Civic forum or civic chorus? Russian NGOs must decide

The Civic Forum held in the Kremlin on 21-22 November 2001 was doubly significant for the Russian NGO community. It was the largest ever NGO conference in Russia and the first time the President’s Administration and government of Russia had discussed issues of democracy and civil society with NGO representatives.

The idea of the Forum came from Gleb Pavlovsky, a journalist and political analyst who played an instrumental role in Putin’s recent campaign for presidency. His original idea was to organize a massive support meeting for Putin and subsequently to announce full NGO support for Putin’s activities. But that idea was rejected by the non-profit sector. After many discussions and a historic visit by the deputy head of the President’s Administration to the oldest and most respected Russian human rights organization, ‘Memorial’, a new agenda was drawn up for the Civic Forum, a more representative steering committee was created, and a more open and transparent procedure for inviting participants was worked out.

As a result, instead of a ‘Soviet-style’ support congress for Putin, the Civic Forum became a forum for serious discussion. It attracted nearly 5,000 participants from all Russian regions. Practically all government ministers, many deputies of the Duma (the Russian parliament) and representatives of the President’s Administration attended. Discussions about such ‘hot’ issues as human rights violations in Chechnya, environmental protection and tax reform were loud and critical, but everywhere the word ‘partnership’ was heard. The main message of the Forum was that the Russian government and the President acknowledge the importance of the civic sector. They want to have a dialogue with the sector and work in partnership with NGOs. One result of the Forum was the formation of NGO-government working groups to continue the discussions.

Several months after the Forum, more and more people are saying that it was yet another ‘empty’ event. The working groups don’t meet often and ‘partnership’ doesn’t mean the same to the President’s Administration as it does to NGOs. To them ‘partnership’ buys silence, with critical views of government becoming what is now called a ‘constructive approach’.

I personally would take a more sanguine view. The Civic Forum could have become a ‘civic chorus’ of support for the President, but it didn’t. It could have focused only on ‘safe’ issues of social protection and ignored human rights, Chechnya and army reform, but it didn’t. The ball is now in our court. The Russian government and President will need to be pushed by the NGO community. Working groups will die out if not supported by NGO leaders. And partnership will equal loyalty if NGOs do not continue to remind the state that partners in social reform are not lovers and cooperation does not mean a ban on criticism.

Olga Alexeeva is Director of CAF Russia. She can be contacted at oalexeeva@cafrussia.ru