RF Communication overview

Background

With a total land area of more than 17 million sq km, the Russian Federation is the largest country in Europe . It is divided into 89 constituent units: 49 regions, 21 republics, six territories, two federal cities, one autonomous oblast and 10 autonomous okrugs. Its population of 143.4 million, of which 14.6% is under age 15, is highly urbanized (73%) and characterized by a high literacy level (99.5% in 1999).

The Russian Federation is still burdened with the negative consequences of economic and social transition. Although the economic situation in the country has been slowly improving over the last two years, poverty still remains widespread. About 30% of the population, or more than 40 million people, subsists on incomes below the official poverty line (1,507 Russian roubles or less than US$50 per month), with considerably higher rates among households with children (almost 60% of families with 1 to 2 children, and about 80% of families with 3 or more children) and in rural areas.

Child protection concerns

Vulnerability factors

Statistics related to “street children” are extremely contradictory with estimates ranging from 40,000 to 3.5 million in the Russian Federation. In 2001, the Ministry of Internal Affair’s Research Institute estimated that Moscow alone has 33,000 homeless children, an 18% increase from 1999.
Many children who live on the streets have living parents and potential housing. A 2001 ILO survey of Moscow street children showed that only 8.9% defined themselves as homeless. Among working street children in Moscow, 4 out of 10 do not attend school, even part-time, and reject any plan to attend secondary education. Life on the streets exposes these children to many risks, including alcohol and drug abuse, HIV/STI infection, and exploitation.

Deprivation of parental care

At the end of 2003, more than 2% of all Russian children (701,000) were either orphaned or without parental care. Although about 74% of these children were placed in family-based care, there were regions where less than 40% of the children were in family settings.
Today, the total number of children in institutional care is estimated at 500,000 children, 1.5% of Russia’s children.

Deprivation of liberty

UNICEF statistics show that the number of juveniles sentenced for criminal activity in the country is decreasing, dropping from 146,700 in 1999 to 88,300 in 2002 (TransMONEE Database, 2004).

Exposure to violence, exploitation and abuse

Of every 1,000 children under age 5, two die every year from poisoning or violence (TransMONEE Database, 2004). This likely represents just the tip of the iceberg as many cases of violence and abuse against children go unreported.
Russia has been a major source, transit and destination country for women and children trafficked for sexual exploitation to and from numerous countries in Europe , the Gulf States and North America . The country has also increasingly become a transit and destination country for labour trafficking, both within the former Soviet Union and from neighbouring countries.

Partners

UNICEF’s main partners in the Child Protection Programme include the Ministry of Health and Social Development (MoHSD), as well as other Russian federal and regional authorities, the Moscow office of the World Bank, universities, governmental and non-government organizations such as St. Petersburg University, the All-Russian Union of NGOs.