Aleksey Golovan

Golovan was born on 2 February 1966 in Dubna, a town in Moscow Oblast then part of the Soviet Union.^[1] He graduated from the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute in 1989 with an engineering degree, and went on to study social work at the Institute of Youth (now part of Moscow University for the Humanities), graduating in 1993. In 2000 he completed a degree in law at the Moscow State Law Academy.^[1][3]

From 1989 to 1991, while still completing his first degree, Golovan worked as an inspector with the Soviet Children's Fund named after V. I. Lenin, dealing with cases of children in state care institutions.^[3] In October 1991 he became a co-founder and executive director of the regional public organisation "Souchastiye v sudbe", a charitable centre that has provided legal and social support to orphans and children without parental care for more than three decades. He has continued to head the organisation alongside his other positions.^[2][4]

On 6 February 2002, Golovan was appointed by the Moscow City Duma as the first Children's Rights Commissioner of the city of Moscow.^[3] He held this regional ombudsman post until 1 August 2009, becoming one of the most experienced child rights officials in Russia. From September 2002 he was a member of the European Network of Ombudspersons for Children (ENOC), and from 29 March 2005 he chaired the Association of Children's Rights Commissioners in the constituent regions of the Russian Federation.^[3][1]

In 2004 he joined the Council under the President of the Russian Federation for Civil Society and Human Rights (often referred to as the Presidential Human Rights Council), where he remained as a full member until 2013 before continuing as an outside expert.^[1]

On 1 September 2009, President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev signed Decree No. 986 establishing the post of Children's Rights Commissioner for the President of the Russian Federation, often referred to in the press as the "children's ombudsman". A separate decree appointed Golovan to the new position the same day.^[5][6] By the time of his federal appointment, he had already worked for more than seven years as Moscow's regional children's ombudsman.^[7]

In office, Golovan set up an expert working group on a draft National Plan of Action in the Interests of Children covering the next five years, and prepared a model regional law on children's rights commissioners that was intended to encourage every Russian region to establish such an office. He also drafted amendments to the federal law on basic guarantees of children's rights that would have allowed the federal commissioner and regional commissioners to bring cases directly to court in defence of children's interests.^[8] Alongside this work he continued to take part in the Presidential Human Rights Council and the Moscow inter-agency council on combating child homelessness and neglect.^[7]

After only four months in the federal post, Golovan was relieved of his duties "at his own request" by presidential decree on 26 December 2009. Pavel Astakhov, a prominent celebrity lawyer and television presenter, was appointed in his place on 30 December 2009.^[9][10]

The departure surprised observers, who noted that Golovan had appeared deeply engaged in his work and had been openly discussing future plans only days earlier.^[8] Ella Pamfilova, then chair of the Presidential Human Rights Council, said the news had come as a shock to her, and the head of the Moscow charity "Here and Now", Tatyana Tulchinskaya, told Russian media that she could not think of anyone better suited to the role than Golovan.^[8] Golovan himself declined to give detailed reasons, describing the resignation only as a personal decision.^[8]

After leaving public office, Golovan returned to running the "Souchastiye v sudbe" centre and continued to advocate for the rights of orphans, particularly on housing issues. In 2012 he joined the Moscow Helsinki Group, one of Russia's oldest human rights organisations.^[1] He left the membership of the Presidential Human Rights Council on 1 April 2013 but continued to take part in its work as an expert.^[1]

He has remained an often-cited public commentator on Russia's child welfare and adoption policies. As a former federal commissioner, he was quoted in coverage of Russia's 2012 ban on adoptions of Russian children by United States citizens and the bilateral Russia–US adoption agreement that preceded it.^[11][12] In 2012 he criticised the unexplained departure of UNICEF from Russia as a political mistake.^[13]

In recent years he has frequently spoken out on shortcomings in the system that is supposed to provide housing to orphans aged out of state care, warning of long waiting lists and chronic underfunding.^[2][4][14]