Protection of citizens’ rights to social security is under the supervision of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Sociological surveys show that protection of human rights and freedoms in the social sphere is a priority for Russian citizens.

Applicant M. approached me for protection of her son’s rights: he faced reluctance to grant lump-sum compensation payment (1 million rubles) as a medical practitioner who had moved to rural settlement because of the employment. Earlier, the man applied to the Ministry of Health of the Astrakhan Region, but this was rejected.

Having reviewed the provided materials, I immediately sent a request to the Government of the Astrakhan Region to verify the legality of the decision. After our intervention, the controversial issue was resolved in favor of the applicants.

We often receive appeals from people in distress. So citizen U. could not be employed due to her criminal record and she had to borrow money on bail of an apartment given to her as an orphan left without parental care. Because of the debt, the apartment was sold and the applicant was left without housing.

In order to help the woman in a difficult life situation, I sent a request to the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Altai Territory to review the social situation of the applicant’s family. According to the response, specialists of social support department carried out an inspection resulted in providing employment and psychological assistance to the applicant. It was also recommended to prepare documents for state social assistance. In addition, the family of U., experiencing difficult living conditions, is placed under control of the district Department of Social Support and included in the list of families to provide charitable assistance.

In 2017, I received 1209 appeals related to the violation of the right to social security:
— 860 appeals related to the violation of the right to pension benefits;
— 314 appeals related to benefits and social support measures;
— 35 appeals related to the observance and protection of rights of victims of the Chernobyl accident and persons assimilated to them.

Every favourable resolution of an applicant’s case is a real victory for us, because the main criterion for the effectiveness of the High Commissioner’s activity is the opportunity to assist an individual, to restore violated rights of applicants.