Gender policy

Centre for Support of the Indigenous Peoples of the North (CSIPN)
Russian Indigenous Training Centre (RITC) 

Centre for Support of the Indigenous Peoples of the North / Russian Indigenous Training Centre is an organization whose activity is directed at providing assistance to the Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation in their social and economic development.

As an institution dedicated to the support, the promotion and the development of professional, economic and social initiatives of the Indigenous Peoples of the North, CSIPN is guided by the adherence to the principle of gender equity in a modern society and provides equal opportunities for the participation of men and women in the training programmes of the Centre.

In its attempt to enforce the gender equity principle throughout all of its training activities, CSIPN takes into account the following considerations:

•  The traditional and the historic role of the woman in the Northern Aboriginal community;

•  The joint work of the men and women for the benefit of their community;

•  The importance of the equal participation of men and women in the decision-making processes directed at finding the most optimal ways for the community development;

•  The need to build a society capable of a harmonious development that takes into account the needs of all its members.

Historically, Northern Aboriginal communities ( obschinas ) following a traditional life style in the harsh conditions of the North had always ascribed a special role to women. Traditional economic activities such as reindeer herding, hunting and fishing, which have always been the domain of the Aboriginal men of the North and which represent the main means for subsistence of the Northern Aboriginal Peoples, demand strenuous physical efforts and take up all of the their time. This is particularly why the men – the food suppliers and the providers – facing the task of ensuring their families' livelihoods more often than not do not have the time to partake in the rearing of their children and the tackling of a great many issues related to family lives. As a consequence, the women alone bore the burden of the maintenance of the family hearth, the rearing of the children, the preservation and the passing of the cultural values and traditions of their people on to the future generations as well as of many other fundamental tasks related to the community existence.

In modern, often complex socio-economic conditions faced by the Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation , the role of the woman in the lives of her people not only did not diminish but has become more prominent. Problems encountered by the Indigenous Peoples of the North (a reduction in the number and size of the territories of traditional occupancy due to active industrial development of Northern lands and, as a consequence, a growing problem of unemployment and declining standard of living; lack of practical opportunities to exercise their legitimate rights over traditional lands due to a lacking legislative basis capable of protecting the rights of the Indigenous Peoples; a very limited access to educational programmes and information resources, among others) cannot be tackled unilaterally. To cope with this situation, it is essential that the decisions dealing with the development of the North are taken in consultation with, and participation of every member of the Indigenous Peoples.

Under these conditions, Northern Indigenous women face a real opportunity and an acute need to take an active part in the socio-economic development of their peoples while also remaining cognizant of the special status they have traditionally occupied in the North.

The urgency for the participation of the Northern Indigenous women in the development processes is also shaped by the fact that a harmonious evolution of the society and a growth of the community's material wealth must take into account the needs of all the society members. This can only be achieved through the adherence to the principle of gender equity in any decision-making process as well through the establishment of equal opportunities for both men and women representing the Indigenous Peoples of the North.

Under these circumstances, in discharging its professional duties CSIPN's goal is to ensure the following measures.

•  Promote the urgency of a broader understanding of the issue of gender equity;

•  Recognition by the women of their own needs and opportunities;

•  Clear understanding by the women of their goals and the means of achieving them;

•  Realization by the women of their role in the process of socio-economic development of their peoples;

•  Active involvement of the women into the process of the socio-economic development of the Indigenous communities ( obschinas );

•  Encouraging the women to participate in this process;

•  Active support for the achievement of equal rights and equal opportunities for both men and women.

CSIPN actions aimed at achieving the above-mentioned goals include:

•  Maintenance of the gender balance during the selection of trainees for training programmes (equal numbers of men and women enrolled in a course);

•  Development of the course curricula that takes into account women needs;

•  Regular delivery of gender equity seminars as part of the courses offered by CSIPN;

•  Inclusion of gender equity issues in the CSIPN information packages;

•  Enforcement of gender equity policies through the regional branches of CSIPN;

•  Promotion of the incorporation of the gender equity principle in all the decisions affecting the socio-economic development of the communities (obschinas).