All Russian Society of the Disabled

ARSD is a national organization with 2,500 district and regional offices and 2.2 million members. Its primary goal is the integration of disabled people into society.

ASRD has become an active member of the international disability community. The ARSD often takes part in international conferences and is active in Disabled Peoples' International. As a result of management and leadership development training, several ARSD and regional affiliate members ran for office in Russia's December 1993 elections. The ARSD also lobbied successfully for the development of national legislation regarding the rights and protection of disabled citizens in Russia.

ARSD owns 1500 businesses whose profits are expected to offer its regional and district branches a substantial amount of funding to support ARSD's activities. ARSD and the World Institute on Disability have collaborated to develop a model training and technical assistance project to ensure the viability of these businesses. Twenty-five business directors have produced business plans to date. At least 5 have succeeded at receiving some form of investments. Twelve central and regional business consultants have been trained to assist businesses in developing their plans. All consultants are currently "on line".

The WID/ARSD partnership (which began in 1992) has been effective in educating the public about disability-related issues through local, regional, national, and international media. WID and ARSD have also collaborated to train over seventy ARSD leaders in advocacy, accessibility, management, public education and media, disability legislation, and other issues related to the disability movement worldwide. ARSD will soon have sixteen full fledged trainers. ARSD and WID are currently working to develop an inservice training system for ARSD's 6,000 staff, and to develop a national training center.

Last updated:    January 1997

A print version of much of the information contained in this NIS Third Sector Organizations section can be found in the The Post-Soviet Handbook (Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1999).

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