The 2020 Russian Federation National Award for Outstanding Achievements in Human Rights went to Yelena Topoleva-Soldunova
Yelena Topoleva-Soldunova was born on January 18, 1959, in Moscow. She is the Director of the autonomous non-profit organisation Social Information Agency, and Chair of the Civic Chamber Commission on Non-Profit Sector Development and Support for Socially Oriented NGOs. She has been awarded a medal of the Order for Services to the Fatherland, 2nd Class.
Yelena Topoleva-Soldunova has been actively engaged in human rights work since 1995. She promoted the introduction of effective standards and models for human rights activities and socially oriented NGOs. From 2012 to 2016, as a member of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights, she headed the permanent commission on the development of NGOs. In recent years, she has been vigorously promoting socially oriented NGOs, securing their admission to the social services market.
In 2020, Ms Topoleva-Soldunova initiated state support measures for NGOs during the COVID-19 pandemic. She organised preparation of relevant proposals advanced by the Civic Chamber and the Russian Popular Front. The most significant proposal was to create a unified register of socially oriented and other non-profit organisations entitled to state support during the period of the coronavirus restrictions. These government support measures have been implemented and welcomed by the non-profit sector.
Yelena Topoleva-Soldunova took part in the #WeAreTogether nationwide campaign and was awarded a commemorative medal for her selfless contribution to organising the nationwide mutual aid campaign We Are Together.