The Gorbachev Foundation Gives a Special Award

On March 19, a tenth anniversary award-giving ceremony the Golden Gong 2003 was held, celebrating the winners of the All-Russian contest of journalists. The Gorbachev Foundation has a tradition of instituting a special award within the framework of the contest.

This year the Gorbachev Foundation’s prize went to the Tomskaya Nedelya (Tomsk Week) weekly in acknowledgement of a series of publications under the title “I Need Mother.” Over the last five years the newspaper has been publishing reports about children who have been left without parental care. The weekly published in the western Siberian city of Tomsk carried photos of such children and their stories, accompanied by legal advice about the possible ways of providing assistance to the children and clarification of legal aspects of adoption, guardianship and patronage. Over the span of five years, 80 children have found new families, largely due to the action carried out by the publication.