The head of the “Good Deed” foundation and coordinator of the inter-regional umbrella organization “Rights of the Elderly” Eduard Karyukhin said in an interview with ASI that the organisation, which supports the elderly, is experiencing a serious shortage of funds which it needs for its activities to be effective. It is receiving less from the state budget as well as from charitable organisations and private donations. The problem of a lack of funding for care of the elderly was identified by President Medvedev at the last session of the State Council. He said that at present funding goes only towards help for children and young people. The needs of the third sector for such funds should be set forward by the NGOs themselves, Karyukhin thought. He suggested that members of the umbrella organisation approach the not-for-profit partnership Donors’ Forum, and with it jointly start to solicit funds competitively for social projects for the elderly. His statistics show that of all requests for grants submitted to the Social Chamber, those for the elderly are the smallest in number. While the elderly are continuously growing in number, ever fewer organisations are looking after them. People either don’t want to or are afraid of working in this sphere, he supposed. He added that in rural areas there are hardly any public organisations, so elderly people are left without help. The problem can only be tackled, he thought, by expanding cooperation between NGOs working with the elderly, jointly with the All-Russian Association of Social Workers and Teachers, as it has branches all over the country.

http://www.asi.org.ru/ASI3/rws_asi.nsf/va_WebPages/D32B28B1AD5A8CAAC32577CE0049F212Rus