Women’s Union of Russia sums up 2015 and outlines plans for 2016

Today the Women’s Union of Russia hosted a conference titled 'Women's advice as a factor of sustainable regional development' in Moscow. The event was chaired by the chairwoman of the Union, a member of the Federation Council Committee for the Federal System, Regional Policy, Local Governance and Affairs of the North, the senator of the Bryansk region, Ekaterina Lakhova.

The conference, which summed up the results of the Women’s Union of Russia's work, was attended by the heads of regional branches of the organization, team members and members of its Board, representatives of the presidential administration, the government, senators and deputies were also invited.

Opening the conference, Ekaterina Lakhova stressed that very much depends on women in Russian society today, "when there is a systemic crisis in the country's economy, finances and community, together with the tense international situation." "A positive atmosphere in our society depends on how people feel, and I think that the role of women, the role of mothers, are always great in this regard. Our bodies represent Russia abroad and defend its interests through humanitarian projects. Today's conference is summing up the previous year, and we are defining the strategy and objectives for this year, and we have a lot of them," the chairwoman of the Women’s Union of Russia said.

"For example, when Vladimir Putin made his Address to the Federal Assembly, he spoke about the need to pay attention to small towns and rural settlements. We are already working with rural settlements where the head of the settlement is a woman. It is very important for us that the funds we allocate to non-governmental organizations can help rural settlements. Patriotism is the foundation of everything. The patriotic education of our young people will allow Russia to be strong, united and invincible," Lakhova stressed.

In this regard, the Women’s Union of Russia in 2016 will implement the program titled 'Women and social development of a village'. "Within the framework of this program, we will sum up the common experience of the regions and mobilize our women," the chairwoman of the Women’s Union of Russia said.

"2016 is an election year, and our women are actively taking part in all the elections, local elections will be held in 38 constituent parts of Russia," she noted.

According to Ekaterina Lakhova, the Women’s Union of Russia will hold a lot of events in the North Caucasus. "Stavropol Territory is very active and can share its experience. We welcome the appearance of new offices and a new leader in Kabardino-Balkaria. It should be noted that the Chair of the Parliament of Kabardino-Balkaria is a woman, Tatiana Yegorova. As for the employment problem, the Association of Women Entrepreneurs will be developing inside of our Union. Women's participation in small and medium-sized enterprises is great and we would like to see their participation in social activities as well," the chairwoman said.

The deputy chair of the Federation Council on Social Policy, the representative of the legislative (representative) body of the Smolensk Region, Lyudmila Kozlova, in her turn, noted the increased role of women in public life and all areas of Russian society. "One of the government's priorities was to increase this role," she noted.

"The state is strong when its people are healthy and educated. A healthy lifestyle  is a large complex, which is determined not only by the refusal of bad habits, compliance, proper nutrition, but also by labor education. The family is of great importance in this matter," Lyudmila Kozlova stressed.

The senator noted that 50-60% of human's health depends on his lifestyle. Formation of healthy lifestyle should be started in the family, then in school, work and so on. Only in this case we will have a healthy population, which will provide Russia with the labor force, scientists and military personnel. The role of women is simply irreplaceable. So I welcome such events and everyone who works here. These women love their homeland, try to contribute to its development and, of course, to educate the youth so that they would have been proud of their homeland," she said.

"No need to talk about the patriotic education, there must be an example of it. And it begins, first of all, with a love for a homeland, family and people," the senator concluded.