30 January 2004
The Gorbachev Foundation Holds a PresentationOn January 30, 2004, the Gorbachev Foundation held a presentation, sponsored by the Raisa Maximovna Club, the Gorbachev Foundation, U.S.-based non-governmental organization Kidsave International, and the USAID-sponsored, grant-giving Assistance to Russian Orphans (ARO) program. Ms. Randi E. Thompson, Executive Director, Kidsave International, presented the findings of the Survey of Public Knowledge, Attitude and Behaviors Regarding Children in Russia's Orphanages. This survey, commissioned by Kidsave International and conducted by CSR Market Research Company in July 2003 with funding from the James R. Greenbaum, Jr. Family Foundation, studied the attitudes of Russian people towards orphan children, orphanages and adoption. 3,200 people aged 18 to 65 were surveyed in 14 regions of Russia. The Presentation included the Round Table discussion on the theme of “A Child’s Right to A Family: How to Ensure It.” The discussion focused on two main issues: (1) How best to inform the public about the problems of orphan children and how to attract its attention; and (2) What types of interaction between government, commercial, international and Russian non-governmental organizations could be helpful in solving this problem. Among participants who presented their views on this issue were Dr. Irina Virganskaya, Mr. Gorbachev's daughter and Vice President of the Gorbachev Foundation, representatives of the USAID, the World Bank, Moscow Government’s Department for Social Protection, the Education Ministry of the Russian Federation, and members of the academic community. Ms. Olga Zdravomyslova, Head of the Public Affairs Centre of the Gorbachev Foundation, presented a new book The Ordinary Evil: Studies of Family Violence. This collection of papers was prepared by the Raisa Maximovna Club, the Gorbachev Foundation, on the basis of proceedings of the Person and Family: Overcoming Violence Conference, held by the Gorbachev Foundation. The book was published in 2003 by the Editorial URSS Publishers funding from the Geneva Network Program of the Open Society Institute. The complete Executive Summary of the Survey of Public Knowledge, Attitude and Behaviors Regarding Children in Russia's Orphanages (approx. 50 kb) is available for downloading online at |
The XXI century will be a сentury either of total all-embracing crisis or of moral and spiritual healing that will reinvigorate humankind. It is my conviction that all of us - all reasonable political leaders, all spiritual and ideological movements, all faiths - must help in this transition to a triumph of humanism and justice, in making the XXI century a century of a new human renaissance.
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