading experience. There are more than 276, 000 qualified
teachers, methodologists, psychologists and social teachers employed in the
supplementary child education system, 31, 000 of whom have higher education
qualifications and 53, 000 have basic qualifications. An unresolved
problem remains the refurbishment of the buildings housing the child
supplementary education establishments: 41.7 per cent need major repairs, of
which 6.1 per cent are considered dangerous.
504.
Culture establishments are holding their own
in the sphere of children’s artistic and aesthetic education, training and
creative development, particularly the musical, artistic and choreographic
schools and schools teaching the arts. At the beginning of the 1999-2000
academic year there were 5, 800 children’s schools of different types
teaching the arts in the culture establishment system (in 1998 there were 5, 700).
The number of schools is on the increase in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia),
and in the Irkutsk, Tyumensk and Chelyabinsk regions. At the same time there
has been a drop in the number of schools in the Voronezh, Leningrad and Magadan
regions, the Stavropol and Khabarovsk Territories, the Republic of Mari-El and
so on. The number of attendees in 1999 increased by 30, 200 compared with 1998
and totalled 1, 3 million.
505.
The special position of schools teaching the
arts is attributable to the fact that they help train the creative personality
independent of the future career path, and they also lay the foundations for a
professional education in the arts which is essential for education in the
secondary vocational culture establishments.
506.
Children can still work in children’s
libraries and visit museums.
507.
Children’s libraries not only fulfil the
basic function of encouraging children to read, but are the basis for education
and self-education, and they are centres of informal social gatherings and
leisure activities for children. Libraries, particularly in the country, have
remained the only cultural institutions that are free of charge. In 1999, free
library-bibliographical services were provided by 4, 499 specialized children’s
libraries, almost 49, 400 local libraries and a network of school libraries
(more than 63, 000). It has not been possible to resolve the issue of
securing library funds. The situation regarding the provision of books has
become particularly difficult in rural branch libraries. Over the past few
years many of them have not received a single new title.
508.
As before, entrance fees for museums are
waived for orphans and for children deprived of parental care who live in
children’s homes and residential schools, children from the Chernobyl area, disabled
children, and children with mental and physical incapacities. Also, in
accordance with Government Decision No. 1242 of 12 November 1999
concerning the procedure for free visits to museums by children aged under
eighteen, the museums of the Russian Federation have established a museum day
with free entrance for all children aged under eighteen. Also, free entrance
for all categories of children is provided on International Museum Day (18
May) and the Day of Knowledge (1
September).
509.
In 1999 in the Russian Federation there were
1, 979 museums in operation, including 657 branches of different types. The
percentage of children visiting Russian museums is 50-80 per cent for
provincial museums and 40-50 per cent in the capitals.
510.
Educational centres, societies and clubs are
being established on the basis of the museums and their activities include
pedagogical experiments and new forms of museum work based on familiarizing
children and adolescents with national and world culture.
511.
There is an ongoing museum-pedagogical
programme based on the Russian Museum entitled “Long live the museum!”,
developed by the Centre for museum pedagogical issues. This project is being
implemented in St. Petersburg, Tula, Perm, Tver, Petrozavodsk, Togliatti,
Saratov, Rostov-on-Don, and other Russian cities. The programme is geared
towards children aged 5 to 17 years.
512.
The State Polytechnical Museum has developed
more than 30 programmes for participants aged 8 to 17 years. Also involved are
the A.S. Pushkin State Museum for Fine Arts and the State Literature Museum.
The A.A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum and the L.N. Tolstoy State
Museum and so on – practically all the federal museums (more than 60
organizations) are working on special museum programmes: programmes for kindergardens,
elementary schools, programmes for secondary and senior classes, programmes for
colleges and lycées, theatre productions (museum-theatre), theatrical evenings,
museum games, etc.
513.
In the Russian Federation there is a fairly
wide network of theatres for young spectators, children’s theatres and puppet
theatres for young spectators. Their number increased in 1999 (143 in 1997, 148
in 1998 and 150 in 1999), and the number of children visiting theatres is
increasing, an indicator of children’s need to familiarize themselves with
these art forms.
514.
In ensuring the right to education, much
importance is given to support for and protection of the educational interests
of children belonging to the different nationalities and ethnic groups in
Russia. Education for children at general educational establishments is
provided in 33 native (non-Russian) languages. The number of native
(non-Russian) languages in 1999 was 80.
515.
In the 1999-2000 academic year there were 3,
551 schools providing instruction in a native (non-Russian) language (3, 555 in
1998-99, and 3, 615 in 1997-98). Schools teaching in a native (non-Russian)
language are mainly located in rural areas, and there are 3, 447 such schools.
Despite the reduction in the number of schools providing instruction in a
native (non-Russian) language, the number of pupils at such schools has
increased by 3.4 per cent compared with 1998-99 and totals 252, 600. At the
same time, the number of schools teaching a native (non-Russian) language as a
subject has increased by 6 per cent. In 1999-2000, there were 1, 792, 200
children studying a native (non-Russian) language, which was 5.3 per cent more
compared with the previous academic year.
516.
Training staff for national schools for
minorities is undertaken by seven pedagogical establishments and, in addition,
there are special departments in five pedagogical institutes, one agricultural
institute and one fur and pelt institute. A particular role in training staff
from the main minorities is played by the A.I. Herzen State Pedagogical
University of Russia (faculty for peoples of the North) and the re-established
Polar Academy in St. Petersburg.
517.
A well-established staff training system for
a number of indigenous minorities from the North has been in operation for
almost 70 years at the faculty for peoples of the Far North at the Herzen State
Pedagogical University, which was opened in 1929. This faculty remains the only
one in the world providing instruction in more than 20 languages of the
indigenous minorities of the North, Siberia and the Far East. Today there are
300 students and 17 research students (stemming from 26 nationalities) in the
day-time department representing 19 regions in the North, Siberia and the Far
East. The main focus of the faculty’s scientific research activity is “Northern
studies: education and culture”.
518.
The Polar Academy, founded in 1998, trains
specialists in the field of state and municipal management, regional studies
(ecology and ethno-politics), social work and culturology. There are
425 students from 21 constituent territories of the Russian Federation
studying at the Polar Academy, including students from the Yamalo-Nenets,
Aginsky-Buryat, Chukchi, Nenets, Khanty-Mansi, Komi-Permyak, Evenk and Koryak
autonomous areas.
519.
In 1994, the St. Petersburg State University
for Technology and Design established a Higher College for the National
Industrial Technologies of the Russian Minorities (since 1997 the Institute of
Traditional Industries of the Russian Minorities, St. Petersburg State
University for Technology and Design). It trains specialists with a higher
education in the processing and dressing of skins and pelts, the sewing of fur
and hide models, national costumes and shoes and the manufacture of
decorative-applied artwork.
520.
With a view to improving the education
system, the Russian Federation Ministry of Education, the Russian Federation
State Committee for the Development of the North, and the Institute of National
Education have developed a draft plan for reforming the pre-school and general
education system and staff training for a number of indigenous Northern
minorities. Similar work is being undertaken in the regions. In particular, the
Institute for northern minority group issues of the Siberian branch of the
Russian Academy of Sciences (Yakutsk) has developed a “Development Plan for the
Indigenous Minorities of the North of the Russian Federation in the 20th
Century”, in which education and culture play a leading role.
521.
In the 1999-2000 academic year, 281, 200
children with special educational needs were enrolled at 1, 944 special
(correctional) educational establishments of eight types (for the mentally
retarded, for the blind, for those with impaired sight, for the deaf, for those
with impaired hearing, for those who become deaf later on, for physically
handicapped children, for children with serious speech defects, and for
mentally ill children). Compared with 1998-99, the number of children in these
establishments increased by 400, while the number of children in educational
establishments for the mentally retarded dropped by 2, 000, and the number of
children in educational establishments for children with mental illness
increased by 1 800. The number of special classes for handicapped children in
general educational establishments has increased. In 1999-2000, there were 216,
300 children in 18, 900 classes (in 1998-99 there were 211, 000 children in 18,
400 classes), and the number of classes for children with retarded mental
development increased by 418. There were 21, 100 children in classes for the
mentally retarded at general educational establishments, which was 2, 000 more
than in 1998-99, and 193, 800 children in classes for children with mental
illness, which was 3, 800 more children than in 1998-99.
522.
Education for disabled children has special
characteristics in view of its complexity (with regard to the
psychological-pedagogical and medico-social assistance provided) and the
corrective-development focus of education at early stages of developmental problems arising in the
children.
523.
Activities in the educational establishments
for disabled children are organized individually or in groups according to
programmes specially tailored for each child and taking into account his/her
intellectual and physical capabilites and the doctor’s recommendations.
524.
Social rehabilitation work is carried out for
disabled children in order to prepare them for family life and life in society.
Special attention is paid to training for the job market, with a gradual
increase in its profile. Deaf children and children with severe sight
impairment, for example, successfully master macramé, hand and machine
knitting, massage, musical instrument making, decorative wood carving and work
underground. Mentally subnormal children can work in training studios and
production workshops in schools and elementary vocational training
establishments. For school-leavers who are unable to find work, rehabilitation
workshops and subsidiary shops are often set up at the educational
establishments. Interesting experience has been acquired in Mogoch, Chita
region, where a “Christian commune” has been set up at a special (corrective)
children’s home-school for the mentally retarded, comprising nine “families” of
mixed ages and sexes. The “families”, comprising children and adolescents aged
between 2.5 to 18 years, live in detached houses and run their own households.
School-leavers go on to special (corrective) initial vocational training
establishments which are part of the children’s home.
525.
In principle, the role of the
psycho-medico-pedagogical committee varies with respect to children with
development problems - from the way in which children are selected for special
(corrective) educational establishments to ensuring the right conditions for
optimal individual development, the adaptation and integration of the child
into society for each developmental age group.
526.
In addition, the problem of staffing the
special education system remains; there is a shortage of teacher-psychologists
and medical staff. In the special and sanatorium educational establishments and
in the special (corrective) classes at general educational establishments for
psychological-pedagogical and medico-social rehabilitation and rehabilitation
of disabled children there were 95, 000 teachers, including teacher-psychologists,
which is more or less the same level as in 1998. The problem of staffing the
special educational establishments with specialist psychologists and
correctional teachers for those with special disabilities and the subnormal
persist.
527.
The equipment at the establishments needs to
be improved. Special educational establishments do not have the wherewithal to
procure the necessary equipment either for individual or for group use, or to
order special furniture. The only replenishment source is federal funds and the
special regional programmes for “Handicapped children” which, of course, cannot
by far meet all the requirements of the educational establishments for children
with special needs.
528.
In 1999, using funds from the special federal
“Handicapped children” programme, special equipment was sent to educational
establishments in 80 constituent territories of the Russian Federation for a
total amount of 17, 800 million roubles: computer trainers for mentally
retarded children and for children with serious speech defects, “Milta” laser
therapy units to treat somatic diseases in children with development defects,
“Orientir” and “Graphika” rehabilitation units for children with sight
problems, sound amplifiers for group use by children with hearing problems,
physiotherapy equipment, computer diagnostics to monitor the health of children
with developmental disabilities, and soft furniture for activities to correct
skeletal-motoric deficiencies. In all 8.4 million roubles were spent on books
in Braille, talking and digital recording books, large print editions, embossed
visual aids and aids for blind and deaf children. For the first time in a
number of years 2.4 million roubles were spent on the publication of a federal
set of textbooks for special (corrective) educational establishments for the
deaf, hard of hearing and those who became deaf later on, for children with
serious sight and speech problems, and also for programmes in special
(corrective) educational establishments for mentally retarded children.
529.
A positive trend is the development of
international collaboration at both the federal and regional levels. Among the
joint programmes being implemented in the field of special education, the most
significant are the joint projects lasting six years with specialists from
Flanders (Belgium) on job training, integration, early childhood autism,
psychological-pedagogical medico-social centres and ortho-pedagogy. Recently a
project has been under preparation for special education in the Odints district
of the Moscow region. In the framework of the “Tempus” international project in
Pskov, the “Prisma” centre for early diagnosis and treatment of children with
mental and complex development problems has been founded jointly with
specialists from Germany, Holland and Italy. In May 1999, an international
scientific and practical conference was held on education, upbringing and
correction for the given category of children.
530.
The establishment of a regulatory and legal
basis, the drafting and implementation of legal acts determining the
fundamental rights of persons with disabilities and regulating the bases of the
State policy applying to them underpin the special education system. However,
since there is no Federal Act on the education of handicapped persons (special
education), the development of the regulatory and legal basis for special
education is experiencing delay and, as a consequence, problems associated with
the education of children with special needs are not being properly solved.
531.
Improving material and technical resources of
general education establishments remains a pressing problem. Reconstruction and
building of new premises still cannot keep pace with the process of ageing and
wear and tear in general education establishment premises.
532.
In the 1999-2000 academic year there were 23,
500 general education establishments (36 per cent) needing major repairs (in
1998-99 there were 24, 500, or 37 per cent), and 5.7 per cent of buildings were
classed as dangerous (in 1998-99 6.5 per cent). Only 50.1 per cent of buildings
are in good order (89.4 per cent in the town and 33.2 per cent in the country,
54.2 per cent are connected to the sewage system, 67.8 per cent are
connected to the water supply, and 75.6 per cent of schools have central
heating). There has been some reduction in the number of schools classed as
dangerous and the schools requiring repairs, owing to their closure.
533.
A considerable number of children continue to
be educated in 2-3 shifts on account of the poor condition of school premises.
The construction of new schools continues to suffer cutbacks. In 1999, 109, 300
new places were made available (in 1997 the number was 154, 700, and in 1998 it
was 123, 200).
534.
The structures, fittings and equipment of
evening schools are in a critical condition. Compared with 1997, the number of
schools sited in their own grounds, dropped by 9.5 per cent to 49.5 per cent;
all the remaining schools are located in leased premises. Also, the number of
schools with book funds and the volume of textbooks in school libraries is
declining.
535.
Only 39.4 percent of all schools have a
computer room, 69.4 per cent (in the country 59.5 per cent) have a gymnasium,
and 76.6 per cent have a dining room or snack bar. For the majority of schools
fully equipped language laboratories for foreign languages remain inaccessible.
The educational and equipment status of schools at the present time does not
meet modern educational standards.
536.
Special attention needs to be paid to the
equipping of educational establishments with laboratory equipment, educational
visual aids, technical training aids and specialized furniture. Considerable
quantities of education products are stockpiling in educational-technical
industrial storehouses. The general educational establishments are unable
to buy them because of a lack of financial resources.
537.
In addition, above and beyond the need to
equip rooms, there is a need to establish educational systems which would bring about a rapid improvement
in the quality of the educational process, to establish the preconditions for
sustained motivation for educational activity in participants.
538.
World practice is showing a tendency towards
a reduction in the amount of demonstration equipment and an increase in
laboratory equipment, and more attention is being paid to the manufacture of
equipment for technological planning, for research and construction-based
laboratory work, which provide the capability for independent research.
539 The existing classroom system and its
equipment, for example, does not take account of special teaching needs in small
rural schools, in general educational establishments for children of pre-school
and elementary school age; there is a need for a fundamentally new education
ideology.
Rights
in the field of culture and science (article 15)
540. In accordance with article 44 of the Constitution of the Russian
Federation “Everyone shall have the right to participation in cultural life, to
the to use of cultural institutions, and access to cultural treasures”. On the
basis of this provision, federal acts have been elaborated and adopted.
541. The foundation is the Russian Federation legislation on culture,
adopted already in 1992. In 1999 the document was amended to include the right
of free entry to museums in Russia once a month for minors.
542. Since 1996, the legal basis
in the Russian Federation in the field of culture has been supplemented by a
series of new acts, namely:
a)
„Non-profit organisations“ of 12 January
1996;
b)
„The museum fund of the Russian Federation
and museums in the Russian Federation“
of 26 May 1996;
c)
„National cultural autonomy“ of 17 July 1996;
d)
„The cultural treasures transferred to the
USSR as a result of the Second World War and located on the territory of the
Russian Federation“ of 15 April 1998;
e)
„National art industries“ of 6 January 1999;
f)
„Library matters“ of 29 December 1994;
g)
„State support for cinematography“ of 22
August 1996;
h)
„Science and the state science and technology
policy“ of 23 August 1996;
i)
„The status of science“ of 7 April 1999.
543. To stimulate support for
culture and the arts by attracting extrabudgetary sources of financing, and
also state support for private initiatives in the cultural sphere, a draft
federal act is being elaborated concerning patrons and patronage in the field
of culture and the arts in the Russian Federation.
544. In order to ensure the
necessary legal, socio-economic and organizational conditions for the further
development of the theatrical arts, the Government of the Russian Federation
has passed Decision No. 329 of 25 March 1999 entitled „State support for the
theatrical arts in the Russian Federation“.
545. In addition to the existing
structure of executive authorities in the field of culture in nine associations
of constitutent territories of the Russian Federation for economic interaction
(Northern Caucasus, Greater Volga, Russian North, Far-East and Zabaikalye,
Black Earth, Central Russia, Siberian Agreement, North-West, Greater Urals),
co-ordination councils for culture have been established, whose mission is to
encourage participation by the population in cultural life and display the
cultural initiative of groups from the population, nations and regions.
546. On the 22 August 1996, a
Federal Act was passed entitled „ State support for cinematography in the
Russian Federation“. Article 6 defines the main areas of activity for the state
in maintaining and developing cinematography and lays down the state support
system. In particular, state support for cinematography takes the form of:
a)
partial state financing of production,
printing, release and showing of national films;
b)
full state financing of film archiving;
c)
subsidised tax, customs, foreign currency and
other financial regulation of cinematography activities.
547. To create the conditions necessary for the development of
creative, educational, productive, technical, scientific and information basis
of cinematography, the Government of the Russian Federation has, by means of a
Decision of 18 December 1997, approved the plan for the development of
cinematography in the Russian Federation until 2005.
548. The main areas of Government support for cinematography are:
a)
production of national films, including films
for children and juveniles, national film premieres;
b)
maintenance and development of the material
and equipment resources for cinematography;
c)
creation of the conditions for showing and
release of national films;
d)
implementation of education and scientific
and technical programmes;
e)
holding
of film festivals and other cultural events;
f)
participation in international film festivals
and other international cultural events.
549. All cinematographic organisations are entitled to receive state
support.
550. To protect the interests of national film producers, and also for
the development of international collaboration in the field of cinematography,
the State Committee of the Russian Federation for Cinematography approved, by
order No. 7-1-19/37 of 17 June 1999, a charter for the national film
industry. This charter details what is understood by the term national film,
and also affirms a regime for certification of national films as the basis for
the provision of state support.
551. To establish a unified state policy for activities associated with
the public showing of audovisual productions, affecting the rights and legal
interests of cinematographic organisations and citizens, the Government of the
Russian Federation passed Decision No. 414 of 28 May 2001, „Approval of
the provisions for licensing activities
related to the public showing of audiovisual productions in a cinema“.
These provisions lay down a regime for the granting the licences required to
show audiovisual productions in a cinema.
552. The Russian Federation actively fosters international links in the
field of cinematography, and this is facilitated by its accession on 21
February 1991 to the European Culture Convention and on 30 March 1994 to the
European Convention on Cinematographic Co-production.
553. In accordance with Decree No. 885 of the President of the
Russian Federation of 6 June 1999 entitled „Improving State management in the
field of the mass media and mass communication“, a Ministry of the Russian
Federation for Press, Television and Radio Broadcasting, and Mass
Communications was established.
554. To realise the potential of the mass media in cultural life,
Decree No. 919 of the President of the Russian Federation of 25 August
1997 entitled „Improving State television broadcasting in the Russian
Federation“ established the all-Russia State “Culture” channel. The channel’s
mission includes restoration of the cultural and instructional function of
State television, partially lost through the appearance and development of
commercial conditions in television and radio broadcasting. The “Culture”
channel, now the State “Culture Television Channel”, broadcasts mainly
programmes from the “Golden Fund” of television, and prepares general
information about cultural life in the country and abroad.
555. Assistance to the electronic mass media in elaborating programme
policy for cultural broadcasting is provided by the State Fund for television
and radio programmes, under the Ministry of the Russian Federation for Press,
Television and Radio Broadcasting, and Mass Communications.
556. By Decree No. 30 of the President of the Russian Federation
of 15 January 1998, the Fund was included in the State collection of
particularly valuable cultural heritage objects of the peoples of the Russian
Federation.
557. For the 200-year anniversary of the birth of Pushkin, the Fund
issued catalogues of sound recordings and cinema-video recordings, including
the names of practically all Pushkin’s works recorded on electronic media. The
catalogue of cinema-video recordings was prepared and issued using a grant from
the President of the Russian Federation. The catalogues were distributed free
to most of the all-Russia and State regional television and radio companies.
558. The mass media participate in all the national programmes covering
significant events in the cultural life of the country (200-year annniversary
of the birth of Pushkin, 150-year anniversary of Bunin, 100-year anniversary of
Esenin, 140-year anniversary of Novgorod, 850-year anniversary of Moscow,
etc.).
559. The Ministry of the Russian Federation for Press, Television and
Radio Broadcasting, and Mass Communications supports the Russian State Musical
Centre, where the large musical groups which are very popular in the country
and known abroad (the Yu.V. Silant’ev Bolshoi concert orchestra, the Academic
Bolshoi, etc.), are registered.
560. The system and structure of State television and radio broadcasting
enables focused assistance for the cultural development of society through the
diffusion of television and radio programmes on the arts to a large audience of
television viewers and radio listeners.
561. The Ministry of the Russian Federation for Press, Television and
Radio Broadcasting, and Mass Communications gives financial support for
periodical publications issued in the regions inhabited by the indigenous
peoples of Russia. However, as before the local press should count on help from
the regional authorities.
562. Federal budget resources are used to finance State regional
television and radio companies engaged in producing and diffusing programmes in
the languages of the indigenous minorities. These are mainly the languages of
the indigenous population of the North, Siberia and the Far East. Exceptions
are the “Karachaevo-Cherkessia”(Abazin) and “Karelia” (Veps) television and
radio companies.
563. The “Taimyr” (Nenets, Dolgano, Enets, Nganasan) and the “Gevan”,
Republic of Sakha (Yakutiya) (Evenkiski, Evensk, Yukagirsk) television and
radio companies broadcast programmes in
the greatest number of languages of the indigenous minorities. The “Kheglen” television and radio company
of the Evenk autonomous area and the republic of Buryatia also broadcast in
Evenski; the Nenets “Zapolyarye” and the
“Yamal” television and radio companies broadcast in Nenets.
564. The “Komsomolsk” television and radio company in the Khabarovsk
Territory broadcasts in Nanaisk, and the “Dalnevostochnaya” television and radio
company in Ulchsk and Negidalsk. Some television and radio companies broadcast
in two languages of the Northern minorities : the “Koryak” (Koryak, Evenk), the
“Chukot” (Chukot, Eskimo) and the “Khanty-Mansi” (Khanty, Mansi) television and
radio companies. As can be seen, state support is given for electronic mass
media in 16 languages of the indigenous minorities of Russia.
565. The Chukchi autonomous area leads many northern territories in
providing information to the aborigine population.
566. The “Krasny Sever” local paper has a monthly supplement entitled
“Murgin nutenut” (Our territory) on two typed pages with an impression of 1700
copies in Chukot, Eskimo and Evensk.
567. The State “Chukot” television and radio company broadcasts each
month on the radio for 5 hours and 50 minutes in Chukot and 3 hours and 30
minutes in Eskimo. It broadcasts such weekly programmes as “Today in the
district”, “In regions, villages and brigades”, “Nunavut”, “We indigenous
people”, and others.
568. For the past 13 years programmes in Chukot have always been
broadcast on the Chukot television network. In 1999 the Chukot television
broadcasting time was increased to 4 hours per month. Chukot television has the
weekly information broadcasts “Pynylte”and “Ejgyskyn”; the television
programmes entitled “Tradition” and “Genealogy” are broadcast in Chukot and (in
repeat) in Russian.
569. Once a year Chukchi holds the “Ejnet” gutteral singing and
proverbs television festival. The “Ener” television association regularly
records television films in Chukot, three of which have been acquired by the
State Television and Radio Fund:
“Language holiday”, “When men cry”, and “Stone sail”.
570. The main regulation for protecting rights to intellectual property
is the 1993 Russian Federation Act entitled „Authors’ rights and associated
rights”, which governs relations arising in connection with the creation and
use of works of science, literature and the arts, phonograms, stage
performances, organisations for broadcasting on the air or by cable.
571. This Act regulates all legal relations in the sphere of authors’
rights and associated rights: in the event of infringement of anyone’s rights,
the courts, after examining (both in civil, and in administrative and criminal
proceedings) the issues surrounding the facts of the infringement, will be
guided by the regulations of this Act.
572. In the Russian Federation there are a number of international
standards in force in this regard. In particular, Russia is now party to two
international conventions on authors’ rights:
the World Convention on Copyright, 1971 and the Berne Convention for the
Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, 1971. In the field of related rights
Russia has acceded to only one convention, the
Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms Against Unauthorized
Duplication of Their Phonograms.
573. Liability for infringing the copyright
legislation and related laws is provided for in the standards of civil and
criminal legislation. In addition, in accordance with the Russian Federation
Act entitled „Competition and limitation of monopolistic activity on the
commodities market“ (as amended on 2 January 2000, No. 3), the sale
of commodities making illegal use of the results of intellectual activity and
of equivalent means of individualizing a legal person, or of individualizing a
production, works or services constitutes a form of unscrupulous competition.
Within the framework of this Act any possessor of copyright is entitled to turn
for protection of his violated right to the Ministry of the Russian Federation
for Anti-Monopoly Policy and Support of Entrepreneurs, which is entitled to
pass a compulsory order on the violator.
574. In recent years considerable work has been
done on the legal and regulatory aspects for ensuring the rights of the scientist with respect to the
results of scientific research, the protection of intellectual property,
propaganda concerning the achievements of Russian science, the exchange of
scientific information, and the development of international collaboration.
Normative acts have been passed such as the doctrine for the development of
Russian science (Presidential Decree No. 884 of 13 June 1996), the Federal
Act entitled „Science and scientific and technical policy“ (No. 1217 of 19
June 1998), the plan for the reform of Russian science for the period 1998-2000
(Government Decision No. 453 of 18 May 1998) and the action plan for
implementing this plan (Government Order No. 573-r of 20 May 1998), and
also the concept for the state policy of the Russian Federation in the sphere
of international scientific and technical collaboration, approved by the
Government of the Russian Federation (No. IK-P8-01514 of 20 January
2000).
575. The plan for the reform of Russian science
includes provisions for state support of science institutions, strengthening of
links between science and society, restructuring the network of scientific
organisations, staffing and social policy in the scientific sphere, and the
development of information provision. It also notes that scientific knowledge
has a direct impact on the social, spiritual and political life of a country.
576. The blueprint for state policy in the sphere
of international scientific and technical collaboration has been developed in
the framework of a set of measures for reforming Russian science. The blueprint
underlines two main priorities for Government policy: increasing the role and proportion of
innovative and technological components in the overall structure of
international scientific and technical collaboration in Russia and creating
world-level market mechanisms and infrastructures for international
collaboration. The concept covers the period 2000-2005 and is intended to serve
as a long-term guidline.
577. The concept for state policy in the sphere of
international scientific and technical collaboration stipulates the importance
of enhancing the role and commitment of
the scientist and inventor in the selection future trends and the
implementation of projects for international scientific and technical
collaboration.
578. To promote scientific progress, and also to
regulate relations in the sphere of scientific and technical activity, a
Federal Act (No.127) was passed on 23 August 1996 entitled „Science and state
scientific and technical policy“.
579. The State Duma of the Russian Federation is
currently going through the first reading of the draft Federal Act entitled
„Innovative activity in the Russian Federation“.
580. The normative and legal foundation for
preserving and increasing the cultural heritage of the indigenous minorities
comprises approximately 170 documents at the international, federal and
regional level.
581. To create the conditions for preserving,
developing and using the cultural heritage of the indigenous minority
populations of the North, various seminars and conferences are held at regular
intervals. For example, the international seminar on preserving traditional
cultures in the context of economic development, the international conference
on writers from indigenous groups in the North, the international symposium and
festival entitled “Art of the peoples of the North: traditions and modernity”, and the
international meeting on development of the culture of minority populations in
the North.
582. All events are financed from resources
allocated under the Federal programme for the development and preservation of
culture and the arts in the Russian Federation (1997-1999), and also from the
budgets of Russian Federation constituent territories and local budgets.
583. Resources are allocated for the issue of the
thematic issue of the “Severnye prostory” periodical, which is dedicated to the
outcome in Russia of the international decade of the indigenous minorities of
the North.
584. The Ministry of Culture of Russia has founded
the now-traditional All-Russia festival of children’s artistic work in the
territories of the North, “Follow the sun”, the All-Russia festival of artistic
work of the indigenous minority populations of the North , “The North - my
love”, culture days in the republics of Komi and Karelia, Arkhangel region, and
the autonomous areas of Chukchi and Komi-Permyak.
585. With the support of the Ministry of Culture,
the Scientific Research Institute for the Cultural and Natural Heritage,
together with the Smithsonian Institute (USA), has carried out a large-scale
cultural and educational project entitled “The crossroads of continents: Alaska-Siberia”.
586. In the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) a
comprehensive programme is being implemented for the revival of the tradional culture
of the peoples of the North, called “Etnos”, and in the Khabarovsk Territory
there is a special programme on the preservation and revival of the culture of
the peoples of Priamyre and the Far North. Similar programmes have been
established in the republics of Altai, Karelia and Komi, Murmansk region, and
the autonomous areas of Taimyr, Nenets and Khanty-Mansi.
587. An important feature of the revival process
is the creation of national culture centres for the indigenous peoples. Thus,
the republic of Karelia has a regional centre of coastal culture called
“Coastal hut”, a folklore ethnographic complex called “Kalevala” and an
ethnocultural centre for Veps.
588 The immovable objects of Russia's cultural
heritage subject to ecological risk include, above all, those under the
direct protection of the Act entitled
„The protection of historical and cultural monuments“. At the beginning of
1999, the State register for historical and cultural monuments of the Russian Federation
numbered 84, 826 objects. They included 24, 871 monuments of federal
(all-Russia) and 59, 955 monuments of local importance.
589. The condition of almost 80 per cent of the
monuments protected by the state are characterised by experts as
unsatisfactory. Approximately 70 per cent of the total number of objects need
urgent measures to save them from ruin, damage and destruction as a result of
different negative influences and processes, including environmental factors.
About 40 per cent of all expenditure on objects of cultural heritage is for
natural risk factors to the monuments. The chief amongst these are the erosion
of shores (both by the sea and man-made reservoirs), transgression of the sea,
landslides, land erosion and air pollution. Separate issues are the damage
caused by the consequences of the increase in the level of the Caspian sea and
the radioactive contamination resulting from the accident at the Chernobyl
nuclear power plant. In particular, there are 159 historical and cultural
monuments in the radioactively contaminated territory of Bryansk region.
590. Transport and industrial vibration have a
detrimental effect on cultural and artistic monuments. This factor is affecting
objects in Petrozavodsk (ensemble of wooden architecture monuments), Vologda
(fortress walls of the Kremlin), Cherepovets (historical centre), Zvenigorod in
the Moscow province (walls of the Savvino-Storozhevski monastery), etc. In
1999, in 53 constituent territories of the Russian Federation 113 monuments
were recorded as having been lost for ever.
591. In 1999, there were 20 special federal
environmental programmes being implemented in Russia. Financing of the
programmes was as follows: federal
budget - approximately 7 per cent;
budgets of the constituent territories of the Russian Federation -
approximately 35 per cent; extrabudgetary sources - approximately 58 per cent.
593. The system of legislative acts in the
environmental legislation comprises:
a) nature
conservation legislative acts:
–
Act of the Russian Soviet
Federative Socialist Republic entitled „Protection of the natural environment“
(1991);
–
Federal Act entitled „Natural
healing resources, medical rehabilitation localities and health spas“ (1995);
–
Federal Act entitled „Ecological
assessment“ (1995);
–
Federal Act entitled „Natural
territories under special protection“ (1995);
–
Federal Act entitled „The
hydrometereological service“ (1998);
–
Federal Act entitled „Protection
of the atmosphere (1999).
b) nature
resource legislative acts:
–
Land Code of the Russian Soviet
Federative Socialist Republic (1991 with amendments);
–
Act of the Russian Federation
entitled „Mineral resources“ (1992 with amendments);
–
Federal Act entitled „The animal
world“ (1995);
–
Water Code of the Russian
Federation (1995);
–
Federal Act entitled „The
continental shelf of the Russian Federation“ (1995);
–
Forestry Code of the Russian
Federation (1997);
–
Federal Act entitled „Payment for
the use of water facilities: (1998);
–
Federal Act entitled „Inland
seas, territorial sea and the zone
adjacent to the Russian Federation“ (1998);
–
Federal Act entitled „The
exclusive economic zone of the Russian Federation“ (1998);
–
Federal Act entitled „Waste
products resulting from the productive process and consumption“ (1998).
594. In 1999 the system of natural conservation
legislation was supplemented with legal acts. By way of example, several
special federal acts can be cited:
„Sanitary-epidemiological well-being of the population“, the Merchant
Shipping Code of the Russian Federation (chapter on liability for pollution by
oil tankers, etc.), „Protection of Lake Baikal“, „Protection of the
atmosphere“.
595. At the subordinate act level, mention can be
made, in particular, of the following Decisions pased by the Government of the
Russian Federation:
–
Expansion of the territory of the
L.G. Kaplanov Visimski State nature reserve (No. 385, 18 May 2001);
–
Expansion of the territory of the
Khkasski State nature reserve (No. 365, 10 May 2001);
–
Establishment of the “Erzi” State
nature reserve (No. 992, 21 December 2000);
–
Expansion of the territory of the
“Khankaiski” State nature reserve ( No. 865, 17 November 2000);
–
Expansion of the territory of the
“Ubsunursk hollow” state natural biosphere reserve (No. 372, 21 April
2000);
–
Expansion of the territory of the
“Prisursk” Lazovok state nature reserve (No. 216, 10 March 2000);
–
Expansion of the territory of the
Professor V.V. Alekhin Central Chernozem state natural biosphere reserve
(No. 298, 7 March 1998);
–
Expansion of the territory of the
L.G. Kaplanov Lazovok state nature reserve (No. 369, 5 April 1999);
–
Establishment in the Amur region
of the “Norsk” state nature reserve of the State Committee of the Russian
Federation for nature conservation (No. 136, 2 February 1998);
–
Establishment in the Nenets
autonomous area of the “Nenets” state nature reserve of the State Committee of
the Russian Federation for nature conservation (No. 1579, 18 December
1997);
–
Establishment in the Khabarovsk
Territory of the “Bolonski” state nature reserve of the State Committee of the
Russian Federation for nature conservation (No. 1444, 18 November 1997);
–
Establishment in the Astrakhan
region of the “Bogdinsk-Baskunchak” state nature reserve of the State Committee
of the Russian Federation for nature conservation (No. 1445,
18 November 1997);
–
Establishment in the Jewish
Autonomous Region of the “Bastak” state nature reserve of the State Committee
of the Russian Federation for nature conservation (No. 96, 28 January
1997);
–
Expansion of the territory of the
Sikhote-Alin State natural biosphere reserve (No. 621, 10 June 1999);
–
Establishment in the Altai
Territory of the “Tigirek” State nature reserve of the State Committee of the
Russian Federation for nature conservation (No. 1342, 4 December 1999).
596. To ensure fulfilment of Russia’s obligations
under the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and the
Montreal protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer, the Government of
the Russian Federation passed a decree on the strengthening of measures for
state regulation of the production and use of ozone-depleting substances in the
Russian Federation (No. 490, 5 May 1999) and on the strengthening of
measures for state regulation of the importation into the Russian Federation of
ozone-depleting substances and components of their production (No. 1368, 9
December 1999).
597. In 2000, 22,338.6 million roubles were
invested by enterprises and organisations of all types of ownership on
protection of the environment and the rational use of natural resources.
598. The main volume of natural conservation
investments are distributed as follows
(in millions of roubles):
–
protection of water resources -
8250.5;
–
protection of the atmosphere -
7946.1;
–
protection and rational use of
the earth - 3519.5;
–
protection and rational use of
mineral resources - 30.6;
–
protection and rational use of
forest resources - 175.8;
–
protection and reproduction of
fish resources - 173.1;
–
organisation of reserves and
other natural conservation areas - 3.7.
599. An important element of the economic
mechanism for regulation in the area of environmental protection is ecological
funds, which include the ecological funds of the constituent territories of the
Russian Federation and local funds. The practice of having ecological funds has
proven economic usefulness, particularly under conditions of severe funding
shortages.
600.
An important role continues to be
played by international collaboration in the field of environmental protection.
In 1999, the implementation of joint projects with UNEP continued, including
projects on comprehensive management of the environment of the Volga-Caspian
region, the model national emergency response plan, support for activities to
combat desertification in the CIS countries, strengthening of the national
authorities in the field of chemical substance control in CIS countries,
harmonization of environmental legislation and sustainable urban development.
601.
In the field of environmental
protection, collaboration continues to be fostered with other international
organizations and programmes such as UNIDO, UNDP, the Council of Europe and the
European Union.
602.
Russia's national committee
affiliated to the World Conservation Union has been created and officially
recognized.
Annexes
ANNEX 1
Activities carried out by
procurators' offices in supervising observance of the public's employment and
other rights
and protecting the rights and interests
of minors (1998-2000)
|
|
All violations |
Complaints filed |
Annulment and alteration
of unlawful legal transactions after complaints upheld |
Statements made |
Claims (applications) sent
to court/court of arbitration |
Criminal proceedings
brought following procurator's ruling |
|
1998 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Labour legislation |
108 390 |
22 407 |
20 542 |
18 977 |
35 598 |
289 |
|
Public housing rights |
12 410 |
1 901 |
1 531 |
3 959 |
1 920 |
128 |
|
Legislation on pensions and on protecting the rights of the disabled and the elderly |
9 228 |
675 |
488 |
4 834 |
2 081 |
18 |
|
Consumer rights |
7 076 |
851 |
724 |
1 933 |
357 |
32 |
|
Rights and interests of minors |
65 877 |
8 621 |
7 856 |
15 003 |
15 062 |
295 |
|
Rights of minors to education |
11 391 |
2 025 |
1 713 |
3 204 |
226 |
19 |
|
In the area of employment and labour protection |
2 696 |
220 |
220 |
1 051 |
75 |
8 |
|
With regard to the protection of life, health, the family, mothers, fathers and children |
29 674 |
1 911 |
1 683 |
5 710 |
12 743 |
206 |
|
1999 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Labour legislation |
104 434 |
22 737 |
20 699 |
18 165 |
28 866 |
323 |
|
Public housing rights |
14 013 |
1 772 |
1 482 |
3 746 |
2 104 |
98 |
|
Legislation on pensions and on protecting the rights of the disabled and the elderly |
12 408 |
756 |
603 |
5 195 |
3 654 |
26 |
|
ANNEX 1 (continuation) |
||||||
|
|
All
violations |
Complaints filed |
Annulment and alteration
of unlawful legal transactions after complaints upheld |
Statements made |
Claims (applications) sent
to court/court of arbitration |
Criminal proceedings
brought following procurator's ruling |
|
Consumer rights |
7 547 |
655 |
562 |
2 106 |
537 |
41 |
|
Rights and interests of minors |
72 924 |
8 602 |
7 896 |
16 580 |
17 539 |
373 |
|
Rights of minors to education; |
12 514 |
2 046 |
1 831 |
3 549 |
291 |
27 |
|
In the area of employment and labour protection |
2 925 |
177 |
159 |
1 032 |
140 |
9 |
|
with regard to the protection of life, health, the family, mothers, fathers and children |
35 909 |
2 675 |
2 392 |
7 014 |
15 357 |
287 |
|
2000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Labour legislation |
117 471 |
24 918 |
23 355 |
20 622 |
29 889 |
347 |
|
Public housing rights |
14 683 |
1 724 |
1 378 |
3 560 |
4 496 |
116 |
|
Legislation on pensions and on protecting the rights of the disabled and the elderly; |
11 915 |
607 |
494 |
3 737 |
4 974 |
34 |
|
Consumer rights |
9 958 |
761 |
643 |
2 341 |
805 |
57 |
|
Rights and interests of minors |
86 518 |
9 876 |
9 167 |
18 342 |
23 392 |
373 |
|
Rights of minors to education |
16 717 |
2 693 |
2 542 |
4 411 |
534 |
23 |
|
In the area of employment and labour protection |
4 264 |
288 |
261 |
1 585 |
130 |
6 |
|
With regard to the protection of life, health, the family, mothers, fathers and children, |
42 186 |
2 854 |
2 460 |
7 106 |
19 311 |
272 |
ANNEX 2
Trends in the indicators
for industrial accidents and occupational diseases in the Russian Federation*
|
Year |
Number of persons suffering
from working incapacity for at least one working day (per 1,000 workers) |
Number of persons whose
incapacity had fatal consequences |
Number of persons suffering
from occupational diseases |
|
1995 |
5.5 |
0.138 |
1.89 |
|
1996 |
6.1 |
0.155 |
2.33 |
|
1997 |
5.8 |
0.148 |
2.31 |
|
1998 |
5.3 |
0.142 |
1.86 |
|
1999 |
5.2 |
0.144 |
- |
|
2000 |
5.1 |
0.149 |
- |
* Since 1996,
statistical monitoring of industrial accidents in the Russian Federation has
been done in a few sectors only. The sectors which in previous years had low
accident levels have been excluded (retail trading, education, scientific and
research services, culture and art, finance, administration)
ANNEX 3
Occupational disease
indicators for the period 1997-99 in the Russian Federation
(per 10,000
workers)
|
Year |
Occupational toxicosis |
Occupational diseases |
Occupational toxicosis |
|
1997 |
0.1 |
2.22 |
2.32 |
|
1998 |
0.06 |
1.79 |
1.85 |
|
1999 |
0.07 |
1.7 |
1.77 |
ANNEX 4
Relative proportions of
cases of acute and chronic occupational disease and toxicosis
in the whole Russian Federation, 1997-99
|
Year |
Occupational
disease |
Occupational
toxicosis |
Occupational
disease and toxicosis |
|||
|
Acute |
Chronic |
Acute |
Chronic |
Acute |
Chronic |
|
|
1997 |
0.87 |
94.90 |
1.88 |
2.35 |
2.75 |
97.25 |
|
1998 |
1.04 |
95.40 |
1.86 |
1.64 |
2.90 |
97.04 |
|
1999 |
0.93 |
94.68 |
3.24 |
1.15 |
4.16 |
95.84 |
ANNEX 5
Minimum social guarantees
|
|
As at 1
January, 2000 |
As at 1 January
2001 |
As at 1 August
2001 |
|
Minimum pension |
108.4 |
153.1 |
660 |
|
Disability |
|
|
|
|
Group 1 (with attendance allowance) |
216.8 |
306.2 |
660 |
|
Group 2 |
108.4 |
153.1 |
660 |
|
Group 3 |
72.3 |
102.0 |
660 |
|
Length of service payment |
108.4 |
153.1 |
660 |
|
Social pensions for persons disabled from childhood |
|
|
|
|
Group 1 |
216.8 |
306.2 |
660 |
|
Group 2 |
108.4 |
153.1 |
185.32 |
|
Social pensions for children who have lost both parents and for children of deceased single mothers (per recipient) |
108.4 |
153.1 |
185.32 |
|
Social pensions for children who have lost one parent |
72.3 |
102.1 |
123.55 |
|
One-time payment at the birth |
1 252.4 |
1 500 |
1 500 |
|
Monthly benefit for leave taken to care for a child until the latter is eighteen months old |
167 |
200.0 |
200.0 |
|
Monthly benefit for each child aged |
58.4 |
70.0 |
70.0 |
|
Ceremonial grant |
834.9 |
1 000 |
1 000 |
|
Minimum monthly unemployment benefit |
83.5 |
100 |
100 |
ANNEX 6
Average cash income per
capita in the constituent territories of the Russian Federation in November
2000
|
Area |
Average cash
income per capita in Nov 2000 (roubles) |
Proportion of
Russian Federation average (%) |
Average cash
income per capita in May 2001 (roubles) |
|
RUSSIAN FEDERATION |
2 397.6 |
100 |
2 548.3 |
|
CENTRAL FEDERAL REGION |
3 531.2 |
147.3 |
3 552.1 |
|
Belgorod region |
1 590.7 |
66.3 |
1 641.9 |
|
Bryansk region |
1 299.6 |
54.2 |
1 332.3 |
|
Vladimir region |
1 162.7 |
48.5 |
1 214.6 |
|
Voronezh region |
1 579.3 |
65.9 |
1 771.3 |
|
Ivanovo region |
927.1 |
38.7 |
907.7 |
|
Kaluga region |
1 297.0 |
54.1 |
1 419.9 |
|
Kostroma
region |
1 258.8 |
52.5 |
1 258.9 |
|
Kursk
region |
1 396.9 |
58.3 |
1 478.5 |
|
Lipetsk region |
1 963.2 |
81.9 |
1 861.0 |
|
Moscow region |
2 027.0 |
84.5 |
2 315.4 |
|
Oryol region |
1 402.1 |
58.5 |
1 661.1 |
|
Ryazan region |
1 225.3 |
51.1 |
1 399.6 |
|
Smolensk region |
1 885.1 |
78.6 |
1 961.9 |
|
Tambov region |
1 779.1 |
74.2 |
1 758.4 |
|
Tver region |
1 322.4 |
55.2 |
1 470.2 |
|
Tula region |
1 597.9 |
66.6 |
1 644.6 |
|
Yaroslavl region |
1 836.3 |
76.6 |
1 984.3 |
|
Moscow city |
9 897.4 |
412.8 |
9 504.2 |
|
NORTH-WEST FEDERAL REGION |
2 239.9 |
93.4 |
2 598.7 |
|
Republic of Karelia |
2 197.6 |
91.7 |
2 368.2 |
|
Republic of Komi |
2 962.4 |
123.6 |
4 039.4 |
|
Arkhangelsk region |
2 052.2 |
85.6 |
2 448.2 |
|
Nenets autonomous area |
3 209.4 |
133.9 |
4 691.2 |
|
Vologda
region |
1 863.3 |
77.7 |
2 002.6 |
|
Kaliningrad
region |
1 699.9 |
70.9 |
1 481.4 |
|
Leningrad region |
1 379.6 |
57.5 |
1 581.0 |
|
Murmansk region |
3 455.6 |
144.1 |
4 282.6 |
|
Novgorod region |
1 855.5 |
77.4 |
1 839.3 |
|
Pskov region |
1 399.7 |
58.4 |
1 412.9 |
|
St. Petersburg city |
2 601.2 |
108.5 |
3 062.7 |
|
|
|||
|
ANNEX 6 (continuation) |
|||
|
Area |
Average cash
income per capita in Nov 2000 (roubles) |
Proportion of
Russian Federation average (%) |
Average cash
income per capita in May 2001 (roubles) |
|
SOUTH FEDERAL REGION |
1 478.8 |
61.7 |
1 527.2 |
|
Republic of Adygeya |
1 238.6 |
51.7 |
1 184.1 |
|
Republic of Dagestan |
873.5 |
36.4 |
1 027.9 |
|
Republic of Ingushetia |
594.1 |
24.8 |
972.9 |
|
Kabardin-Balkar republic |
1 270.1 |
53.0 |
1 471.4 |
|
Republic of Kalmykia |
918.0 |
38.3 |
1 188.8 |
|
Karachayevo-Cherkess republic |
1 137.2 |
47.4 |
1 017.4 |
|
Republic of North Ossetia-Alaniya |
1 888.5 |
78.8 |
2 173.5 |
|
Chechen republic |
|
|
|
|
Krasnodar territory |
1 726.9 |
72.0 |
1 508.5 |
|
Stavropol
territory |
1 484.3 |
61.9 |
1 310.9 |
|
Astrakhan
region |
1 676.7 |
69.9 |
1 884.6 |
|
Volgograd
region o |
1 266.2 |
52.8 |
1 499.8 |
|
Rostov
region |
1 742.5 |
72.7 |
1 943.8 |
|
VOLGA FEDERAL REGION |
1 755.8 |
73.2 |
1 896.3 |
|
Republic of Bashkortostan |
1 916.1 |
79.9 |
2 179.1 |
|
Republic of Mari El |
864.3 |
36.0 |
934.4 |
|
Republic of Mordovia |
1 274.5 |
53.2 |
1 321.2 |
|
Republic of Tatarstan |
1 890.6 |
78.9 |
2 197.4 |
|
Udmurt republic |
1 578.7 |
65.8 |
1 661.3 |
|
Chuvash republic |
1 120.8 |
46.7 |
1 139.5 |
|
Kirov
region |
1 313.7 |
54.8 |
1 300.7 |
|
Nizhny
Novgorod region |
1 632.1 |
68.1 |
1 804.6 |
|
Orenburg
region |
1 564.3 |
65.2 |
1 605.0 |
|
Penza
region |
1 103.3 |
46.0 |
1 088.1 |
|
Perm
region |
2 353.8 |
98.2 |
2 576.3 |
|
Komi-Permyak autonomous area |
951.4 |
39.7 |
908.7 |
|
Samara
region |
2 683.5 |
111.9 |
2 874.4 |
|
Saratov
region |
1 584.4 |
66.1 |
1 542.0 |
|
Ulyanovsk
region |
1 290.1 |
53.8 |
1 379.1 |
|
URALS FEDERAL REGION |
2 688.5 |
112.1 |
3 236.1 |
|
Kurgan region |
1 390.6 |
58.0 |
1 524.5 |
|
Sverdlovsk region |
1 742.8 |
72.7 |
1 924.3 |
|
ANNEX 6 (continuation) |
|||
|
Area |
Average cash
income per capita in Nov 2000 (roubles) |
Proportion of
Russian Federation average (%) |
Average cash
income per capita in May 2001 (roubles) |
|
yumen region |
5 140.1 |
214.4 |
6 783.4 |
|
Khanty-Mansi autonomous area |
7 175.8 |
299.3 |
8 645.9 |
|
Yamal-Nenets autonomous area |
7 380.6 |
307.8 |
11 598.5 |
|
Chelyabinsk region |
2 113.9 |
88.2 |
2 249.7 |
|
SIBERIAN FEDERAL REGION |
1 802.3 |
75.2 |
2 063.4 |
|
Altai republic |
1 450.4 |
60.5 |
1 498.0 |
|
Republic of Buryatia |
1 514.3 |
63.2 |
1 523.0 |
|
Republic of Tuva |
1 204.4 |
50.2 |
1 474.5 |
|
Republic of Khakasia |
1 883.3 |
78.5 |
1 541.7 |
|
Altai Territory |
1 375.8 |
57.4 |
1 408.6 |
|
Krasnoyarsk region |
2 374.7 |
99.0 |
2 767.8 |
|
Taimyr autonomous area |
2 699.5 |
112.6 |
2 988.0 |
|
Evenk autonomous area |
2 003.0 |
83.5 |
2 246.0 |
|
Irkutsk region |
2 325.8 |
97.0 |
2 523.1 |
|
Ust-Ordynsky autonomous area |
609.1 |
25.4 |
672.0 |
|
Keremovo
region |
2 336.5 |
97.5 |
2 769.1 |
|
Novosibirsk
region |
1 253.8 |
52.3 |
1 723.2 |
|
Omsk region |
1 330.1 |
55.5 |
1 677.2 |
|
Tomsk region |
2 109.6 |
88.0 |
2 375.8 |
|
Chita region |
1 060.0 |
44.2 |
1 131.0 |
|
Aginsky-Buryat autonomous area |
821.6 |
34.3 |
1 043.5 |
|
FAR-EAST FEDERAL REGION |
2 256.0 |
94.1 |
2 577.6 |
|
Republic of Sakha |
3 706.9 |
154.6 |
3 935.9 |
|
Maritime Territory |
1 655.0 |
69.0 |
2 114.4 |
|
Khabarovsk Territory |
2 113.2 |
88.1 |
2 351.2 |
|
Amur region |
1 756.7 |
73.3 |
1 657.2 |
|
Kamchatka region |
2 728.3 |
113.8 |
3 795.1 |
|
Koryak autonomous area |
4 249.7 |
177.2 |
3 957.9 |
|
Magadan region |
2 973.1 |
124.0 |
3 147.9 |
|
Sakhalin region |
2 779.8 |
115.9 |
3 116.1 |
|
Jewish Autonomous Region |
1 485.3 |
61.9 |
1 689.4 |
|
Chukchi autonomous area |
3 656.1 |
152.5 |
5 532.1 |
ANNEX 7
Proportion of the population whose income falls below
the minimum subsistence level
|
|
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
|
Total (millions) |
32.7 |
30.7 |
34.3 |
42.0 |
44.0 |
|
As percentage of overall number |
22.1 |
20.8 |
23.4 |
28.7 |
30.2 |
ANNEX 8
Minimum subsistence levels
and numbers of the population living in poverty
|
Year |
Amount of minimum
subsistence level, in thousands of roubles per month |
Numbers of poor |
|
|
Millions of persons |
As % of overall population |
||
|
1997 |
411.2 |
30.7 |
20.8 |
|
First quarter |
401.9 |
32.4 |
22.0 |
|
Second quarter |
417.3 |
31.2 |
21.2 |
|
Third quarter |
417.2 |
31.2 |
21.2 |
|
Fourth quarter |
408.5 |
29.3 |
19.9 |
|
1998 |
493.3 |
34.3 |
23.4 |
|
First quarter |
423.2 |
33.0 |
22.5 |
|
Second quarter |
434.1 |
32.8 |
22.4 |
|
Third quarter |
480.0 |
36.6 |
24.9 |
|
Fourth quarter |
636.1 |
41.6 |
28.4 |
|
1999 |
907.8 |
42.0 |
28.7 |
|
First quarter |
824.3 |
55.2 |
37.7 |
|
Second quarter |
919.2 |
51.2 |
35.0 |
|
Third quarter |
943.5 |
49.0 |
33.5 |
|
Fourth quarter |
944.2 |
38.5 |
26.3 |
|
2000 |
1 210.4 |
44.0 |
30.2 |
|
First quarter |
1 138.0 |
59.9 |
41.2 |
|
Second quarter |
1 185.0 |
50.5 |
34.7 |
|
Third quarter |
1 234.0 |
46.3 |
31.8 |
|
Fourth quarter |
1 285.0 |
39.2 |
26.9 |
ANNEX 9
The Russian Federation's housing stock in 2000
|
Municipal stock |
738.0millones de m2
(26.5 %) |
|
State stock |
175.8millones de m2
(6.3 %) |
|
Private stock |
1 813.9millones de m2
(65.3 %) |
|
Individual |
1 617.2millones de m2
(58.2 %) |
|
Privatised (from the municipal and state housing stocks) |
842.0millones de m2 |
|
Housing construction cooperatives and housing cooperatives |
112.2millones de m2
(4 %) |
|
Mixed ownership |
50.1millones de m2
(1.8 %) |
|
Public stock |
1.7million de m2 (0.1 %) |
ANNEX 10
Housing conditions in the Russian Federation
|
|
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
|
Average per individual inhabitant
(square metres |
18.3 |
18.6 |
18.9 |
19.1 |
19.3 |
|
Number of families waiting to receive accommodation by the end of the year (thousands) |
7 248 |
6 760 |
6 286 |
5 882 |
5 361 |
|
as a percentage of all families |
14 |
13 |
13 |
12 |
11 |
|
Number of families who received accommodation during the year |
492 |
416 |
344 |
282 |
249 |
|
as a percentage of the families waiting for accommodation |
6 |
6 |
5 |
4.5 |
4 |
ANNEX 11
Abortions in the Russian
Federation for the period 1990-99
|
|
1990 |
1991 |
1992 |
1993 |
1994 |
1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
1999 |
|
Total number of abortions (thousands) |
3 920 |
3 526 |
3 266 |
2 978 |
2 808 |
2 575 |
2 469 |
2 321 |
2 210 |
2 060 |
|
Per 1,000 women of childbearing age |
108.6 |
100.3 |
90.3 |
81.9 |
75.8 |
67.6 |
64.5 |
60.3 |
57.1 |
53.0 |
ANNEX 12
Maternal deaths in the
Russian Federation for the period 1990-2000
|
|
1990 |
1991 |
1992 |
1993 |
1994 |
1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
|
Total deaths (absolute number) |
943 |
941 |
806 |
712 |
737 |
727 |
638 |
633 |
565 |
537 |
503 |
|
Number per 100,000 live births |
47.4 |
52.4 |
50.8 |
51.6 |
52.3 |
53.3 |
48.9 |
50.2 |
44.0 |
44.2 |
39.7 |
ANNEX 13
Infant mortality in the Russian Federation for the period 1988-2000
|
Year |
Number of children dead before first birthday |
Number of children dead before first birthday |
||||
|
Total |
Boys |
Girls |
Total |
Boys |
Girls |
|
|
1988 |
44 781 |
26 309 |
18 472 |
18.9 |
21.6 |
16 |
|
1990 |
35 088 |
20 691 |
14 397 |
17.4 |
20.2 |
14.7 |
|
1992 |
29 208 |
17 238 |
11 970 |
18.0 |
20.7 |
15.2 |
|
1994 |
26 141 |
15 394 |
10 747 |
18.6 |
21.3 |
15.7 |
|
1996 |
22 825 |
13 416 |
9 409 |
17.4 |
19.9 |
14.7 |
|
1998 |
21 097 |
12 327 |
8 770 |
16.5 |
18.7 |
14.1 |
|
1999 |
20 731 |
12 020 |
8 711 |
16.9 |
19.0 |
14.6 |
|
2000 |
19 286 |
11 248 |
8 038 |
15.3 |
17.3 |
13.2 |
ANNEX 14
Infant
mortality ratios for 2000 (number of deaths before first birthday per 1,000
population)
|
Area |
Total population n |
Urban population |
Rural population |
|
Russian Federation |
15.3 |
14.7 |
16.8 |
|
Northern administrative district |
14.1 |
13.9 |
14.7 |
|
North-west administrative district |
10.7 |
10.1 |
14.6 |
|
St. Petersburg city |
9.5 |
9.5 |
- |
|
Central administrative district |
13.5 |
13.2 |
15.5 |
|
Moscow city |
10.9 |
10.9 |
- |
|
Smolensk region |
15.1 |
14.4 |
17.0 |
|
Volga-Vyatsk administrative district |
13.9 |
13.8 |
14.0 |
|
Central Black Sea administrative district |
14.1 |
14.1 |
14.0 |
|
Volga administrative district |
15.0 |
14.5 |
16.0 |
|
North Caucasus administrative district |
16.9 |
17.0 |
16.8 |
|
Urals administrative district |
15.5 |
15.2 |
16.2 |
|
Western Siberia administrative district |
15.2 |
14.2 |
17.5 |
|
Khanty-Mansi autonomous area |
10.2 |
9.9 |
12.3 |
|
Yamalo-Nenets autonomous area |
14.4 |
10.2 |
28.6 |
|
Easter Siberia administrative district |
19.6 |
18.3 |
22.1 |
|
Evenk autonomous area |
24.6 |
0 |
35.6 |
|
Far-Eastern administrative district |
18.6 |
17.8 |
20.6 |
|
Koryak autonomous area |
30.2 |
53.0 |
23.9 |
|
Kaliningrad
region |
19.6 |
19.2 |
20.8 |
ANNEX
15
Child vaccination coverage in the Russian Federation, percentages
|
Infection |
Age |
Year |
|||
|
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
1999 |
||
|
Tuberculosis |
neonates |
93.0 |
93.5 |
95.3 |
95.8 |
|
Diphtheria |
Age 1 |
83.7 |
87.5 |
91.3 |
95.0 |
|
Poliomyelitis |
Age 1 |
86.9 |
91.4 |
94.3 |
97.1 |
|
Whooping cough |
Age 1 |
76.5 |
81.8 |
87.2 |
92.7 |
|
Measles |
Age 2 |
88.5 |
91.1 |
94.2 |
96.9 |
|
Epidemic parotitis |
Age 2 |
72.1 |
77.6 |
88.0 |
94.7 |
ANNEX 16
Morbidity rates
for the population of the Russian Federation, by class and type of disease
(number of patients diagnosed for the first time per 100,000 population)
|
Illness |
1996 |
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
|
Infectious and parasitic diseases |
4 367.7 |
4 401.3 |
4 494.6 |
4 461.7 |
|
Bacterial diphtheria |
83.5 |
78.8 |
149.1 |
124.1 |
|
Diphtheria |
9.3 |
0.96 |
0.6 |
0.5 |
|
Syphilis |
265.0 |
235.1 |
187.2 |
165.6 |
|
Gonorrhea |
139.2 |
103.2 |
120.2 |
121.7 |
|
HIV-infection |
1.0 |
2.75 |
13.8 |
38.89 |
|
Occupational diseases (toxicosis) |
2.33 |
1.85 |
1.77 |
1.84 |
ANNEX 17
Establishments
providing supplementary education for children under the auspices
of the Russian Federation Ministry of Education
|
Type of establishment |
Number of
establishments |
Attendees, in
thousands |
||
|
1998 |
1999 |
1998 |
1999 |
|
|
TOTAL |
7 842 |
8 617 |
7 050.7 |
7 623.2 |
|
including |
|
|
|
|
|
Centres |
2 286 |
2 394 |
2 894 |
3 040 |
|
"Palaces" |
154 |
144 |
473.2 |
470.3 |
|
Houses |
1 365 |
1 365 |
1 254.8 |
1 308.2 |
|
Clubs |
1 097 |
1 258 |
562.3 |
668.6 |
|
Children's studios |
64 |
59 |
25 |
20.9 |
|
Stations |
944 |
886 |
596.1 |
565.6 |
|
Phildren's parks |
76 |
50 |
31.4 |
40.7 |
|
Schools |
1 845 |
2 406 |
1 212.4 |
1 496.9 |
|
Museums |
11 |
7 |
2 |
0.7 |
|
Health and education camps |
… |
48 |
… |
11.4 |
ANNEX 18
Educational establishments for children with health deficiencies
|
|
Number of schools s |
Attendees, in thousand |
||||||
|
1996/97 |
1997/98 |
1998/99 |
1999/2000 |
1996/97 |
1997/98 |
1998/99 |
1999/2000 |
|
|
Total of establishments for children with health deficiencies |
1 889 |
1 900 |
1 922 |
1 944 |
277.2 |
279.6 |
283.5 |
283.9 |
|
including: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mentally retarded |
1 440 |
1 432 |
1 415 |
1 416 |
208.5 |
209.4 |
208.3 |
206.3 |
|
Blind |
20 |
22 |
17 |
16 |
3.4 |
3.8 |
2.9 |
2.9 |
|
Impaired sight |
61 |
63 |
71 |
80 |
8.5 |
8.3 |
9.8 |
10.2 |
|
Deaf |
84 |
83 |
86 |
88 |
11.3 |
10.9 |
11 |
11.1 |
|
Hard of hearing and deaf later on |
77 |
81 |
83 |
80 |
11 |
11.2 |
11.4 |
10.7 |
|
Physically handicapped children |
52 |
55 |
70 |
74 |
6.7 |
7 |
8.8 |
9.2 |
|
Children with serious speech defects |
62 |
62 |
61 |
61 |
11.9 |
11.7 |
12.2 |
11.7 |
|
Mentally children |
71 |
83 |
105 |
111 |
13.4 |
14.7 |
17.3 |
19.1 |
|
Other schools |
22 |
19 |
14 |
18 |
2.5 |
2.6 |
1.9 |
2.7 |
|
In addition, classes for children with health deficiencies organized in general educational establishments: |
16 482 |
17 281 |
18 423 |
18 855 |
192.9 |
203.8 |
212.4 |
217.7 |
|
Mentally retarded children |
1 294 |
1 545 |
1 977 |
1 851 |
14.7 |
16.6 |
20.1 |
22.1 |
|
Mentally ill children |
14 607 |
15 443 |
16 376 |
16 794 |
175.9 |
185.1 |
190 |
193.8 |
ANNEX 19
Profile of the population's cash income
|
|
All cash income |
including |
||||
|
Remuneration for work, including
hidden salaries |
Income from business
activities |
Social transfers |
Income from property |
Other incom |
||
|
2000 |
||||||
|
First quarter |
100.0 |
64.2 |
13.9 |
13.4 |
7.4 |
1.1 |
|
Second quarter |
100.0 |
65.4 |
11.9 |
13.7 |
7.7 |
1.3 |
|
Third quarter |
100.0 |
65.0 |
12.7 |
13.7 |
7.4 |
1.2 |
|
Fourth quarter |
100.0 |
67.1 |
12.2 |
13.0 |
6.4 |
1.3 |
|
Whole year |
100.0 |
65.6 |
12.6 |
13.4 |
7.2 |
1.2 |
|
2001 |
||||||
|
First quarter |
100.0 |
63.4 |
12.8 |
15.9 |
6.2 |
1.7 |
|
Second quarter |
100.0 |
66.4 |
11.3 |
14.7 |
5.8 |
1.8 |
[1] Manufacturing, agriculture, forestry, transport, communications, construction, wholesale trading, intermediate products, geology and mineral exploration, geodesic an hydrometeorological services, public housing, public health.
[2] Correlated data on Russia's social security system as at 1 January 1999 have been made available by the Russian Government, and are published in the booklet "Social Security Programs throughout the World -1999" prepared jointly by the United States Social Protection Department and the International Social Security Association.
[3] Article 168 of the Labour Code of the Russian Federation, as revised by Federal Act No. 84 of 30 April 1999, "Changes and amendments to the Russian Federation Labour Code".
[4] Article 22 of the Russian Federation Basic Legislation on Public Health Protection.
[5] Russian Federation Civil Code, Part I, Article 27.
[6] These include projects on "Disabled children", "Developing social services for women and children", "Preventing neglect of minors and their involvement in crime", "Orphaned children", "Gifted children", "Development of the All-Russian children's centres "Eaglet" and "Ocean", "Children of the North", "Children of families who are refugees or who have suffered enforced resettlement", "The children of Chernobyl" and "Safe motherhood".
[7] Information on this matter is contained in paras 71-73 of the Russian Federation's second periodic report on implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was considered by the Committee on the Rights of the Child at its twenty-second session in 1999.
[8] Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 721 of 14 May 1996, "Main tenets of State policy on the family".
[9] Article 165 of the Russian Federation Labour Code.
[10] See information on benefits in paras. 144-204 above.
[11] Additional information on this matter is contained in paras. 436-451 of the Russian Federation's second periodic report on implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, considered at its twenty-second session in 1999 by the Committee on the Rights of the Child.
[12] Article 50, paragraph 14.
[13] Data for 2000.
[14] Additional information on this matter is contained in paras. 232-234, 239, 241 and 243-245 of the Russian Federation's second periodic report on implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, considered at its twenty-second session in 1999 by the Committee on the Rights of the Child.
[15] Decision No. 275 of 29 March 2000.
[16] Decision No. 268 of 28 March 2000.
[17] Decision No. 267 of 28 March 2000.
[18] Decision No. 919 of 3 August 1996.
[19] See Attachment 19.
[20] Data as of May 2001.
[21] See Annex 9.