On May 12, 2023, SDG 7 Youth Ambassador Vera Martynova held a lesson on the topic «Sustainable Development Goal №7 «Affordable and Clean Energy» for 10th grade students of the State Educational Institution «Secondary School №41 named after. A.M. Kuznetsov, Grodno».
Grade 10 students learned about the objectives of SDG 7, the features of «green» energy and the basics of energy saving, and also passed testing on the material presented.
To date, there are 58 adolescent-friendly centers in Belarus to provide assistance through understanding their problems, finding ways to change behavior and maintain health. In 2022, more than 150 thousand young people turned to such centers.
Also, to support the family and reduce domestic injuries, the development of model centers for teaching parents the basics of the safe life of children continues. There are 31 such centers in the country, which in 2022 alone provided advice to 30 thousand people – parents and legal representatives of minors.
In addition, Belarus is currently developing an international initiative «Baby-friendly Hospital» to create favorable conditions for breastfeeding in healthcare organizations. In total, 31 healthcare institutions have this status in Belarus. Their activities are based on holding seminars on breastfeeding with employees, classes on this topic at the school of motherhood with pregnant women, puerperas.
The provision of a complex of medical, psycho-social services to the population on the problems of maintaining and improving health makes an important contribution to the achievement by the Republic of Belarus of Sustainable Development Goal 3 and other SDGs.
More detailed information can be found at the link.
Every year on May 15, International Day of the Family is celebrated. This holiday was established by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1993 in order to attract the attention of the general public to family problems, family values, motherhood and child rearing.
A number of events are timed to coincide with the holiday, which will be held throughout the country. Among the main events: a single lesson «The Fate of the Family in the History of the Country», which takes place in all institutions of secondary education, the festival of families «Families for Peace and Creation», dialogue platforms in labor collectives «Partnership between the State and the Family in the Interests of Future Generations». The program of the holiday also includes the organization of book exhibitions and educational and educational excursions in the National Library of Belarus, various competitions and promotions, cultural and sports events for the whole family.
In Belarus, special attention is paid to family problems. The most important direction of the Belarusian state family policy is the protection of motherhood and childhood. The country has created a reliable system of support for families with children, which includes economic, social, labor guarantees and rights. Support for young families is being improved, which implies, in the event of the birth of a child, the improvement of living conditions, the allocation of gratuitous subsidies, and the use of flexible schemes for preferential lending.
Statistical review for the Family Day, prepared by the National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus.
Support and protection of the family, motherhood, fatherhood and childhood are an important element in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
On May 11-12, 2023, a seminar «Best experience and practice of cooperation at the local level on the development of ecotourism in specially protected natural areas (SPNA)», organized within the framework of the international technical assistance project «Development of Ecotourism to Promote the Green Transition to an Inclusive and sustainable growth», was held in Volozhin.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the State Nature Reserve of the republican landscape reserves «Ozery» and «Naliboksky», Grodno State University named after Ya. Kupala, social, scientific organizations and cultural institutions, the local ecotourism cluster.
During the seminar, issues of attracting volunteers, involving the local population in the development of ecotourism services, as well as effective tools for interacting with visitors to protected areas were discussed.
At the end of the event, a declaration of partnership between the participants of the ecotourism cluster «Naliboksky» was signed.
The development of ecotourism in specially protected natural areas will contribute to the achievement by the Republic of Belarus of Sustainable Development Goal 15 and other SDGs.
More information about the seminar can be found at the link.
From May 12 to May 13, 2023, at the initiative of the NGO «Belarusian Union of Women», the first republican forum of women entrepreneurs «Energy and Creation» is being held in Minsk. The main goal of the forum is to bring together women entrepreneurs who will be able to exchange experience and best practices in their professional activities.
More than 250 women entrepreneurs take part in the forum, including representatives of large, medium and small businesses, individual entrepreneurs and self-employed women.
The forum program includes:
Holding a forum of women entrepreneurs «Energy and Creation» will contribute to the achievement by the Republic of Belarus of Sustainable Development Goals 5, 8, 10 and other SDGs.
More information about the forum can be found at the link.
On May 11, 2023, in the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, a meeting was held between the National Coordinator for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, Deputy Chairman of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus Valery Belsky and the Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia of the United Nations Development Coordination Office Gwi Yop SON.
During the meeting, the participants discussed the progress of Belarus in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the participation of Belarus in the UN Summit on Sustainable Development Goals in September 2023, and also noted the high appreciation of the effective organization of work at the national level in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals development and data collection on SDG indicators.
More information about the meeting can be found at the link.
From 2016 to 2021, Belarus implemented the project «Belarus: Support for Green Urban Development in Small and Medium Towns of Belarus». For seven cities, strategies were developed and implemented to improve urban planning practices to promote low-carbon development and increase the resilience of small towns to the impacts of climate change. Innovative solutions have been used to improve urban road infrastructure, manage municipal waste, increase the energy efficiency of residential buildings, and expand the area of green spaces:
The piloted solutions made it possible to create sustainable mechanisms and infrastructure for further promotion of innovations in urban planning and improvement of small towns, which will make an important contribution to the achievement by the Republic of Belarus of Sustainable Development Goals 9, 11, 12, 13 and other SDGs.
More detailed information about the results of the project can be found at the link.
On May 5, 2023, a meeting between the National Coordinator for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals Valery Belsky and the leaders of the intersectoral groups of the Council for Sustainable Development was held in the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus.
During the meeting, issues of the functioning of intersectoral groups, holding meetings of the Council for Sustainable Development in the second half of 2023, the implementation of the international technical assistance project «Supporting the efforts of the Republic of Belarus to nationalize and localize the SDGs», participation in the preparation of the draft Strategy for Sustainable Development of the Republic of Belarus until 2040.
In recent decades, many countries have revised their development strategies, when environmental protection is not a burden on the economy, but a driver of its development. Among them is Belarus, which adopted the National Action Plan for the Development of the Green Economy for 2021-2025.
The National Action Plan includes 12 areas and 68 activities that are being implemented with the participation of 48 state bodies. Among the conceptual ones are the development of the Strategy for the Development of the Circular Economy in the Republic of Belarus until 2035, the long-term development of Belarus with a low level of greenhouse gases until 2050, the National Strategy for the Management of Solid Municipal Waste and Secondary Material Resources in the Republic of Belarus for the period until 2035, the development «green» finance mechanisms. Also, the country pays considerable attention to the issues of minimizing the harmful effects of production on the environment, the development of eco-tourism, electric transport and urban mobility, resource-efficient and cleaner production, increasing the potential for using renewable energy sources and building energy-efficient residential buildings. Work has begun on the creation of four ecotourism clusters: on the basis of the «Ozery», «Naliboksky», «Osveysky», «ECO-ROSY».
Today we can talk not only about the success of the implementation of certain principles of the green economy, but also about the emerging positive trends in the greening of the economy as a whole.
The transition to a «green» economy contributes to sustainable economic, environmental and social growth, which makes an important contribution to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
More detailed information about the results of the implementation of the «green» economy program in Belarus can be found at the link.
On May 2, 2023, the discussion of the draft Law «On Amending Laws on Entrepreneurial Activities», which provides for reforming the system of small and medium-sized businesses, started in Belarus. During the discussion, it is planned to identify possible problematic issues that representatives of small and medium-sized businesses may encounter during the implementation of this reform.
In this regard, in the regions, with the involvement of representatives of small and medium-sized businesses, confederations of entrepreneurs, dialogue platforms are being held to discuss the draft Law. Similar dialogue platforms have already been held in the Mogilev and Brest regional executive committees. It is also planned to hold a number of round tables with the involvement of business representatives and other interested parties.
The adoption of the law «On Amending Laws on Entrepreneurial Activities» will contribute to the achievement by the Republic of Belarus of Sustainable Development Goal 8 and other SDGs.
More information about the bill can be found at the link.
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