I. The Problems of Forced Conscription can be Solved Only by a Transition to Voluntary Recruitment

II.In Five Year the Moscow House of Charity has Helped Nearly6 650,000 Muscovites

III. A New Profession--Noncommercial Organization Manager--is Being Born Before our Eyes

IV. Creation of the Ekaterinburg Center for the Support of Social Initiatives

I. The Problems of Forced Conscription can be Solved Only by a Transition to Voluntary Recruitment

The date for the State Duma's review of the draft law "On Alternative Civil Service" is approaching. In connection with this [review], the Liberal Union Young Solidarity has issued a statement which indicates in particular that at the present time the absence of a law on alternative civil service allows some young people to avoid military slavery by demanding to be allowed civil substitute service, the right to which is prescribed in the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

Some democrats who support the law "On Alternative Civil Service," the statement further explains, wish for only the illusion of success. They hope that most people will prefer alternative service, the ranks of soldiers will be reduced, and the generals will be forced to begin the transition to a professional army. But the draft law "On Alternative Civil Service," under which the term [of alternative service] is 3 years, is quite discriminatory, and we may not hope for this result.

In the opinion of the Union, even the most ideal alternative service will not solve the problem of forced conscription. The only way out is the quickest possible transition to a voluntary system of recruitment of the armed forces.

"Adoption of the law in question," the conclusion [of the statement] says," will promptly announce our total rejection of any type of obligatory service, whether military or civil, on the basis of Art. 4 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."

Contact telephone: 291-4355

II. In Five Year the Moscow House of Charity has Helped Nearly6 650,000 Muscovites

On November 16 at the Moscow Mayor's office there was a conference dedicated to the 5 year anniversary of the volunteer movement in Moscow presented by the Volunteer Center Moscow House of Charity [MHC] on the topic "Volunteerism--The Basis for the Construction of Civil Society." The conference was made possible thanks to support from the Committee on Social and Regional Relations of the Moscow city government and sponsorship by the director of the society DOR Constantine Chikin (San Francisco, USA), the firms Nabisco and Fererra, and also by the international law firm Business and Law and others.

Created in 1991 as a nongovernmental charitable foundation, MHC combined the forces of social organizations, volunteers, and state and commercial entities in the cause of giving aid to needy Muscovites. MHC and its continuous chairman Galina Bodrankova accepted greetings from representatives of the state, commercial enterprises, and social organizations.

State Duma deputy Valerii Borshchev called MHC's activity "a moral alternative to the burdens of contemporary life without which the renewal of Russia is impossible." Volunteer S. Vasil'ev from the northeast administrative district called it "an anchor" of salvation for socially vulnerable citizens, from children with disabilities to the elderly.

It is no secret that of the 148 million Russians, one out of three is in need of help. In Moscow alone this category includes 3.5 million people. Charity and the sympathy of volunteers are the last hope of the elderly and the ill. In Galina Bodrenkova's words, "In the 5 years of its existence around 650,000 people have received help in the form of various social services thanks to the efforts of MHC's volunteers."

It is well known that the level of development of a society is determined by the level of its care for those in need independent of the government. One of the Volunteer Center's chief tasks today is the spreading of the volunteer movement in society. With this goal in mind it was decided to broaden cooperation with the government, business circles, and the third sector. As the Chairman of the Social Security Committee of the City of Moscow O. Klemanova said, "the coordinating activity of the Committee and MHC in the 2 years of their work together has brought in 8 billion rubles that were directed toward organizing social and charitable measures."

One of the fundamental principles of MHC's activity has been to organize the work of noncommercial, charitable organizations on a territorial basis. The conference participants noted in particular that "MHC became the successor to the historical traditions of social initiatives in the cause of helping the needy when in 1894 (sic) the Moscow City Duma created a system of city guardianship for the poor." The undoubted leaders among 64 territorial agencies were named the Family Support Center of the Sviblovo district, the territorial agency Femina, and the Center for Families with Numerous Children "Hearth" of the northeast administrative district, a winner of the prestigious international award "Torch of Birmingham." In the words of the director of Hearth E. Gavrilova "the aim of our society is the development of family volunteerism. Hearth should become a center of light and good for families, to help develop goodwill and spirituality in children."

Contact telephone: 291-3041

III. A New Profession--Noncommercial Organization Manager--is Being Born Before our Eyes

The Academy of Social Initiatives was opened in October, created by the social organizations The National Foundation and The National Foundation for Cooperation in the Liquidation of Communal Apartments with support from American partner organizations.

Since November the Academy has acted as a consultation and training center under the name The Civil Initiative School. The first course, consisting of 5 lessons, is called "How to Create A Local Social Organization." At the first lesson, which took place Nov. 12, the participants (the directors of the Istrinskii Artisans Center, the Krasnogorskii Union of Persons With Numerous Children, etc.) were to answer the questions "why have we come together?" and "what sort of organization will work well?" As a result a collective portrait of a prospective organization was created. Such an organization will work well if its goals are clearly defined and it has an activity plan including a leader and a board. In addition, the goals of the organization should be socially significant.

The students were required to think up their own project and "spend" $5,000 on its realization. It became clear that whatever organizations the imagination of the students created that acted (according to the rules of the exercise) in one region, they reinforce each other. By combining their forces each could save nearly one half of its expenditures.

The students had homework--to create a questionnaire for the residents of the region and for neighboring social organizations to study the problems of the region and to determine what to address first.

Trainers Kirill Zandrikov and Elena Egorova led the first lesson. "We have practically no educational institutions that prepare directors for social organizations," said National Foundation worker E. Egorova. "We decided to prepare specialists who wish to work in the third sector, in local social agencies. A new profession is being born before our eyes."

Contact telephone: 244-0042

IV. Creation of the Ekaterinburg Center for the Support of Social Initiatives

More than 20 social agencies in Ekaterinburg and its oblast have founded a new social institution, the Ekaterinburg regional center for the support of civil initiatives "Civil Society."

It all began with the creation in Sverdlovsk in 1987 of the group "Meeting 87." Over the course of nearly 10 years this informal group has provided organizational, technical, informational and legal assistance for the activities of nongovernmental organizations that have as their goal the realization of the legal rights and interests of citizens, the destruction of the totalitarian regime, and the construction of civil society.

The charter tasks of the newly created Center are to provide technical, legal and other assistance to give citizens the possibility of defending their legal rights and interests and to enable the creation of civil society; to cooperate in the professionalization of the activity of social organizations; contacts; exchange of information; cooperation and solidarity with social entities in the region and in Russia; legal education; and the creation of social defense of rights in the region.

The legal form of the Center--a social institution--was dictated by the necessity of ensuring the clear organization of services for social initiatives and the creation of conditions for coordination of the resources of organizations. Vladimir Nev'iantsev was chosen as Executive Director of the Center.

Contact telephone: (3432) 34-3820.

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