Penza, 19 October 2012. PenzaNews. “Report on the state of civil society in the Penza region” became the first major work in this field carried out in the region. This was announced by the executive director of the local community foundation “Civil Union” Oleg Sharipkov during a meeting with reporters, held at the press center of news agency PenzaNews on Friday, October 19.

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“This work shows the profile of the beginning of 2012 of public spheres that represent civil society. The report reflects activities and development of non-profit organizations, human rights, national and religious factors, the protest movement, socially dangerous “diseases,” interaction of civil society and business with media and the government,” he explained.

Oleg Sharipkov noted that the report was based with regard of the views of experts in the field of journalism and business, as well as representatives of various structures — from the regional Department of Justice to the Ombudsman for Human Rights and the Public Chamber of the Penza region.

“Each of them helped to create the report voluntary. As the project was implemented by the community foundation “Civil Union,” experts did not receive a penny,” he stressed.

Oleg Sharipkov added that in the Penza region “Report on the state of civil society” was created for the first time, while many neighboring regions of Russia have been releasing it over the years.

“The nationwide report came out more than once, and our region was not presented there in any way. Now this gap is covered,” said the agency interlocutor.

Oleg Sharipkov noted that special attention in the report is paid to the development of the sector of non-profit organizations as the organizational framework of the civil society, since the non-profit organizations are a source of social stability and innovation to the state and business structures.

“The analysis showed that out of 1,859 non-profit organizations registered in the Ministry of Justice in the Penza region, only 933 are socially oriented, and the rest, according to international standards, cannot be considered public benefit organizations,” he explained.

According to Oleg Sharipkova, the Ministry of Justice classifies driving schools and recruitment agencies as non-profit organizations, but they do not meet all five UN criteria requirements for organizations of public benefit.

“Organization of public benefit must be formed on a voluntary basis, not coercion, have legal status, be independent from any governmental bodies, it is a self-governing unit, and, most importantly, profit should not be one of its goals,” commented the agency interlocutor.

Oleg Sharipkov also noted that the analysis of non-profit organizations operating in the Penza region showed that the region has not a single non-profit organization fighting against drugs, protecting human rights or environment.

“In the neighboring regions of Russia there are many territorial self-governing units comprising representatives of the area population. These organizations, for example, can even prevent the construction of any object if it is deem unreasonable. We have no such local units,” underlined the head of the community foundation “Civil Union.”

He added that the “Report on the state of civil society in the Penza region” will be executed every year.

“Our main task is not to conduct a one-time profile, but track the dynamics of the development of civil society. We must know where we are going to and what we can expect in the near future,” Oleg Sharipkov concluded.