MOSCOW, October 27. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has appointed Senator Maria Lvova-Belova as Russian Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights, according to a decree posted on the Kremlin website on Wednesday.

"Maria Alexeyevna Lvova-Belova shall be appointed Russia’s Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights for five years," the document reads.

Earlier in the day, the Russian president held a virtual meeting with Lvova-Belova.

"You have a very good and extensive experience - both in public work and within the family, in bringing up your own children. The position of Commissioner for Children’s Rights gives you an opportunity to use all your knowledge, skills, and expertise to achieve meaningful results for a large number of families and children. I take it you are ready for this work?" Putin asked her.

"Thank you for your trust. I am truly honored," Lvova-Belova said in response, pledging to take up the job with pleasure.

Lvova-Belova said she had "a good working relationship" with former Commissioner for Children’s Rights Anna Kuznetsova, who had become a member of the State Duma (the lower house of Russia’s parliament).

"It is crucial to focus on the protection of children’s rights to family, education, health and to create equal conditions for all children, regardless of their social status, place of residence and health conditions," the new commissioner said.

Personal experience

Putin asked Lvova-Belova when she joined the Federation Council (the upper house).

"I became a senator from the Penza Region a year ago," she answered.

The president asked the new commissioner about her family and children.

"I have nine children - five biological and four adopted, and 13 disabled young people are in my custody as well, but they do not live with me," she said.

She told the president that when at the age of 15 she was in hospital with her younger brother, she saw an abandoned baby, so she "made a vow to herself" to do her best in the future so that every child in Russia could have care, support, and attention from adults.

"I strongly feel that the commissioner’s mission is nothing else but that," Lvova-Belova added.

Putin said in response that "the mission is ultimately noble" and wished her success.

About the new commissioner for children’s rights

Lvova-Belova is the founder of ‘Louis Quarter’, the non-profit organization helping disabled people in Penza, and a member of the United Russia party’s general council. She has been a member of the Federation Council from the Penza Region since 2020.

Lvova-Belova is a graduate of the ‘school of governors.’

The program for training civil servants’ reserve, which is often called the ‘school of governors,’ was set up in June 2017 at the Higher School of State Administration. It is based on the best programs drawn up by Sberbank Corporate University, the Moscow School of Management Skolkovo, the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), and the Higher School of Economics (HSE).