The forum took place in Kemerovo with support from the President’s Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Siberian Federal District, the Governor and Government of the Kemerovo Region, and the Fund for the Support of Disadvantaged Children. More than 300 specialists from Siberian Federal District regions and other areas discussed effective practices for preventing children from becoming social orphans.
The commissioner’s team has visited 36 regions as part of their inspection, initiating work on nearly 1,400 personal files. They analysed the performance of 54 childcare institutions, 13 custody and guardianship agencies, and 11 juvenile affairs commissions in the Republic of Tyva, the Republic of Khakassia, and the Irkutsk, Kemerovo, and Tomsk regions. Work has commenced on 230 cases.
In her remarks, Maria Lvova-Belova emphasised the judicial protection of families as a priority. Specifically, regional children’s rights commissioners will be given a power of attorney for joining the judicial process in children’s interests.
Maria Lvova-Belova also highlighted the implementation of the Vyzov (Challenge) special project aimed at introducing a family-saving approach and reducing the number of children in institutions by 25 percent. Fourteen Russian regions have already joined the project.
Maria Lvova-Belova had a meeting with Kemerovo Region Governor Ilya Seredyuk, during which she said that a service working with families would be created in the region as part of the effort to implement the Vyzov project. An NGO operator has been assigned to provide targeted assistance to families with children.
The Children’s Rights Commissioner also met with the heads of the Kemerovo Region’s prevention system bodies and institutions, visited the Umka orphanage, and held open office hours for the public at the Little Prince social rehabilitation centre.