Human Rights Movement Support in Russia

• In September of last year, the President of Russia signed the Decree "On additional measures of state support for the human rights movement in the Russian Federation."
• The goal of the Decree is not to "feed" or "tame" human rights activists, but to establish more effective interaction with state structures, ensuring that the representation of human rights organizations in advisory and consultative bodies at the federal and regional levels is more significant.
• Analysis of regional Human Rights Commissions showed a pattern: commissions consisting mainly of officials with few NGO representatives are often overly formalized, sluggish, and ineffective, becoming mere bureaucratic appendages of the authorities without public authority.
• This Decree marks the first step toward changing the nature of human rights advisory and consultative bodies at the district and regional levels.
• New initiatives are being prepared to expand NGO capabilities, create modern financing mechanisms, and ensure financial stability, provided they maintain independence from the state in their activities.

The Russian Non-Profit Sector

• The Russian non-profit sector (comprising over 600,000 organizations) plays a notable role in the country's socio-economic life, acting as a source of social innovation.
• It develops dynamically and works effectively even with unstable financing based on voluntary contributions from legal entities and individuals.
• State support, in the form of receipts from various budget levels and extra-budgetary funds, accounts for only 1.2% of the total NGO funding.

Challenges and Future Steps

• The potential of Russian NGOs remains significantly untapped.
• A restraining factor is the tax legislation regarding NGOs and charity, which is criticized by both Russian and foreign experts.
• To create conditions for the normal development of civil society, the President, based on the need, transformed the Commission into the Presidential Council for Promoting the Development of Civil Society Institutions via a subsequent Decree.

(Handwritten note in top right: (4) VVP Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin against Podrabinek)