Joint session of Coordinating and Advisory councils in Dudinka: Reorganisation of RAIPON structure

RAIPON Information Center

On 28-29 September 2005 members of the Coordinating Council of the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON) and the Advisory Council on Affairs of Indigenous Peoples of the North at the Plenipotentiary of the President of the Russian Federation in the Siberian Federal District (SFO) met in Dudinka, the northernmost city of our country to jointly discuss the problems of the native people of the North.

On the first day the visitors to the city were taken on excursions. They visited the Taymyr Centre of National Cultures, the Museum of Local History , the district hospital, and the Dudinka Sea Port , where the leaders of these institutions competently reported in detail about the history of the area, notable local individuals, and perspectives for the region’s development.

The next day at the Arktika centre a joint session of the Coordinating Council of RAIPON and the Advisory Council took place. The session was attended by Lyubov Burda, assistant to the Plenipotentiary of the President of the Russian Federation in the SFO and chairman of the Advisory Council, Sergey Kharyuchi, president of RAIPON and chairman of parliament of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, and the heads of representative and legislative authorities of the SFO, Federation Council, State Duma of the Russian Federation, Russian federal agencies, and the presidents of regional associations of indigenous peoples that are members of the Coordinating Council of RAIPON.

Discussions during the session concerned the economic and social development of Taymyr’s indigenous peoples, problems of traditional wildlife management, realisation of a youth policy, and immediate priorities for RAIPON’s activities. At a special session of the Coordinating Council the reports of RAIPON’s vice-presidents were presented.

Decisions taken by the participants of the joint session will be posted on the Internet.

At the session of the Coordinating Council Sergey Kharyuchi reported on the priority activities of RAIPON for the coming four years and how to attack these problems. As he noted, during recent years RAIPON has gained much authority, both within Russia and internationally, and now the basic work should be conducted in the regions where indigenous people live. Therefore, RAIPON’s vice-presidents would be nominated among those who live and work in these regions. Along with this proposition, the following vice-presidents, representing the individual federal districts, were appointed:

1. Far Eastern Federal District :

Aleksey Limanzo, president of the Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (AIPON) of the Sakhalin Region

Dmitriy Berezhkov, president of the AIPON of the Kamchatka Region

Andrey Krivoshapkin, president of the AIPON of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)

2. Siberian Federal District :

Semyon Palchin, first vice-president of parliament of Taymyr (Dolgano-Nenets) Autonomous Okrug

Irina Shafrannik, president of the AIPON of Tomsk Region

Anna Naykanchina, president of the AIPON of Buryat Republic

3. Uraianl Federal District:

Vladimir Kurikov, adviser of chairman of parliament of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug

Maria Klimov, president of AIPON of Purovsk District of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug

4. Northwestern Federal District :

Vladislav Peskov, president of the AIPON of Nenets Autonomous Okrug

Lyudmila Gashilova, president of the RAIPON branch of St. Petersburg

The first vice-president of RAIPON remains Pavel Sul­yandziga.