Dear Friends, much water has flown under
the bridge since our last meeting: the country passed through the fever
of the presidential election; the top brass in the government were replaced
in their posts; military actions in Chechnya now abated and now flared
up with a new force, taking the toll of human lives; trolleybuses went
up in explosions in Moscow; and the peaceful folks were buzying themselves
in their kitchen gardens, getting together and going apart, making friends
or enemies...
Our magazine has also made some new friends, who have rendered us substantial
support. We give our heartfelt thanks to the Italian Association Women
in Development (AIDOS), which has assumed it upon itself to multiply and
circulate the English version of the "Woman Plus..." We express
our sincere gratitude to the Canadian Cooperation Fund for the copier they
placed at our disposal. And, of course, to the German Feminist Fund "Frauen-Anstiftung"
and to the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation (BMZ), which has agreed
to continue the financing of the activities of the Women's Innovation Fund
and, in particular, of the publication of the "Woman Plus...".
We are also greatly obliged to the "Romashka" Fund of Support
to Women's Business Activity, which has responded to our request by transferring
a sum of money to our magazine, even though we've made a mistake in presenting
our account. We are grateful to all the rest as well-for their warm responses
and constructive criticism, for their vivid interest and kind advice.
The main theme of this issue is civil society and power. Are both parties
ready for a dialogue? On what will their relationships rely? These are
the questions, raised in the article by politologist Sergei Turkin, printed
in the "Charity Newsreel" (No. 1, 1996). The article met with
a wide response among representatives of both the third sector and the
power bodies. Sergei Turkin's conclusions are commented in our magazine
by Lyudmila Shvetsova, head of the Department of Social and Interregional
Relations in the Government of Moscow, by Elena Topoleva, Director of the
Social Information Agency, and by Evgenia Alexeyeva, Director of the "Golubka"
Social and Practical Enlightenment Center.
The need to set up a system of civil control over the authorities in
our country is once again proved in the article on the Chechen conflict,
written by Marina Liborakina, a prominent activist of the feminist movement.
Chechnya is our gaping wound. This topic will be taken up once and again,
until this senseless war, taking the lives of hundreds and thousands of
innocent people, is stopped. The author of the article calls on every Russia's
citizen to recognize his own guilt for the Chechen war. Indeed, if we are
the Citizens of Russia, we are duty-bound to answer for the actions of
our country and of our government.
Another article-about an uncontrolled activity of various religious
sects-is in fact taking up the talk, started by Elena Chernomazova in the
last issue of our magazine. In her article, Natalya Vorotinskaya, a psychologist
from Penza, proves that the activity of these sects, which is assuming
an ever larger scale, presents a real threat to the mental health of society,
in particular, of the youth.
These are the main topics of the issue, and besides that... But we
are not going to say anything else and shall just give you a chance to
turn over the page yourself...