1. Case-study No. & Title:
184. Various local authority programs for the protection of the human rights of so-called ‘small-numbered peoples of the North’, (1996-2010) in the Khanty-Mansiiskii autonomous okrug (district), Russian Federation

Keywords

w	Participation
w	Strategy Building
w	Economic development
w	Social development
w	Institution building
w	Education
w	Co-existence
w	Partnership

2. Author information
2.1 Author’s Name
Elena Filippova

2.2 Institutional Affiliation and Contact Details:
Institute of ethnology and anthropology
Russian Academy of Sciences
Leninsky prospekt 32-a
Moscow 117334
Russia

Tel./fax: (095) 938-0043
E-mail: fvr@east.ru

Date recorded
08/10/2000

3. Good Practice Information Sheet
3.1 Local Level Good Practice
The initiatives aim at creating the necessary political, juridical, social and economic conditions for the survival of groups falling within the category of ‘small numbered people of the North’ by establishing the administrative, financial, scientific and social structures capable of implanting and achieving such goals.

3.2 Location:
Khanty-Mansiiskii autonomous okrug, part of Tyumen oblast', Russian Federation.

3.3 Minority/Target Groups:
In the district concerned there are two groups falling in the category ‘small numbered people of the North’: Khanty (Ostyak), Mansi (Vogul)

3.4 Major Actors Involved

w	Local Government
w	Government Ministry
w	Public Institution
w	Minority organisations
w	Private institution or enterprise

3.5 Budget allocated by local government authorities and/or by other actors
138 million rubles were allocated by local government authorities in 1999 and 258 million rubles in 2000 for the implementation of the regional programs "The socio-economic and cultural development of the indigenous population of Khanty-Mansiiskii autonomous okrug" and "Housing for the aboriginal people".

Funds from the Federal budget have moreover also been allocated for the implementation of the Federal programs "The economic and social development of the indigenous population of the North", "The children of the North", "The urgent measures against tuberculosis disease in 1998-2004"; "The development and preservation of the art and culture of Russian Federation peoples in 1997-1999". The actual amount provided for these programs in 1999 was, however, only 27.6% of the intended sum (that is of 103.5 million rubles).

3.6 Timeframe
The initiative was first proposed in 1993, it was launched and put into practice in 1994 after the UN proclaimed the international decade of the indigenous population. The initiative is expected to continue at least until 2010.

3.7 Local level good practice relation to national level ethnic policy
The development and implementation of the various programs in the Khanty-Mansiiskii autonomous okrug are in accordance with the general principles established in the State Ethnic Policy Conception (1996).

They are also regulated by the following federal laws:

w	"On State guarantees and compensations for the people who live and work in the north-polar zone and similar places" (1993)
w	"On protected territories" (1995);
w	"On the basic principles of the state regulation of the socio-economic development of the Northern regions of the Russian Federation" (1996);
w	"On the basic principles of the local self-government" (1996);
w	"On the guarantees of rights for the indigenous people in Russia"
w	"On the basic principles for the survival and traditional economic activity of the indigenous population of the North, Siberia and the Far-East " (1999)

It must be stressed, that neither the Constitution, nor the State Ethnic Policy Conception, grant aboriginal people the right to territorial self-determination.

4. Good Practice Description
The two small indigenous ethnic groups – the Khanty (or also Ostyak) and the Mansi (or also Vogul)– according to the 1989 census data amount to, respectively, 1.5% and 0.7% of the total population of the district (okrug) named after them.

As a result of the rapid economic development of this region, rich in oil, the living environment for these two group has been seriously damaged. This development has seriously undermined the conditions for the reproduction of their traditional lifestyle (in terms of the economic and social organization of life) to the point that they run the risk of complete assimilation and extinction as separate ‘aboriginal’ groups.

The demographic situation, the health conditions, the level of education and employment are also unfavorable. The abolition of the institution of the rural district, and the transfer of its power and local functions has also decreased the extent to which these two groups are represented in local administration.

In the past last 6 years, as illustrated earlier, federal authorities adopted and launched a number of laws and programs targeting the peoples of the North as a group in need of protection. In particular the State Nationalities Policy Conception in regard to this target group has marked the end of Soviet-type paternalistic policies to move toward an approach inspired by the idea of ‘partnership’, where the active participation of the aboriginal peoples themselves is needed, encouraged and supported.

In some regions these general principles established at the federal level have been applied earlier than in others. This is the case of the Khanty-Mansiiskii Autonomous Okrug (KMAO). The local authorities here have adopted the following local regulations:

w	"On the territories conserving traditional economy and on the clanistic usage of land"
w	"On the guarantees of rights for the indigenous people of the North in the KMAO"
w	"On hunting and fishing"
w	"On land"
w	"On local self-government"

These normative acts have provided the underlying basis for the following substantive developments:

w	The granting of a special legally recognized status to the custom-based division of the usages of land according to clanistic principles, sanctioning them in practice as if they were lifetime and hereditary rights
w	The organization of a special referendum among Khanty and Mansi with the purpose of obtaining their agreement concerning further economic development and exploitation of some of their lands.
w	Every year traditional economic activities conducted by members of these two groups are included in the law "On tax exemptions" and are given complete relief from local taxes.
w	It has become customary to reach agreements between these two communities and state or private institutions that are working on their protected territories
w	The granting of a special legally recognized status to the custom-based division of the usage of land according to clanistic principles, sanctioning them in practice as if they were lifetime and hereditary rights

The regional Duma (Parliament) of Tyumen oblast (of which the KMAO is part) has created as a consultative body the "Assembly of the Indigenous Peoples of the North" with the purpose of increasing the representation of the natives in the local bodies of power. The Assembly takes part in the drafting of relevant legislation.

Special committees and departments dealing with the situation of the indigenous people have been formed at the okrug, municipal and district level.

To solve the problem of unemployment among Khanty and Mansi the okrug authorities have launched the program "Socio-economic and cultural development of the indigenous small numbered peoples of the KMAO"

Sixty-eight enterprises run by members of one of the two groups are currently functioning in the okrug, 464 lots of clan-based usage of land were created, the union of reindeer-breeders, which includes 200 members (i.e. private owners) was also established. The Northern Fund (Severny Fond) formed a special administrative body to support reindeer-breeding activity.

Some funds went into the purchase of equipment for 3 local fish-factories, which created 200 jobs for fishermen, while 2.5 million roubles were spent in 1999 for improvement of family hunting-grounds and fishing areas, reindeer-breeders’ camps, building of shooting-boxes etc..

Another local program launched and currently under way is named "Faktoria". Its purpose is to create a number of centers which, on the one hand provide to the indigenous population consumer and industrial goods imported from other regions of Russia, and on the other commercialize the products yielded by traditional economic activities. These insitutions, which in practice are trading centers, are also intended to function as cultural centers, healthcare institutions and training centers. This program is being implemented with the financial support of the State Committee for the North of the Russian Federation.

The regional Duma also adopted the program "Housing for the indigenous people", according to which 1200 houses and apartments should be built in the period 2000-2001(for a total investment of 452 million rubles).

With the purpose of helping the development and preservation of the indigenous cultures, the Research Institute of the Indigenous Nations’ Rebirth does scientific work in the fields of ethnology and linguistics.

The program "Socio-economic and cultural development of the indigenous population of the KMAO for 2000-2010" proposed giving the KMAO the status of an experimental region where the mechanisms of the indigenous rights’ realization would be elaborated and examined.