04.05.2017

The Russian President is proposing to introduce a mechanism to encourage NGOs to be more answerable to the public.

Vladimir Putin is calling for broadening the involvement of SONGOs, regional Public Chambers and the All-Russian People’s Front in independent appraisals of social service quality as a way of avoiding conflicts of interest in the evaluation process, reports the Russian Business Consultants information agency.

According to TASS, the Russian President believes that the introduction of a system is necessary to encourage SONGOs to respond to public demand and to “consider tough action against those who are not ready or do not want to listen to people or who are not intent on improving the way they work. It is vital to ensure that these appraisals are truly independent.”

Problems of undertaking independent assessments of the quality of the work of SONGOs have already been discussed by the Federation’s Public Chamber. The current regional leader among organisations who’ve undertaken independent assessments is Krasnoyarsk, followed by Ryazan and Kostroma.

In 2012, the Russian President instructed his Government, in collaboration with public bodies, to develop an independent mechanism for assessing the work of organisations that provide social services and to incorporate criteria by which their performance could be judged, including a public ratings system. The law on independent assessments was approved in 2014 and came into force the following year.

In 2016, the Centre for Public Analysis and Independent Research established a website devoted to independent assessments of the quality of social services. The site includes information on the national and regional legislative background, a set of method-based and practical measures, as well as a library of available material on current experience of independent evaluations.

Source: https://www.asi.org.ru/news/2017/05/04/vladimir-putin-nezavisimaya-ocenka-socuslug/