2013 SU Update: Development of Volunteer Movement discussed in Kazan

KAZAN – The Republican Charity Council session dedicated to the development of the volunteer movement in Tatarstan was held in the Kazan Kremlin on May 13th under the chairmanship of Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov.

State Counselor of the Republic of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiev, Tatarstan State Council Chairman Farid Mukhametshin, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan Zilya Valeeva and other officials were also present at the session.

Opening the session, Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov stressed that Russian volunteer activities must first of all focus on orphans and disabled children, senior citizens and physically challenged persons. According to the President, there are a few unsolved problems regarding establishing legal groundwork for volunteer activities, determining volunteer status and providing social guarantees for volunteers. «Voluntary association activities need to be supported by the society and media», he said.

In his speech Tatarstan Minister of Youth, Sports and Tourism stated that in Western countries volunteers were legally protected and financially supported. Unfortunately, volunteer status is still not determined in Russia. There is a draft law in the pipeline which is to define a volunteer’s status in the Republic of Tatarstan.

The Minister’s report showed that there were 1,147 volunteer associations in the Republic of Tatarstan. The total number of young people engaged in volunteering in Tatarstan is to be increased to 178,000 and reach 18% of the youth in 2012. There are 54,700 volunteers in Tatarstan at present.

The Minister emphasized that there would be the Volunteer Development Resource Centre founded in Tatarstan by the Tatarstan President’s order.

The Republic was studying volunteer recruitment experience amassed by other regions of Russia, Rustam Minnikhanov said. In this a huge role belongs to the Russian Volunteer Development Centre of the Ministry of Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy of the Russian Federation.

A report on systemized development and support of volunteer movement was given by Galina Bodrenkova, President of the Russian Volunteer Development Centre and Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee for Public Associations and Religious Organizations.

According to Galina Bodrenkova, volunteering is a unique phenomenon that consolidates the society. Tatarstan is one of the leading regions of the Russian Federation with regard to volunteership development. Volunteer centres are established in a number of regions in Russia, such as the Republic of Tatarstan, Perm Territory, Lipetsk Region and Saint Petersburg. The draft of Tatarstan’s Volunteer Development Resource Centre was highly estimated by the federal centre. As the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee for Public Associations and Religious Organizations noted, resource centres are designed to bring together people in need and people that can render help.

«Volunteer activities should be more widely covered in federal media», Mintimer Shaimiev remarked.

(Source: Media Department of Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate)

The session also featured a report delivered by First Deputy Director General of the Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate Azat Kadyrov, who gave an overview of the Directorate’s activities in promoting and enhancing the development of volunteer service. He mentioned, that starting with 150 volunteers in Belgrade, the Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate now boasts of a volunteer database comprising nearly 2,000 people. «We’ve been conducting work aimed at encouraging volunteer activities, primarily, among students and schoolchildren. High education institutions and specialized secondary education establishments are getting actively involved in Kazan 2013 volunteer movement as well, there are volunteer teams formed on the base of Kazan’s education establishments, 7 cooperation agreements are already signed with Kazan’s universities and institutes», Azat Kadyrov said. At the end of his speech, the First Deputy Director General encouraged the officials to attract more actively volunteers in the implementation of socially significant projects, like, for instance, the Bulgar and Sviyazhsk restoration projects.

Kazan 2013 Volunteers celebrate 1,000 Day Countdown to 2014 Sochi OWG

With 1,000 alarm clocks going off in the hands of 500 students of universities, institutes, technical schools, colleges and schools on the stroke of 12, May 14, Kazan celebrated the kick off of the 1,000 day countdown until the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games

Evgeny Oleinik, student of the Tupolev Kazan State Technical University and one of the 500 Kazan 2013 volunteers taking part in the event, remarked that all of them had taken seriously their role and had been rehearsing for a few days in a row. «It’s awesome to feel like I’m part of such a grand event», the volunteer confessed.

The programme of the 1,000 day countdown celebrations also offered the Peoples’ Friendship Festival that featured representatives of 20 nations. International students represented cultures and traditions of the countries they are from. One could see and touch an antique traditional dagger from Yemen and an American football ball, the symbol of Kazakhstan and the national flag of Afghanistan. «All comers could sample dishes of various cuisines of the world, learn to play national instruments or perform a national dance», Dilbar Sadykova, one of the event’s organizers, said.

The festivities ended with the Peoples’ Friendship round dance that brought together best musical and dancing bands of Tatarstan, laureates of UNI-RESERVE and UNI-ELITE.