The cooperation between Western and Russian NGOS and Organizations: Development of networks for joint projects aiming to the promotion of Civil Society, the strengthening of Democracy and the prevention of conflicts

Abstract

According to the latest population census, the number of ethnic groups inhabiting the Russian Federation is as high as 180 and represent about 28 million people, i.e. about 20% of the whole population. This diversity of nations reflect the diversity of languages in the country, most of which are severely threatened. With the democratization of the Russian Federation, there has been an upsurge of interest in the future of the languages and cultures of minority populations. In 1999 representatives of linguistic minorities that gathered in Elista to participate in the conference “Minority Languages in Russia: Perspectives for Development” organised under the auspice of UNESCO within the International program Linguapax established RUMIDAP (Inter-regional coordinating committee "Russian Minorities' Initiatives for Democracy and Peace"), a pan-Russian network of mutual support. In 2001 Russia has signed the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. There are now hopeful indications that it will ratify the Charter within the next 3-5 years. This paper gives an overview on both the already existing initiatives and the projects which are in their first stage carried out both my Western and Russian organizations in order to find ways to accommodate linguistic and cultural diversity and have it regarded, not as a cause for strife, but rather as a source of enrichment for all, as far as it is one of the major challenges facing the citizens of the Federation.