On April 30, High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation Tatiana Moskalkova participated in the closing event of the project "Co-operation on the implementation of the Russian Federation National Action Strategy for Women (2017–2022)" that ran from November 2018 to May 2020.

The event was also attended by First Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Protection Alexey Vovchenko, Deputy Head of the European Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Alexander Samarin, Director of Human Dignity, Equality and Governance Claudia Luciani, Director of Office of the Directorate General of Programmes Verena Taylor, Head of the Programme Office of the Council of Europe in the Russian Federation Petr Sich, and European Union Ambassador to the Russian Federation Markus Ederer.

During online meeting the participants presented the achievements of the project and assessed prepared documents and activities.

In her statement, Tatiana Moskalkova emphasized the importance of two key areas of the National Strategy: preventing social disadvantage of women and violence against women and fostering women’s participation in public and political life.

As the High Commissioner noted, the debate had revolved in Russian society around the development and adoption of a draft law on the prevention of domestic violence. According to the federal Ombudswoman, the project "provided an opportunity to raise public awareness and provided additional arguments to move forward in this regard".

"Together with international experts, we have reflected on foreign national practice and assessed the possibilities of its implementation in Russian realities," Tatiana Moskalkova emphasized.

According to the High Commissioner, numerous round tables and seminars in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation contributed to the geographical extension of the discussions, provided an opportunity to share the best practices in combating domestic violence and to learn about the mechanisms and tools for resolving existing problems.

"Almost all the events were attended by my colleagues — Commissioners for Human Rights in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. They highly appreciated the project, its capabilities, and the possibility to use the Ombudsman tools in these two areas, especially in countering domestic violence," the federal Ombudswoman noted.

In conclusion, Tatiana Moskalkova expressed hope for continued cooperation in the framework of the second phase of the project, as well as other future joint initiatives.

The project is implemented by the Council of Europe in co-operation with the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. It focuses on developing knowledge and skills in two areas of the Russian National Action Strategy for Women (2017–2022): preventing social disadvantage of women and violence against women and fostering women’s participation in public and political life.