It all starts with the country’s regions. UNICEF in Belarus continues cooperating with the Gomel region and plans new projects

UNICEF in Belarus plans to conclude an annual work plan with the government
of the Gomel region. This will help all government agencies clearly understand
the overall goals and objectives, coordinate efforts, and track deliverables.
Namely, how many children or adolescents have received assistance at Early
Intervention Centers (EICs), Child and Adolescent Friendly Centers (CAFCs),
orphanages and other institutions and through joint projects of UNICEF and its
government partners.

Rustam Haydarov, UNICEF Representative in Belarus, and Vladimir Privalov, Deputy Chairperson of the Regional Executive Committee, agreed on this at a working meeting on December 2. 

“For us, working in the regions is of paramount importance. This is because the principle of equality and justice is important for UNICEF. We distribute aid and pay attention to those regions and children who need it most. I have worked in Africa and Asia for a long time. UNICEF activities in these regions differ from those in Belarus. We don't build schools here. We don't build hospitals. The role of UNICEF is quite niche, because Belarus has a well-developed social system. We focus only on the places where we can strengthen capacity and help develop certain competencies,” said Rustam Haydarov.

Together, UNICEF in Belarus and its government partners in the Gomel region have managed to create effective systems to help children and adolescents. For example, these are Early Intervention Centers (EICs), where parents of children aged 0-3 years can get assistance. Their main objective is to early identify developmental disorders or risks of their occurrence in children. The EIC specialists can support parents if any developmental disorders are identified in the child.

These are Adolescent Friendly Centers (AFCs) where young people and adolescents can get free, confidential and anonymous treatment, diagnostic and preventive care from obstetricians and gynecologists, pediatricians, valeologists, psychologists and other professionals. There are 54 such centers in Belarus.

This is the Deinstitutionalization Program (family placing the children who are in boarding schools). The goal of the “Family for Every Child” project is to help children reconnect with their biological parents or find a new family, develop alternative forms of child-placement (including adoption, guardianship, foster family placement). The project pays special attention to children with disabilities and young children. In 2021 alone, 41 children found their loving families in the Gomel region.

In the near future, UNICEF — together with its partners — plans to strengthen joint projects, scale them up and launch new ones. A working plan agreement has already been signed with the government of the Brest region. Through it, UNICEF will work closely with local authorities to improve operations of hospitals, schools, kindergartens and other institutions and programs for children.