*Page is being edited*
Belarus Support Program "Crossing Borders"
founded on the initiative of the Dortmund International Educational Center and the Minsk International Educational Center named after Johannes Rau and implemented in Belarus from 2002 to 2020. with the support of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Society for International Cooperation (GIZ).
By adopting the Belarus Support Program (PSB), the Federal Government of Germany contributed to the development of Belarusian-German humanitarian initiatives that arose against the backdrop of an international mutual aid movement after the Chernobyl disaster. Over time, these initiatives have grown into a social partnership, over 20 years of cooperation, Belarusian and German partners have jointly developed and implemented more than 270 innovative projects in the areas of non-formal education, healthcare, social assistance and social entrepreneurship, ecology, energy and sustainable regional development.
The main goal of the PPB is to contribute to the solution of urgent tasks of the sustainable development of Belarus. The program relied on the development of multilateral cooperation and sought to unleash internal resources, competently combine and use them to effectively respond to such national and global challenges, like demographic transformation, climate change, etc.
One of the features of the Support Program is the fact that despite the time frame of its stages, limited to two or three years, the main goals remained unchanged from the very beginning of its implementation. This made it possible to develop long-term trusting partnerships, not focusing only on the short-term goals of individual projects, but building them into a partnership strategy. At the same time, on the basis of an assessment of current needs, carried out jointly with the participants of the Program, specific focuses of its main actions were selected for each stage.
Since the approval of the Belarus Support Program, nine stages have been implemented, the main goal of the last 9th stage was to assist state and non-state actors in the implementation of 2030 Agenda in Belarus. The main focuses in this context were the localization of the Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the expansion of the participation of vulnerable groups in accordance with the principle of “leaving no one behind”.
Regular events “Sustainable Development Weeks” and "Republican Social Forum".
Program Achievements in Numbers
- Implementation of more than 270 joint German-Belarusian projects
- More than 300 partner organizations from Belarus. Over130 German partner organizations.
- Promoting the creation and active work of more than 30 public and advisory councilsat local, regional and republican authorities (on issues of inclusion, development of agroecotourism, social protection of the population, development of local strategies for sustainable development, promotion of the system management of joint households, etc.).
- Supporting the development and implementation of more than 25 local and regional sustainable development strategies, as well as the National Strategy for Sustainable Socio-Economic Development of the Republic of Belarus.
- Consulting support for the development and revision of more than 15 laws, regulations and other legislative acts in the social sphere to support inclusion and social entrepreneurship, as well as to improve the system of state social ordering (GSZ).
- Support for the development of more than 6 republican network structures, incl. in the areas of adult education, housing and communal services management, education for sustainable development, environmental management of social, church and educational institutions, improving the living conditions of the elderly.
- Organized and held 4 Republican Social Forums(more than 1000 participants), 5 Republican Conferences on Sustainable Development and 4 Sustainable Development Weeks (more than 500 events in Minsk and regions).
- Participation as co-organizers of 4 Forums of social biznes and Forum of Decent Longevity.
- 20 educational courses and seminars, including on topics such as monitoring, evaluation and refinement of local sustainable development strategies in Belarus, circular economy, localization of the 2030 Agenda, training of specialists in the field of state social contracting , employment of people with disabilities, diagnostics of people with mental and cognitive impairments for specialists working with people with disabilities, etc.
- Publication over 50 manuals and research, including on inclusion, social entrepreneurship, active aging, the Sustainable Development Goals, the circular economy, sustainable development strategies.