Interregional cooperation in the field of social protection policy in the 1990s: on the case of 'Siberian Accord' association's activity

Social policy has always been one of the factors of the stable development of society. Its importance increases in transition periods characterized by the transformation of institutions and lack of resources. In the 1990s, when the federal centre and business entities tried to minimize their social obligations, the interregional social policy conducted by the association 'Siberian Accord' and oriented toward the protection of rights of the poor constituted one of the mechanisms of stabilization of the social space within the region of Siberia. This helped avoid the social discontent taking the extreme forms of protest and became one of the factors of stability of the new social system. Within the association, a range of problems was identified that required joint efforts, cooperation bodies were created, and tools and mechanisms for solving specific social problems and influencing the social policy on the national level were developed. Meetings of the Board of the 'Siberian Accord' association and the Coordination Council on Social Policy created within the Board were held involving federal authorities representatives and constituted not only the mechanism of informing the centre of the situation on the ground but also an important channel for communicating regional interests to the centre. The 'vertical' interaction became a means of influencing the federal government with the view of changing the current policy and adjusting the state budget. In the course of practical cooperation of the interregional structures, recommendations for local authorities were developed, and specific social problems were drawn attention to. The Siberian Accord actively carried out legislative activities on the level of regional legislation directed at the protection of the disabled and also directed its legislative initiatives to the parliament of the country. Initially disparate solutions were gradually lining up in a system of measures, and theoretical approaches to the conduct of regional social policy emerged that formed the basis for the development of social programmes. The concept of interregional cooperation in the field of social protection was based on the principles of 'unity of efforts', 'alignment' as uniformity of indicators and development of common policy, 'Siberia's specifics', interaction with the centre, as well as 'social guarantees' as a prerequisite for stabilization of standards of living in Siberian regions. In the dialogue between the federal authorities and the regions through the Siberian Accord association, the principles were established and adjusted of the division of management and co-funding of social obligations on the part of the centre and the regions.

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