The project has managed to draw the public’s attention to the problem of discrimination against women. This was achieved through social advertisements made in the framework of the project, films, television shows and newspaper stories. Journalists, whose training was the focus of attention during the implementation of the project, have done a lot for creating a friendlier social environment.
More than 700 women leaders have been trained at workshops and summer schools. In addition, the project has created a unique gender-oriented Masters course for women in business administration, which has trained 34 women. This was Eastern Europe’s only program in its kind. More than 100 socially vulnerable women from 55 Belarusian localities, including the unemployed, mothers with children, low-paid civil servants and re-settles have participated in the program “Starting up a Business in Belarus”.
The project participants actively cooperated with lawmakers and law drafters. This process revealed the need for significant improvements in the national legal framework. As a result, the project experts have come up with specific recommendations for the improvement of the National Action Plan on Gender Equality for 2006-2010. The elaboration of a gender equality law concept has also begun at the project’s initiative.
The evaluation of the project’s results
concluded that it influenced both legal and social regulators, creating
preconditions for the fullest realization of women’s potential in labor and
social activities.
More detailed information:
1. The certified programme on business-administration for beginners
women-entrepreneurs at the beginning of their career (16-22 ìàÿ 2005). This is
an intensive one-week programme of advanced vocational training, aimed at
development of professional, organizational and leader’s skills of women,
enhancement of their compatibility and assistance for their self-employment and
improvement of their material standing through successful conducting of private
business. This programme was implemented in coordination with Ministry of Labor
and Social welfare of the Republic of Belarus. On completion of the certified
programme of 49-academic hours certificates were given to 15 women.
2. Two groups of women (21 persons) received diplomas in “Management” within
the programme “Women’s leadership”.The third, final group of 14 women-leaders
was enrolled in November 2004 to pursue their studies of business administration
in academic year 2004-2005.
3. 39 women representatives of local government and administration bodies
from 32 regional centres, small towns and villages representing all the 6
regions of Belarus and its capital city have been trained during March-June,
2003 within the framework of the 2-week 88-hour certification programme “Women
and Effective Administrating”. The programme on gender mainstreaming included
the fundamentals of gender theory, women’s human rights, women’s participation
in political decision-making, National Action Plan to Attain Gender Equality in
the Republic of Belarus for 2001-2005, the political system of the society and
the role of local (self-) government in it, organizational and economic problems
of local (self-) government, legislative principles of local (self-) government.
The participants of the programme were offered training courses on
assertiveness, development of the leadership potential, teamwork, public
relations, debate, presentation and self-presentation techniques.
4. 28 secondary school teachers (including 2 men) have been
trained at the summer school “To Gender Equality through Education” to teach
leadership to school girls and motivate them to participate in decision-making.
Summer school participants represented 21 towns from all Belarusian regions. The
curriculum included the following academic disciplines: “Gender and Social
Inequality”; “Gender Rights in the System of Human Rights”; “Everyday
Discrimination: Sexism in Language and Culture”; “History of Women’s Movement”;
“Fostering of Leadership Skills at School” (the course was delivered by Nadezhda
Tsyrkun, Doctor of Psychology, associate professor, member of the House of
Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus of the
second convocation. ; “Forming of the Teenagers’ Constructive Communication
Skills”; “Prevention of Violence to Women and Women Trafficking”; “Teenagers’
Distortions of Body Image and Teenage Psychosomatic Disorders”.
5. 70 students have been trained through the annual
certification educational program “Women’s Leadership” at the Envila non-state
women's institute. Among them there are 23 schoolchildren from vocational class
at secondary school No. 219 who attended the same program. The programme
consisted of both theoretical and practical courses (60 academic hours
altogether). Future economists and psychologists participated in training
courses, role-play activities, round-table discussions and theoretical classes.
Courses were aimed at the development of leadership skills: efficient teamwork,
decision-making, conflict resolution, stress management, etc. On completion of
the programme the participants took part in the certification procedure which
consisted of the final paper and an interview and allowed the certification
committee to evaluate the students’ knowledge of modern leadership concepts, the
gender context of social, political and economic spheres of the life of society,
the complex approach to forming a balanced gender policy along with the
participants’ practical leadership skills.
6. From December 20, 2002 till February 16, 2003 seven
educational seminars “Women’s Leadership in Local Self-Government” were
organized. Their purpose was to discuss the possibility of expanding women’s
participation in politics, peculiarities of self-government and the Electoral
Code of the Republic of Belarus. Training courses on public relations, teamwork
and presentation and self-presentations techniques were held. The purpose of the
seminars was to promote women to the decision-making sphere at the local level
and to enable them to participate effectively in the electoral campaign to the
local councils of deputies. Seminars were held in the following towns: Minsk (2
seminars), Bobruisk, Baranovichi, Grodno, Vitebsk and Gomel. All in all, 125
women took part in these seminars. Among them were 60 women candidates to the
local bodies of self-government (48%), 32 members of the initiative groups and
candidates’ agents (25, 6%) and 33 election observers (26, 4%). Instead of 4
one-day long seminars that had been planned, 7 two-day seminars were held.
7. From October 17, 2003 till November 22, 2003 a series of
seven 2-day seminars for women willing to start a new small business is being
held. The seminars “How to Start a Business in Belarus” are especially topical
for socially disadvantaged women. Among the participants there are poorly-paid
public officers, unemployed women, women with small children and women with many
children, pensioners, housewives, two replaced women and one disabled woman.
Such seminars are especially advantageous for their provision of opportunities
for the discriminated categories of women to realize their potential. The
seminars’ topicality and the demand for them urged us to increase their duration
from one day (as planned) to two days. At the first 6 seminars (Minsk, Gomel,
Mogiliov, Novopolotsk, Soligorsk and Lida) 154 women received basic knowledge of
the fundamentals of marketing, financial management, business planning and legal
issues of entrepreneurship. Participants will be able to make use of the
materials worked out by the lecturers of the seminars in their practical
activities.
8. On 15 April 2003 special hearings at the Committee on
Education, Culture, Science and Scientific and Technological Progress of the
House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus
were prepared and held. Deputies discussed the possibility of implementing other
countries’ positive gender policy experience in Belarus. The Committee worked
out recommendations for the House of Representatives of the National Assembly
for promoting gender policy in science, culture and education in the Republic of
Belarus. Deputies were also introduced to the results of the project research.
Cooperation was established with the initiative Parliament group for setting up
a women’s faction. The project also involves active collaboration with some
deputies of the House of Representatives and members of the Council of the
Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus.
9. On 28 May 2003 a round-table discussion “Legal Basis for
Gender Equality” for lawyers of the National Legislation Centre under the
Auspices of the President of the Republic of Belarus was held. Employees of the
Centre got familiarized with the results of the project research, gender
expertise of the existing legislation, the concept of equal rights and equal
opportunities and with foreign experience in making and implementing the policy
of gender equality. The participants of the study visit to Sweden organized
within the framework of the project at the end of 2002 acquainted the
participants of the round-table discussion with the experience of Sweden. The
Advisor to the Ombudsman on Equal Opportunities of Men and Women of the Republic
of Lithuania invited by the project elucidated the relevant practices in
Lithuania.
10. 7 seminars “Civic Participation: Another Dimension of
Women’s Leadership” were conducted for women, taking active part in the work of
non-profit organizations. The participants were 95 women from 31 towns and
villages. The main goal of the seminar was to enhance and inspire to apply their
leadership skills and participate more actively in public life, develop their
decision–making and communicative skills. The curriculum of this two-day seminar
was devoted to discussing such topics as: women’s participation in social
development and decision-making processes, social influence and public relations
(gender sensitive training courses).
11. Public Leadership Summer School “It Is Always on Time to Be
a Leader!” gathered 23 girls from all over Belarus with evident leadership
potential, which is already applied in social life (e.g. NGOs, students’
self-governments, social events and public campaigns, etc.). During the 10 days’
period of the summer school, the girls went through an intensive curriculum,
which included seminars, discussions, simulation games and training courses on
such topics as civil society and civic participation; women's participation in
and contribution to politics; social inequality, sexisms in language and
culture; women’s human rights; social influence and public relations; effective
communication and team working; leadership, personal growth, and life
success.
12. Training course “Projects’ Strategic Planning” was
conducted as a follow-up seminar for 13 alumni of the summer school “It Is
Always on Time to Be a Leader!” and was devoted to the question of developing
and running projects, aimed at attaining gender equality in the participants’
local communities.
13. Several meetings of the Lithuanian expert with the deputies
of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of
Belarus, with the Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Protection of the
Republic of Belarus and some other representatives of the Ministry were held to
discuss the issues of drafting and implementing the Law on Equal Opportunities.
14. After two informational tours to Sweden for the group of
politics, activists of education and journalists participants; were convinced
about the necessity to develop mechanisms of women rights protection and in need
for entering gender component into the higher education program of teacher
training.
15. University Law professors have the crucial role in forming
the legal community’s attitude towards gender equality. That is why they form a
special target group of the project. A round-table discussion for university Law
professors and lawyers-researchers has been prepared (December 2003). Russian
and Lithuanian experts in women’s human rights took part in the seminar.
16. A manual for lawyers-practitioners “Sex/Gender” was
published in 2004. The manual contains the results of the gender expertise of
the existing legislation, a number of articles on the basic concepts of gender
theory, some materials revealing the existing gender discrimination, translation
of the Law on Equal Opportunities (Sweden) and the text of the draft of the Law
on Equal Opportunities (Russia).
17. Together with the Ministry of Statistics and Analysis of
the Republic of Belarus a statistical book “Women and Men in the Republic of
Belarus” has been prepared and published in 2003. The current edition of the
book contains more statistical data in comparison with the previous edition of
2001. This was achieved thanks to the use of the information from the database
of the census in Belarus.
18. To change the gender stereotypes of the lawmakers, the
results of the gender expertise of the Criminal Code, Criminal Procedure Code,
Criminal Executive Code, Labour Code and Family Code carried out in 2002 have
been included into the programme of the round-table discussions for
lawyers-legislators and teaching lawyers (May and December 2003).
19. The monitoring of the Action Plan to Attain Gender Equality
in the Republic of Belarus for 2001-2005 has been made. International and
national documents of the Republic of Belarus on human rights, women’s human
rights aimed at attaining gender equality have been reviewed. The survey of a
number of documents on women’s rights (the Statute of the Grand Duchy of
Lithuania, decrees of the Soviet government, modern legislative acts)
illustrates the changes in the understanding of the women’s position and role in
the society.
20. Analytical materials of the surveys carried out at the end
of 2002 have been prepared and are disseminated during the carrying out of the
project educational programmes, at the meetings with the deputies of the House
of Representatives of the National Assembly and the members of the National
Legislation Centre under the Auspices of the President of the Republic of
Belarus. Analytical materials are available on the project’s web site and also
extensively used by mass media representatives. Materials reveal the factors
that help or hinder the advancement of women. They also elucidate the position
of women in the Republic of Belarus – according to the statistical data and
self-appraisal of the interviewed men and women. Survey materials describe the
models of women’s and men’s success existing in society and promoted by the mass
media; they also present public opinion about women’s participation in
policy-making and people’s attitude to the problem of gender equality. The
collected data was used to prepare an alternative and the official reports for
the 30th CEDAW Committee that had its session in January 2004.
21. The text of the report on advancement of women “Towards
Balanced Society” has been prepared and published in two languages – Russian and
English – in 2004, on the basis of which a monograph was written in 2004 extra
to the project’s plan. Among its authors are representatives of Ministries,
leading universities, private research and academic institutions. Its authors
are political scientists, sociologists, economists, demographers and
statisticians.
22. A databank of women leaders of the Republic of Belarus has
been compiled and made available on the project’s web site. It is being updated
alongside with the implementation of the project. This databank provides its
users with information about 231 formal and informal women leaders in the
Republic of Belarus.
23. The databank is a list of women having a high social status
in the Republic of Belarus and able to influence decision-making in the country.
The criteria for selection were the woman’s official position connected with a
high social status in the professional sphere, and the ability to exert
influence on the public opinion.
24. In order to teach gender correct writing to journalists and
spread the ideas of gender mainstreaming among them, 3 training seminars during
2003 were held. At the seminars 76 journalists representing regional and
national mass media were trained.
25. A special seminar “Constructing Gender in Mass Media” for
fifth-year students of School of Journalism at the Belarusian State University
was designed and included into the curriculum. Students analyse the texts of the
Belarusian mass media with regard to the correct way of portraying women’s
participation in the political, economic and social life of the country at the
seminar.
26. A national contest for the journalists of the national and
regional mass media on writing about women’s participation in political,
economic and social life of the country was held. 28 texts competed in the
nomination “Feature Article”, 14 articles – in the nomination “Analytical
Article”, 32 texts – in the nomination “News/Report”. The results of the contest
were announced on 14 November 2003. The winners of the contest became Marina
Kounovskaya, a journalist from Minsk (“Analytical Article”), Lyubov Deduro, a
journalist of the newspaper “The Vitebsk Worker” (“Feature Article”) and Yuri
Stepanov, a journalist from the Vitebsk TV studio SKIF (“News/Report”).
27. Project has worked out and conducted distance learning
program for journalists on gender problems “Interpretation of women’s role in
decision making” (January-June 2004). 9 participants received certificates.
28. E-book for journalists on gender problems “Interpretation
of women’s role in decision making” was prepared and is planned to be published
(May 2005).
29. The concept of law on gender equality in the Republic of
Belarus has been discussed three times in the frames of round-table discussions
“Gender equality – precondition for effective country development” with
lawmakers, officials, scholars, NGO representatives (16.03.2004, 28.06.2004,
01.07.2004).
30. A number of articles in the national and regional mass
media initiated by the project contribute to the spreading of the positive
experience of the Belarusian women’s participation in the political, economic
and social life of the country. In the newspapers “The Vitebsk Courier”, “The
Evening Grodno”, “The Courier from Borisov” and “The Job for You” special
columns have been created in which the information about the project’s
activities and articles on women’s participation in the public life of the
country are published.
31. Social advertising created within the framework of the
project in 2002 [(Wo)man has invented the wheel. (Wo)man has kindled the fire.
(Wo)man has invented the alphabet)] has become the winner at two advertising
competitions among CIS countries in Kiev and Novosibirsk and one international
competition in Minsk in the nominations “Social Advertising Posters” and “Video
Social Advertising”. The TV variant of the social advertising has been shown a
number of times on the channels ONT, STV, “Lad” and the Musical Channel.
32. The second series of the project’s social advertising
(“It’s never too early to become a leader”, “It’s never too late to become a
leader”, “It’s always the right time to become a leader”) has been created and
is being disseminated. The printed advertisements are disseminated during the
project activities and also by the partner organizations.
33. Video clip – “Professional” – is the third series of social
advertising of the project, which was pronounced the best at the Moscow festival
of advertising in 2004.
34. To promote the project’s ideas (elimination of gender
discrimination, promotion of women to the decision-making sphere, creating an
enabling atmosphere for women’s career in society), since the beginning of 2003
the project’s staff have participated in dozens of TV programmes on BT, STV and
ONT and number of live programmes in the TV studios in the towns of Rechitsa,
Soligorsk, Gomel, Grodno and Novopolotsk. Some of the programmes were repeatedly
broadcasted.
35. A series of 4 TV interview programmes with Belarusian women
who have attained success in public sphere has been prepared and is being
repeatedly broadcasted on regional TV. Among the heroines of the programmes were
a head of a private law firm, Chairperson of the Belarusian Union of
Entrepreneurs and Farmers, Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Budgeting
and Finance at the House of the Republic of the National Assembly of the
Republic of Belarus, a deputy of the House of Representatives of the National
Assembly of the Republic of Belarus and the owner of a model agency.
36. The project’s web site www.gender.by was opened in September 2002
and is regularly updated. It has become an important information resource for
those interested in gender and women’s studies – students, teachers, and
university professors, scholars and researchers, women’s non-governmental
organizations, journalists, women interested in their social and professional
advancement, and broad public. More than 30 000 individual users have visited
the web site within the period since its opening. The web-site contains the
results of the project research, announcements of the opportunities provided by
the project, information about the Internet resources on the topic, the project
chronicle, teaching materials and hand-outs disseminated among the participants
of seminars for women willing to start their own business and participants of
the summer school for secondary school teachers. Visitors of the web site can
download advertising posters and acquaint themselves with the databank on women
leaders in the Republic of Belarus and texts of the articles that became winners
in the contest for journalists. In the beginning of 2004 an English version of
web-site was prepared and placed in Internet.
37. Coverage of the project activities (educational programmes;
meetings with representatives of the legislative institutions and legislative
bodies of government; presentation of the surveys’ results) by mass media has
contributed to the spreading of the project ideas. A round-table discussion was
held (June 13, 2003) with the participation of journalists and the certification
programme graduates (“Women and Effective Administrating”) who hold office in
the bodies of local government and administration. After the meeting magazines
“Alesya” and “The Women’s Magazine” prepared information materials and
interviews.
38. 67 NGO activists representing NGOs from Minsk and 23
district towns attended the seminar “Civic Participation: One of the Aspects of
Women Leadership in Spring 2004.
39. The members of the project developed the conception of “The
Law On the Equal Opportunities for Women and Men” in March 2004.
40. Lilia Kashenkova, an alumnus of the 2003 project’s
programme (summer school for secondary school teachers) was elected as Member of
the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus
in October 2004.
41. The Project together with UNICEF office in Belarus has
pronounced a new contest on “Equal rights – Equal opportunities” for amateurs
and professionals working in flash-technology to create a flash-card. The topic
of the contest is: “The rights of women and men are equal. Are their
opportunities equal?” The contest period is 01.06.-01.09.2005.
42. The package of informational and teaching-methodical
materials was elaborated for each educational program. These materials are
available at project’s site. Those interested in these materials could use them
for self-education thus enhancing the effectiveness of educational programmes of
the project because of the audience enlargement. |
