28 February 2025
On February 24 – 25, 2025, the National Coordinator for Achieving the SDGs, Deputy Chairperson of the Council of the Republic Sergei Khomenko made a working visit to the Brest region. Together with the National Coordinator, the Brest region was visited by the representatives of the United Nations (UN), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the World Health Organization (WHO).
The main purpose of the visit was to discuss the priority areas of sustainable development of the Brest region for the period until 2040.
During the two-day visit, the delegation headed by the National Coordinator for Achieving the SDGs visited objects of socio-economic, historical and cultural importance in the cities of Baranavichy, Kobrin, Brest, agro-towns “Bialowieza” and “Kamenyuki”.
The delegation visited the SEI “Secondary School No. 1 of Baranavichy named after S.I. Gritsevets”, EI “National Children’s Technopark”, Memorial complex “Brest Hero Fortress”, Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park, familiarized with the work of the “one window” service of the Kobrin District Executive Committee, social infrastructure on the example of a health center with the water-mud cure center “Aquapark of Kobrin”, as well as with the provision of medical care on the example of modular feldsher-midwife stations and the HI “Brest Children’s Regional Hospital”, etc.
“Those objects that we visited, I will not hesitate to say, are a sample, on the one hand, of the content, and on the other hand, of the heartfelt attitude of people to the work they do for the well-being of the Republic of Belarus,” said National Coordinator Sergei Khomenko.
The program of events also included a meeting at the EI “Brest State University named after A.S. Pushkin” to discuss the development of the sustainable development strategy of the Brest region for the period until 2040.
The sustainable development strategy of the Brest region until 2040 is the main document of long-term planning processes of strategic development of the Brest region. It includes principles and priority areas for improving the quality of life and achieving sustainable development of the region, approaches to developing the region’s potential and strengthening its competitive advantages, and other important aspects.
As part of the event, the National Coordinator for Achieving the SDGs Sergei Khomenko, made an excursion into the history of the Sustainable Development Goals. In his speech, he emphasized that Belarus is doing serious work to achieve the SDGs and that this aspiration was even embedded in the national anthem.
“The quintessence of sustainable development is concentrated in one phrase, in the last words of the refrain: the prosperity of our native country,” remarked Sergei Khomenko.
He also said that Belarus promotes the SDGs not in words, but by concrete actions. In particular, programs on poverty eradication, clean water, sanitation, reducing inequality, preserving ecosystems have been completed. The country does not abandon its commitments to the other SDGs either. Regions also contribute to their implementation.
The UN Resident Coordinator in Belarus Rasul Bagirov in his speech also drew attention to the fact that Belarus has already achieved the certain Sustainable Development Goals, while the implementation of the others is expected by 2030. He said that, at the moment, in order to achieve the priorities, goals and objectives set by the state, with the support of the UN system, the Cooperation Framework for 2026-2030 is being developed.
“This program will be a kind of agreement between the government and the UN system. Preliminarily, we have developed and proposed four priorities to the government,” noted Rasul Bagirov. “These priorities relate to human development and well-being for all, inclusion, environment, climate, and peace.”
Participants also noted the extensive experience of Belarus in developing sustainable development strategies, including at the local level. All strategies are characterized by a varying degree of detail, including the specifics of territorial development. For example, the regional development strategy until 2025 was developed in Brestchyna, at the district level – the sustainable development strategy of Gantsevichy district until 2025, Berezovsky district – until 2030, at the village council level – the sustainable strategy of Vygonoshchansky village council until 2025.
The meeting on the discussion of the sustainable development strategy of Brest region also included the signing ceremony of the agreement on the accession of the EI “Brest State University named after A.S. Pushkin” and the EI “Brest State Technical University” to the International Consortium “Human Well-Being in the Digital Environment of Smart Cities”. Currently, the consortium brings together eleven Belarusian and Russian universities that study the quality of people’s life in smart cities, taking into account many factors.
It is expected that the proposals and comments received during the working visit to the Brest region will contribute to the development of the sustainable development strategy of the Brest region for the period until 2040, elaboration of proposals for further interaction between Belarus and UN agencies within the framework of the preparation of the Cooperation Frameworks, as well as preparation of proposals for activities and implementation of new projects and pilot initiatives in the Brest region.
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Sources of photos and information: brsu.by, belta.by, brest-region.gov.by.
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