.........................................................

home

.........................................................

contact us

.........................................................

 THE UNION PRESENTATION

Progressive Youth Union is a social movement of young citizens aged 16-30 with democratic beliefs. The Union is legally registered in the Russian Ministry of Justice and has the right of bills initiation in Samara Regional Legislature (Duma). The Union acts at the territory of Samara Region. Our goals are: assistance in democratisation of Russia and formation of active civil society; involvement of young active people into social and political activities; promotion of youth social interests; protection of human rights. To achieve our goals we aim at: carrying out public rallies and campaigns; assistance in realisation of socially important civil initiatives; public protection of civil rights. The Union is a non-governmental, non-profit and non-partisan organization.

Progressive Youth Union is a free movement based on the understanding of its participants and supporters that that it is necessary and important for young citizens to promote their own social interests and participate in social and political life to make our country more democratic, more liberal, more effective and more prosperous. The ideological core of the Union is democracy based on social and liberal values. The Union is in support of social and cultural progress of Russia, the rule of law, development of civil and open society in Russia, tolerance towards minorities and different beliefs, youth participation in decision-making and state policies, encouragement of small- and middle-scale business, entrepreneurship among youth and economic growth, social and health care of high quality for people, state support in housing policy, accessibility of education, reformation of Russian Army and liberation from compulsory military duty, healthy way of life, moral progress.

During 2003-2006 we organised many events such as rallies, public actions, forums, meetings. Among them are the following: the rally against compulsory military duty and the piquet of Samara Regional Military Duty Office; the rally “Samara-Baghdad”, which was the collection of 1000 books for Iraqi Philology students and sending them off to Baghdad (supported by the regional government, US Embassy, Russian MFA, Samara Airlines); organisation of the First Regional Youth Open Forum “We are Young Citizens!” (supported by Radio Samara Maximum); organisation of charitable billiards tournament for senior citizens (supported by Billiards Club “Zvezda”); the campaign (numerous dance parties and performances) in support of young talented musicians and DJs of Samara Region to promote healthy lifestyles in youth culture that is free from drugs or any abuse; the campaign (the rally, the dance party and the radio debates) “Youth and Elections: Hire Your Government!” promoting active participation of young people in elections; the round table “Youth, Politics and Civil Society” promoting involvement of young people into social and political life and encouragement to be socially active and think about future (this event held by the Union united many young leaders of the region, religious leaders, mass media, DJs and local celebrities); composition and initiation of the regional bill on youth social policies at Samara Regional Parlieament as a legislative initiative that was taken for study and consideration by the parliament; the campaign for support of young people in rural and remote areas (collection of modern and classic fiction and sending them to local libraries); establishment of the first regional youth Christian Orthodox  radio project that promotes moral values (supported by Samara Eparchy of Russian Orthodox Church and Radio Samara Maximum); the rally “We are Against Fascism, Racism and Xenophobia” (the RNB party that united Asian, African and Russian young people and students in the best city nightclub “Zvezda”) to promote tolerance towards minorities; the civic campaign for protection of constitutional rights, against the curfew introduction for teenagers, which finally ended in the cancellation of the law by the Supreme Court of Russia; creation of Youth Discussion Club at Department of Sociology and Political Science of Samara State University (with our partner NGO "Delo Molodoe"); local organisation of the UN World Food Programme rally "Fight Hunger: Walk the World" in Samara; the campaign for HIV/AIDS prevention (radio debates, participation in "Cafe Scientific: HIV in Context", promotion of Dance4Life international project in Samara Region), participation in the work of Youth Parliament of Samara Region; participation in the work of G8 Civil International NGO Forum in 2006 in Moscow as the only NGO of Samara Region; the leading role in building of the regional democratic coalition and the work of regional CSO Association; and others. All events were organised by our initiative, on a volunteer basis, with no grant support, with support of our partners based on our activity.

The Movement is the mass public association of citizens based on the principle of participation. The Union has the following bodies: The General Assembly (the highest ruling body, consists of 264 persons who were registered as the General Assembly participants: 207 - from Samara, 29 - from Togliatti, 28 - from Syzran); the Council (the permanent collective ruling body, consists of 5 persons elected at the General Assembly). The President of the Council is the President of the Union; The Public Council (the advisory and observation body, consists of 35 persons elected at the General Assembly); the Executive Committee (the executive body); the Inspector (the inspection body). The Union currently counts about 3000 active supporters in Samara Region.

Among our leaders and activists there are many well-known people: Sergey Voitenko (The Best Accordion Player of Russia, Laureate of International and Russian Music Festivals), Dmitry Pavlov (VJ, DJ and MC), Vladimir Baranov (Regional Director of Red Bull), Alla Komarova (Alla Farmer; Laureate of Parliament Lounge Festival Russia 2005); Stanislav Popov (MC StanisLove), Benedict Nayanov (Director of Elco Telecom); Dmitry Dobrov (Member of Novokuibyshevsk City Council), Alexander Nits (Samara Medical University research student), Dmitry Loboyko (Political Editor of "Time" Samara Newspaper), Lika Belyaeva (model), Svetlana Luneva (Head of Students Academic Society of Nayanova University); Vyacheslav Yakovlev (Representative of Apple Computers in Samara Region), Lilia Zolkina (Teacher of the Russian Language and Literature), Alexander Tkachenko (Lawyer) and many others.

Samara Regional Democratic Movement "Progressive Youth Union" cooperates on different issues with the highest governmental authorities of the region: Samara Region Government and Samara Region Duma (Parliament). Our strategic partners are "Twin Media", Group of Companies; and Radio Samara Maximum (Regional Affiliate of Radio “Liberty”, “Voice of America”, “Deutsche Welle” and Radio of Sweden). Our partners are: Russian Democratic Party "Yabloko", Samara Regional Branch; Samara Group of International NGO “Amnesty International”; Association for Protection of Voters’ Rights "Golos", Samara Branch; Samara Human Rights Center; Commissioner for Human Rights in Samara Region; United Nations Association of Russia, Samara Regional Branch; Samara University of Marina Nayanova; Association of NGOs ”Regional Public Union”; Russian Orthodox Church, Samara Eparchy; Samara Office of American NGO “Project Harmony”; Nightclub “Zvezda” and Entertainment Centre "Zvezda".

Samara Regional Public Youth Movement (NGO) "Progressive Youth Union of Samara Region" (SPM). The Union was officially established on March 20, 2004 at the constituent assembly. Certificate of State Registration No. 3894, issued by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation. Date of Registration: August 3, 2004. (From May 05, 2003 till March 20, 2004 the Union acted as a public movement without obligatory registration as allowed by the Federal Law "About Public Associations"). Address: 196 Molodogvardeyskaya Ul., Samara, 443001, Russia. Internet: www.samara.org, Our E-mail