The Gorbachev Foundation holds an international conference themed “Canadian Experience of Gender Equality Initiatives and its Applicability in Russia”

      On October 16-17, 2006, the Governance Advisory and Exchange Program (GAEP, Canada) and the Raisa Maximovna Club (the Gorbachev Foundation) conducted a joint conference with a theme of Canadian Experience of Gender Equality Initiatives and its Applicability in Russia.
     The program of the Conference included speeches by Canadian (GAEP Gender Adviser Karen Diaz and Gender Equality Consultant Carmen Paquette) and Russian experts, as well as practitioners in gender equality working in local governments both in Moscow and in the Russian provinces. The experience of the Canadian Federal Government in the gradual implementation of gender equality differs from the Russian experience of defining gender problems, since the rules of interaction between women’s organizations and authorities in Russia are different. Are Canadian initiatives, like the methods of gendered analysis of various spheres of social life (public service, operations of municipal governments, education sphere, etc.), presented at the Conference, applicable in Russia? This question was the subject of several speeches, since the Canadian gender policies and their applicability in Russia are the topic of a major project implemented by GAEР. Russian participants of the project shared their impressions of involvement with the project. For instance, Valentina Uspenskaya, Director of the Center for Women’s History and Gender Studies at the Tver State University, Tver, Russia, told the audience about the obstacles to the implementation of gender equality policy in Russia, most notably, the lack of political will.  In contrast, Lyudmila Mashirova, Head of the Training and Methodology Unit of the Department of Labor and Social Development of the Vologda Region and Secretary of the Vologda Region Coordination Council for Gender Equality Policy Implementation in the Region, Vologda, Russia, spoke about the achievements and the progress that have been made in this area in her region. For instance, this academic year, special courses on gender policies have been introduced into the curricula of Vologda-based colleges and universities, where public servants receive training.
     In her speech Olga Khasbulatova, Deputy Governor of the Ivanovo Region, Russia, dealt with the difficulties in implementing gender equality approaches in education: in spite of the clear progress (gender courses introduced in many universities; gender textbooks approved by the Education Ministry; graduation and term papers written on gender issues; etc.), the trend of discrimination on gender basis still persists (lower wages and salaries for women, obstacles to their career development, etc.) and texts of many textbooks and manuals still remain sexist. Marina Baskakova, Leading Researcher at the Institute for Social Processes Management, Moscow, illustrated the gender problems using the official statistics which show a very disturbing situation in the Russian society (gaps in life expectancy and education between men and women, patterns of self-destructing behavior characteristic of men, etc.). Olga Zdravomyslova (the Gorbachev Foundation, Moscow) in her speech reviewed the results of fifteen years’ experience of gender education in Russia, outlined new challenges and raised the question of gender education strategy in the current situation. Speakers at the Conference also included Natalia Kamenetskaya, Project Leader with the Autonomous Non-Commercial Organization “Creative Laboratory,” Moscow, author Tatiana Klimenkova, Moscow, and others.
     On October 17, participants of the Conference took the tour of the Gorbachev Foundation’s Exhibit Center “Mikhail Gorbachev: Life and Reforms.”
    Proceedings of the conference will be posted on the Gorbachev Foundation’s Web site.