On December 17, 2018 the first meeting of the Presidential Council for the Implementation of State Policy on Protecting Family and Children was held in the Kremlin. The participants discussed mechanisms of public oversight over the implementation of measures under the Decade of Childhood project.

After a preliminary consultation with experts from the Smart Internet Foundation, the administrator of the .ДЕТИ domain with a mission to improve digital literacy of novice internet users, Director of the Internet Development Institute Sergei Petrov, as a member of the Council, proposed considering aspects of developing a digital environment for the younger generation.

These aspects include improving school training in modern digital skills, teaching the rules of conduct in the digital space, and developing primary skills of digital professions. He also proposed discussing the creation of a single digital platform for the distribution of children's educational and entertainment content.

“The internet has become a medium for information and communication, similar to school or extra-curricular activities. It is important to give children the tools to develop in modern conditions, to ensure their safety, and to create the foundation for future successful work in the digital environment,” Sergei Petrov commented.

The Council was established in November by Vladimir Putin’s executive order with the aim of ensuring cooperation between the authorities and public associations, research organizations and other groups on protecting families and children. The Council is chaired by Valentina Matviyenko. The Council comprises 30 members who represent government agencies and public associations, as well as journalists, cultural figures, and heads of educational and medical institutions.

The meeting was attended by Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Anton Vaino. The participants discussed the action plan for the next three years, the scope of goals, and priorities for 2019.

“We need to clearly understand how social policies are put into practice, what social effects they have, and whether families with children actually feel any positive changes. It is important to create feedback channels, public control, ways to obtain accurate and reliable field information,” Anton Vaino said. “This is doubly important because the Council’s goals include drafting proposals for the president to improve state policy on protecting families and children.”

“For the next six years, national projects will be the main instruments for achieving strategic goals. In our opinion, the topic of childhood and family should run through almost every one of them. Indeed, demography and healthcare, education, culture, science, digital technologies, housing and the urban environment, nature conservation and safe roads are directly related to the daily lives of our citizens, every Russian family, and every child,” Valentina Matviyenko said. “It is important to remember that national projects are not rigid dogma. Their content may vary depending on the topicality and urgency of one or another problem.”

The discussion and preparation of decisions on the issues proposed, among others, by the Internet Development Institute, will continue in the Council working groups.