On August 30, Tatiana Moskalkova opened the first meeting of the Public Commission under the President of the Russian Federation to assign candidates for the State Prize of the Russian Federation for outstanding achievements in the field of human rights activities and the State Prize of the Russian Federation for outstanding achievements in the field of charity.

Well-known human rights defenders, academics and experts in the field of human and civil rights and freedoms protection: High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation Tatiana Moskalkova, Adviser to the President of the Russian Federation, Presidential Council Chairperson for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights Mikhail Fedotov, chairperson of the all-Russian public organization "Russian Red Cross" Raisa Lukuttsova, chairperson of the regional public fund for wheelchair persons "Society without barriers" Galina Gorbatyh, chairperson of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation to support the family, children and motherhood Diana Gurtskaya, Commissioner for Human Rights in Moscow Tatiana Potiaeva, Russian Public Chamber secretary Valery Fadeev and others formed the Public Commission.

"Human rights protection and charity are the most important part of the modern world civilization process," the High Commissioner noted. Tatiana Moskalkova reminded the audience that the first winners of the State Prizes were the tragically deceased human rights activist Elizaveta Glinka, "Doctor Lisa", founder and executive director of the charitable foundation "A Just Aid", and archpriest, Father Superior of the Church of the Tikhvin Mother of God Fr. Alexander (Tkachenko), the founder of a net of hospices for children with oncological diseases.

The Commission set the deadline for submitting candidatures for the State Prizes: from September 1 to October 10, it will be possible to file documents, and on November 14, after the end of the Public Commission consultation period with expert opinions, the final meeting will be held.

Tatiana Moskalkova emphasized that according to the President’s Decree on the State Prize, any organization, as well as any citizen of the Russian Federation, has the right to nominate a worthy from their point of view candidate, however, because of the personalized award nature, it is not permitted to nominate organizations, public associations or collectives.

The requirements to the documents and the list of experts were unanimously approved. At the same time, at the insistence of some commission members, it was decided to expand the expert group composition up to 13 people. The final composition of the group will be approved at the next meeting in September.

Full text of the requirements for the documents preparation and materials for the Russian Federation State Prize for outstanding achievements in the field of human rights activities and the State Prize of the Russian Federation for outstanding achievements in the field of charity.