Launch of the project on children's rights protection “Different children - equal rights!”

The human rights organization “Man and Law” together with partners and experts from various NGOs announces the launch of a social project dedicated to the protection of children's rights “Different children – equal rights!”. The project is primarily designed to work with vulnerable groups:
– large families;
– families raising children with disabilities and special needs;
– families with delinquent children;
– families raising foster children;
– families where children with HIV-positive parents live.

According to the Federal register of people with disabilities in the fall of 2019, there were almost 700 thousand children with disabilities in Russia. According to the Government of the RussianFederation for 2019, about 51% of large families are below the poverty line. In 2019, theMinistry of Internal Affairs of Russia identified about 38 thousand juvenile offenders. Such families and children need special support from society and the state and protection of their rights and freedoms.

At the same time, for the most part, the main role in raising children falls on the shoulders of women, who are also insufficiently protected. According to the statement of the Commissionerfor children's rights under the President of the Russian Federation, in 2017, almost a third of Russian families have children raised by single mothers. According to a study by the NAFI Analytical center, about 50% of mothers who raise children alone have to take out loans regularly. We believe it is important to support women who find themselves in difficult situations.

An individual family does not always receive the necessary assistance, because in Russia there is insufficient interaction between social services, authorities and everyone. Project “Different children-equal rights!” is aimed at increasing the potential of NGOs: creating coalitions in which NGOs can constantly actively interact with each other, with their target groups and authorities.

NGOs will act as intermediaries between families, children and representatives of state structures. By solving specific problems in the regions, we will be able to work together to improve the work of social services, providing families with the necessary legal, psychological and medical services that will meet international standards. We strive to ensure that non-profit organizations are perceived by the authorities as equal partners. NGOs that help families and children have a huge incentive to work, but do not always have enough knowledge and skills, experience and resources to perform effectively their role in promoting the interests of target groups. Moving on a hunch, they themselves need the support that the project team plans to provide.

Project "Different children – equal rights!" is aimed at helping NGOs from the Volga Federal district and the North-Western Federal district. Thus, we will cover 25 regions of Russia.

The project includes support for families, children and NGOs in the following areas:

Legal education and advice
The project team already provides legal advice on the protection of children's rights and the interests of families. If you are a parent or representative of an NGO and you have legal questions, please contact our lawyers. To do this, fill out the form on our website. We also plan to conduct legal awareness-raising trainings and seminars on children's rights protection in the regions, including for NGO lawyers.

Financial support for NGOs
We will help NGOs implement their initiatives: we will announce a call for project proposals to protect children's rights, which will result in 3 interregional and 5 regional projects receiving financial support.

Work with government agencies
To establish interaction with local authorities, the project team will initiate the creation of dialogue platforms and social service fairs among educational institutions, rehabilitation centers, social services, etc.

Association of NGOs
We plan to hold interregional conferences where NGOs from different regions will be able to work together.

International exchange of experience
The project team will also organize a study tour to Germany to exchange experience with European NGOs that support families and children. The problems of families and children are international in nature, so it is important to adopt the best practices of colleagues, share your own experience and apply best practices in your regions.

Media education
For journalists and bloggers, we plan to hold a training and competition for the best media project, so that they can study the problem and form a benevolent attitude of society to vulnerable groups.

If you work for a non-profit organization that helps families and children from vulnerable social groups, and you are interested in participating in any part of the project (consultation, training, call for project proposals, etc.), then fill out a small application. We will notify you of upcoming events and consider you as potential candidates to participate in our events.

The European Union co-funded project “Different Children – Equal Rights!” is implemented by the human rights organisation “Man and Law”, non-profit organisation Pro NGO! (Germany), as well as experts from various Russian regional NGOs.

Launch of the project on children's rights protection “Different children – equal rights!”

ПАРТНЕРЫ