The pandemic, now in its second year, has dealt a heavy blow to all spheres of public life in one way or another, without exception, and every citizen of our country has faced its consequences. At the same time, we can confidently say that society was able to come together in these difficult circumstances, join efforts with the state to mitigate and eliminate the consequences of the global biological cataclysm.

The state, taking full responsibility for taking timely measures to support society in this extremely difficult period, has opened a window of opportunity for society to form a new social consensus based on trust and mutual assistance.

The Annual Report on the state of civil society, prepared by the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation, is devoted to the most relevant trends that influenced the development of our country in 2021. One of the most important topics is public trust, the fundamental conditions of which are openness to cooperation for the sake of people’s well-being, taking into account their interests when making state decisions, and positive, qualitative changes in each person’s life.

The Civic Chamber, which over the years has become one of the central institutions of organized civil society, makes constant efforts to form a circle of trust, in which sometimesopposing interests can be reconciled and taken into account, and balanced approaches can be found for the most difficult of interactions between society, business, the media, and public authorities.

Today the Civic Chamber notes a significant transformation in the public-state dialogue, the most important characteristic of which is the equal partnership between the state and society, as well as broad support for the nonprofit sector and institutions of public control, for which new opportunities are opening up.

A striking example of this joint work was the support of the Head of State and the Government of Russia for the initiatives of the Civic Chamber’s Coordination Council on National Projects and Population Preservation, aimed at correcting national projects and monitoring the achievement of national development goals2.

In 2021, continuing the public evaluation of regulatory legal acts with the wide involvement of representatives of the expert community, regional civic chambers and public councils under federal executive authorities. The Civic Chamber focused on the legislative implementation of the “social” amendments to the updated Constitution. The increased public interest in this topic remains, as evidenced by the large number of appeals by citizens to the Civic Chamber regarding the constitutional system and the foundations of state government.

In 2021, there were also a significant number of appeals regarding society’s development in terms of health, education, and social security, as well as security and law enforcement issues. The issues of ensuring the right to housing also became an important topic: this refers to the loss, absence, or deprivation of housing, resettlement from dilapidated housing, and providing housing for children left without parental care. Complaints related to a whole range of problems in the housing and utilities sector; rising tariffs and prices, falling quality of services, and the villages gas supply infrastructure development remain relevant. According to all received appeals, the Civic Chamber, using the means at its disposal and striving to find balanced and effective solutions, acted as a platform for fostering a constructive dialogue between interested parties.

APPEALS BY CITIZENS AND ORGANIZATIONS

FOR THE PERIOD 1 NOVEMBER — 1 DECEMBER 2021, THE CIVIC CHAMBER RECEIVED AND CONSIDERED

51,147

APPEALS

13,905

CALLS TO THE HOTLINE

FROM 15−30 NOVEMBER, THE CIVIC CHAMBER RECEIVED 39,978 APPEALS FROM CITIZENS RELATED TO THE DISCUSSION OF THE DRAFT LAW ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CERTIFICATES FOR VACCINATED CITIZENS

NEW GENERAL APPROACHES TO WORKING WITH CITIZEN APPEALS

• INFORMATIONAL SUPPORT FOR THE CONSIDERATION AND RESOLUTION OF THE MOST RESONANT AND SOCIALLY SIGNIFICANT APPEALS
• INCREASING THE IN-FIELD APPEALS WORK BY THE MEMBERS OF THE CIVIC CHAMBER OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION ELECTED FROM REGIONAL CIVIC CHAMBERS
• MEETINGS WITH APPLICANTS AND ANALYSIS OF CITIZENS' APPEALS DURING THE REGIONAL “COMMUNITY” FORUMS

Vivid examples of the work with citizens' appeals in 2021 were joint interaction of the Civic Chamber’s and regional civic chambers. Thanks to the efforts of the members of the Civic Chamber, the legal conflict faced by the heads of private kindergartens in the city of Samara was resolved. In connection with the ambiguous interpretation of a clause of one of the resolutions of the Samara city district administration, which considered the payment for services by parents, the heads of private kindergartens faced charges of fraud and were brought to book. The prompt response of the federal and regional civic chambers helped to resolve this conflict. The resolution was amended to eliminate the legal and linguistic ambiguity of the situation that caused the conflict, and private kindergartens continued their successful and fruitful work in the region. To exclude such precedents in the future, including in other regions of Russia, the Civic Chamber has prepared a number of recommendations to federal and local authorities.

Another example of such successful interaction was the work on the collective appeal of 13 visually impaired people to preserve the Ufa branch of the “Belavtodetal” plant, which provides jobs for people with disabilities. According to the appeal, the plant was about to be sold out based on the company’s management conclusion about the plant dilapidated status without providing any legal evidence of this fact at all. Following appeals from members of the federal and regional civic chambers and their active involvement in solving the problem, members of the central board of the All-Russia Association of the Blind investigated the incident. The investigation stamped to preserve the enterprise and increase the number of jobs for the blind.

It is the appeals of citizens that act as an indicator of public interests and sentiments, which was convincingly demonstrated by the preliminary hearings of the draft federal law on amendments to a number of regulatory legal acts on the introduction of certificates for vaccinated and ill COVID-19 citizens, held in the Civic Chamber on November 26, 2021.

The introduction of the draft law to the State Duma by the Russian Government caused a widespread public outcry, taking which into account the Civic Chamber considered it necessary to provide a platform for dialog for everyone who would like to express their opinion on this topic. Within two weeks of the decision to hold preliminary hearings of the bill, an unprecedented number of citizens appealed to the Civic Chamber. The number of appeals, which contained a wide range of proposals from improving the draft law to its complete abolition, reached almost 40,000. In an average year, the Civic Chamber receives 15−17,000 appeals. The Civic Chamber hotline received over 700 calls on this topic.

After analyzing all the positions, the Civic Chamber, during the preliminary hearings, noted that opponents of the bills do not oppose vaccination but express concerns about the mechanism for introducing COVID-19 certificates. The results of the public discussion were specific suggestions and comments on the revision of the draft law, which aimed to ensure the maximal rights and legal interests of citizens.

The subsequent decision of the State Duma to quash the draft law on the QR codes in transport from consideration and send it for further revision was the result of taking into account the opinions and appeals of a significant number of citizens who took an active part in the public discussion of this utmost issue.

The most important task of the Civic Chamber was to ensure public observation on a single voting day in September 2021. The Civic Chamber states that, despite the difficult epidemiological situation and attempts of foreign interference in the election campaign, the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation handled its assigned tasks, ensuring an unprecedented level of transparency and legitimacy of the electoral process. This year, public observation has reached a qualitatively new level, significantly expanding not only its technological capabilities but also its coverage. For the first time, digital tools for verifying the results of remote voting, based on advanced blockchain technologies, were introduced into the public observation system. Summing up the results of the year, we can say with full confidence that public observation has become one of the largest projects of Russia’s entire civil society

The Civic Chamber notes the significant strengthening of the infrastructure for the support and development of civil society in the country, thanks to the launch of a number of large-scale social projects. These include the creation of the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives, the launch of the “Krug Dobra” Foundation (Circle of Kindness Foundation) for the support of children with severe lifethreatening and chronic diseases, and restarting the activities of such historically significant public organizations as the Russian Red Cross and the “Znanie” (Knowledge Society).

One of the most striking trends in Russian society has been the universal growth of the volunteer movement, including in the business sector, where corporate volunteering has become a new management trend. With their hearts, and not by order, people unite to achieve both small and large goals in healthcare, ecology, education, and the preservation of cultural and historical heritage.

Taking into account that online communities and small groups that arise largely in order to solve local problems have become the most important points of the solidification and growth of civil society activities in 2021, the Civic Chamber seeks to unite them on its platform, to support them in developing a consolidated position and bringing it to public authorities in the form of concrete proposals. The development of institutions of regional and municipal civic chambers and increasing interaction with them will improve the efficiency of work on uniting civil activists to solve socially important tasks.

A separate area of work, despite a number of continuing restrictions related to the pandemic, was the increased international cooperation through civil society, including with ex-patriot communities and residents of twin cities.

The Civic Chamber notes with regret that, at the international level, in 2021, the necessary level of cooperation in countering coronavirus infection was not maintained. The leading countries of the world put their national interests to the fore in this fight, and this not only seriously set back world successes in the fight against the pandemic but also exacerbated mutual distrust and rivalry.

The Civic Chamber is eager to discuss all these important matters along with other international topics, such as digital inequality, cybercrime, and the protection of citizens' rights in the digital environment. Additionally, in 2022−2023 all these points of discussion will be raised at the international level due to the Presidency of the Civic Chamber in the International Association of Economic and Social Councils and Similar Institutions (AICESIS).

The Civic Chamber sees its mission not only in facilitating a dialog with the authorities but also in ensuring that this results in fair decisions. Having formulated this mission, the Civic Chamber, based on its priority of trust on the part of citizens, strives to be a vehicle for systemic change aimed at the development of the country and to achieve tangible qualitative changes in the daily lives of our citizens.

Introduction