The Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office noted the coordinating role of the Council in implementing state policy in the sphere of family and child protection. Anton Vaino drew attention to the ambitious tasks facing the Council and underscored the need for close cooperation among all levels of government and establishing feedback channels with families and children in the Council’s work.
In her remarks, Valentina Matviyenko outlined a number of priorities for the Council in 2019, including state policy in educating the younger generation, implementing measures under the Decade of Childhood as part of national projects, and public oversight over the implementation of measures under the Decade of Childhood.
Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights Anna Kuznetsova reported on the project to monitor instructional programmes in educational institutions. In particular, she made a recommendation to develop special criteria for measuring the quality of childhood in the regions.
Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova noted that the approved plan of activities for the Decade of Childhood includes 131 measures to improve the well-being of families with children, preserve and maintain children’s health, develop the education system, including for gifted children and children with disabilities, and to solve infrastructure and child safety problems.
The meeting was also attended by Presidential Adviser and Deputy Chair of the Council Alexandra Levitskaya, Deputy Speaker of the State Duma Irina Yarovaya, Head of the Youth Projects Department of the Russian Popular Front Igor Kastyukevich, TV presenter Arina Sharapova, and President of the Yelena Isinbayeva Charity Foundation, Olympic champion Yelena Isinbayeva.
The Council was established by the Presidential Executive Order of November 19, 2018, to implement state policy in the sphere of family and child protection and to develop proposals for its improvement, as well as to provide public oversight over the implementation of activities carried out as part of the Decade of Childhood (2018–2027).