11 April 2025
On April 9-10, 2025, the V Mogilev Regional Forum on Sustainable Development was held in Zhilichi Palace and Park Ensemble (Kirov district).
The participants of the Forum discussed priority areas of the development of Mogilev region within the framework of the updated Sustainable Development Strategy of the Mogilev region until 2040, the involvement of citizens in the decision-making process at the local level, the role of youth in achieving the SDGs, as well as summarized the results of the regional contest of the best practices of 2024 for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Strategy of Mogilev region for the period until 2035.
In the welcoming speech, the Deputy Chairperson of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, the National Coordinator for Achieving the SDGs Sergei Khomenko, noted that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development coincides with the path, that the Republic of Belarus is following. It can be characterized in a few words: “The state for the people and in the name of the people”. At the same time, Mogilev region is one of the advanced regions in terms of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
“The National Sustainable Development Strategy of the Republic of Belarus until 2040 has already been considered. Remember the words of the Head of State: “We look beyond the horizon and do everything to ensure that our children and grandchildren live in a peaceful and developed state”. In Belarus, the citizen and his/her comfortable living in the country will always be at the top of the list,” emphasized Sergei Khomenko.
The UN Resident Coordinator in the Republic of Belarus Rasul Bagirov noted in his speech the interest and activity of Belarus in the field of sustainable development.He also informed the Forum participants that the Cooperation Framework between the United Nations and Belarus in the field of sustainable development for 2026-2030 is being developed, which will take into account all the activities and main priorities of the United Nations, which will be coupled with the priorities of the Republic of Belarus. Among them, the first place is given to a person, his/her well-being and development, including education, healthcare, and social programs. The second direction is economic. The third is the environment. And one more direction is peaceful coexistence.
The UNDP Resident Representative in the Republic of Belarus Zhenfei Liu in her welcoming speech reaffirmed the joint commitment of the UN agencies and Belarus to sustainable development.
“For eight years, UNDP has been actively supporting the Mogilev region. Due to the support and important partnerships with local authorities, UNDP has implemented 76 projects in Mogilev region. Of these, 67 have been completed and 9 are still ongoing,” said Zhenfei Liu.
The UNDP Resident Representative also informed about the joint work with the Mogilev Regional Executive Committee on updating the regional sustainable development strategy of Mogilev region. The upcoming plans also include implementation of pilot initiatives to train medical students in Bobruisk using artificial intelligence capabilities, training young people in Horki in precision farming skills, and others.
The UNICEF Representative in the Republic of Belarus Rustam Khaidarov noted in his speech that UNICEF actively cooperates with Mogilev region in the implementation of various projects for children. Among them, for example, are “Child Friendly Cities”. There are 5 such cities in Mogilev region. The essence of this status is to assist local governments to allocate resources more competently and purposefully, to implement programs for children, responding to their needs and requirements.
The Head of UNPFA Office in the Republic of Belarus Olga Atroshchenko drew attention in her speech to the UNFPA contribution not only to the support of childhood, motherhood and fatherhood, but also to the development of demographic potential of the population of Belarus.
One of the activities in this area is work with older people, including support for “silver” volunteering. In order to develop ways and means of such volunteering further, to involve more elderly people and to use new opportunities for this purpose, “Silver Volunteer School” was organized with UNFPA support, “Republican Meeting of Silver Age Volunteers” and other events are held annually. She emphasized the importance of sensitizing the public, including youth, to the problems of older persons, as well as the need to involve women in leadership positions on public issues.
The Deputy Chairperson of the Mogilev Regional Executive Committee Ruslan Strakhar made a welcoming speech and emphasized that Mogilev region was the first among regions of Belarus to develop and adopt a regional sustainable development strategy.Its priority areas are economy, strong regions, ecologization and all-round harmonious development of each person.
“All programs that are adopted in Mogilev region, as well as throughout the country, are aimed at people – at their development and creation of comfortable living conditions. And this is an area in which we are investing enormous resources. And to be effective, this work must be based on economics. We must do everything to make our enterprises work, to bring taxes to the budget. And the work of the entire vertical power of Mogilev region is focused on this strategic task to develop the economy and create living conditions for the population,” said Ruslan Strakhar.
The Deputy Chairperson of the Mogilev Regional Executive Committee said that the work on updating the sustainable development strategy of Mogilev region for the period until 2040 is at the final stage. Its main priorities are:
Presentations of speakers (RU):
Belarus on the way toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (Khomenko S.N.)
Priority directions of the development of Mogilev region within the framework of the updated Sustainable Development Strategy of Mogilev region until 2040 (Strakhar R.B.)
Green transition to the inclusive and sustainable growth as an important element of the Sustainable Development Strategy of Mogilev region until 2040 (Shadrakov A.V.)
Creation on the basis of FEZ “Mogilev” administration of the Center of competence for labor productivity improvement (Marinenko P.L.)
Pilot initiatives on the introduction of circular economy and resource saving principles at enterprises and organizations of Mogilev region (Solovyova E.V.)
Involvement of citizens in the decision-making process at the local level (Tereshkova P.N.)
Youth and the SDGs: partnering for a sustainable future (Shcherbakova P.S.)
Website “Green College” (Antoshchenko A.V.)
The V Mogilev Regional Forum on Sustainable Development is organized by the Mogilev Regional Executive Committee with the support of UNDP within the framework of the Joint Project “Support to the Efforts of the Republic of Belarus in Nationalization and Localization of SDGs” with the financial support of the Russian Federation.
Sources of photos and information: belta.by, sb.by, mogilevnews.by
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