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The award ceremony was held in the Alexander Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace to mark the International Children’s Day.

Vladimir Putin awarded the Order to Margarita and Alexander Bagin, parents of 10 children, Gulnara and Anatoly Bely, who are raising 8 children, Irina and Vladimir Budnits, parents of 9 children, and Marem and Alekhan Izmailov, who have 7 children, Tatyana and Gennady Morokov raising 12 children, Antonina and Ivan Ryabov, who have 13 children, Nina and Alexander Savelyev, who are bringing up 12 children, and Marina and Sergei Khodyrev, who have 12 children.

The President announced that he had signed an Executive Order on the National Children’s Strategy for 2012–2017.

The Order of Parental Glory was instituted by the Presidential Executive Order of May 13, 2008.

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Speech at a ceremony for presenting the Order of Parental Glory to parents of large families

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Dear friends,

We sincerely welcome you to the Alexander Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace, and it is with great pleasure that today I present you with this lauded state decoration, the Order of Parental Glory.

Each of you has made a conscious choice in favour of a big, strong family. This is a very important step that requires tremendous spiritual and, one should also say, physical force. But without a doubt, it represents a great step, one replete with love and creation. To welcome a new person into the world, to form them as an individual, to in large measure determine their future is something of the utmost importance. This is especially true in regard to families who are raising seven or more children and often not only their relatives, blood relatives I mean. For you all children are your relatives, and they include foster children. And it is encouraging to see that the parents present here do not divide children into narrow categories such as their own and others.

”These families and these people are our country's heritage. Love, caring for others, responsibility for one’s children and one’s country – these are the main things that give meaning to every human life.“

You envelop each child, all of them desired and loved, in your warmth, care and sympathy. Most importantly, they are being raised in an atmosphere of kindness and mutual understanding. I can see this in your faces, your smiles, and in the warm and surprisingly unified atmosphere that reigns here.

We have begun a fitting and good tradition: conducting this ceremony in the presence of all the families involved, and presenting the Order of Parental Glory in the presence of both parents and children. I think this is a good tradition, particularly because it emphasizes that you are a unified whole. Without a doubt, these families and these people are our country's heritage. Love, caring for others, responsibility for one’s children and one’s country – these are the main things that give meaning to every human life.

Historically, Russia has always been famous for its love of children and big, happy families. Today, as we are consistently reviving these traditions in our society, your example is particularly important. You do everything so that children grow up to be decent, honourable people, real citizens, so that they become independent and able to work, and are concerned by the fate of their neighbours, that of the natural word, and that of their country.

Support for large families, mothers, and children is undoubtedly a crucial national priority. It is the basis on which we determine public policy in every area: healthcare, education, social and economic development. All these areas are of course fraught with problems. And most likely — I know that for I am constantly confronted by these problems when I visit our regions and meet with people, – you confront them on a daily basis. That said, our efforts in this regard have improved things. The national initiative to increase the population, and steps taken to care better for our children and to make them a higher priority are bearing results. Over the past four years more than 7 million children were born in Russia. It is encouraging that more and more families have made the decision to have a second or a third child. I believe that a significant and joint task of the government, society, and Russia’s traditional religions is to support families with children.

Large families must once again become a valued asset and families with two or three children the preferred norm. We need to do everything to ensure that having a baby does not put families into a difficult or vulnerable situation, or even plunge them into poverty.

”A significant and joint task of the government, society, and Russia’s traditional religions is to support families with children. Large families must once again become a valued asset and families with two or three children the preferred norm.“

That is why certain proposals concerning new steps to be taken in the demographic area have been proposed and will be instituted. I'm referring to indexing future maternity capital, giving priority to families with three or more children as far as property, housing, and increases in financial support for large families are concerned. You know about the latest initiative, the supplementary payments to families who have decided to have a third child, with particular emphasis on regions where demographic trends have been negative.

Subsequently we will work to resolve the acute problem of available places in preschool facilities. We also plan to implement a programme to promote women's employment. Such programmes will enable women to successfully combine motherhood and professional activities.

I would like to announce that today I signed an executive order on the national children’s strategy for 2012–2017. The priorities of this plan are to ensure a comfortable, positive and safe environment for the younger generation, to protect the rights of every Russian child by creating equal opportunities for their development and self-realization. We obviously need to raise the social status of the family and the prestige of parenthood, including by recognizing with state decorations the achievements in bringing up and educating our youngest citizens.

I hope that there will be more and more couples winning the Order of Parental Glory and other awards for outstanding parenting.
Of course today is your holiday. I would like to congratulate you from the bottom of my heart and thank you for devoting yourselves to the care of your children, for making yourselves the best possible example, not only for your sons and daughters, but for Russia’s entire multi-ethnic society.

I wish you happiness, health and prosperity!

Congratulations again!

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Dear friends.

Let me once again extend to you my warmest congratulations on winning these state decorations.

It is impossible to do what you have done for your children without committing yourself heart and soul. That is what you have done.

In the course of this ceremony, almost everyone who received an award expressed their thanks to me and to the government. I would like to emphasize how much we are indebted to you. We will do everything in our power to ensure that these debts are repaid.

Thank you very much.