MOSCOW, October 20 (RIA Novosti) – The number of orphan children in Russia went down to 93,000 in 2014 down from 119,000 orphans two years ago, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs Olga Golodets said Monday.
“When we began working on adoption, following the decree signed by the President in 2012, the adoption bank had 119,000 children. Today the number is 93,000,” Golodets said at the opening of the All-Russian Foster Families Forum.
“It is, of course, still too many for our country, but it is a big step forward,” she added.
According to Golodets, there are a number of challenges in significantly increasing number of adoptions for a certain category of children.
“I would like to recall several measures that were taken in regards to children, who faced more difficulty in being adopted or taken under guardianship. “This are foremost the children who are older, those who live in a big family in an orphanage, with lots of brothers and sisters among them, and those children, who have disabilities,” Golodets explained.
According to Russia’s Deputy Minister of Science and Education Veniamin Kaganov, government grants were awarded for the category of children, who faced particular difficulties in adoption.
“The government has increased grants and pensions for disabled children, including the families, who adopt disabled children, children over seven years of age, as well as their brothers and sisters,” he said.
Among the factors, which affect the adoption process, Kaganov assured that funds for upholding and assisting foster families, adoption agencies and guardianship trusts were allocated.
In January 2013, the Dima Yakovlev bill was implemented, imposing a ban on American nationals from adopting Russian children. Prior to this, the Russian authorities also banned countries that allowed same-sex unions from adopting children from Russia.
