On 29 April 2015 international conference "Promoting Gender Equality in Belarus" was held in Minsk. The event was conducted in the framework of the international technical assistance project "Developing National Capacity to Counteract Domestic Violence in Belarus in the Context of Increased Gender Equality" implemented jointly by the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Republic of Belarus and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) with the financial support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).
The goal of the Conference was to inform the participants of the experience and prospects of Belarus in achieving equal rights and opportunities for women and men and counteracting domestic violence, to familiarize the audience with the international experience of sensitizing the public about gender issues, combating domestic violence and organizing work with male aggressors.
The Conference was attended by more than 100 representatives of ministries and government agencies, state institutions, territorial centres for social service, and non-governmental organizations.
National and international experts presented their reports on two focus areas: "Gender equality and achieving it from the international and national perspective" and "International and national approaches to preventing and combating violence against women"
Alexander Rumak, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Protection of the Republic of Belarus, spoke on the achievements, objectives and prospects of empowering women and men in Belarus. Elena Kasko, Assistant Representative at United Nations Population Fund, spoke on the activity of UN agencies to promote gender equality in Belarus.
Ulziisuren Jamsran, Representative of UN Women in Moldova, spoke on the topic "Gender equality and strategies for achieving it in the post-2015 development agenda".
International expert from Sweden Tina Bruno, who put forward the idea of creating ParentSmart companies, spoke of the international experience and measures taken by employers to support families and employees with children.
Monica Cosaqi, international expert from Albania made a short overview of the provisions of Istanbul Convention on the standards of providing help to the survivors of violence and working with male aggressors.
Natalia Osipova, Director of Kobrin Territorial Centre for Social Service and Ekaterina Maltseva, Director of Minsk City Centre for Social Services for Families and Children spoke of the experience of organizing inter-agency cooperation for combating domestic violence in Belarus, providing help for survivors, issuing restraining orders, and working with male aggressors.
Heinrich Kraus (Centre for Male Aggressors, Vienna) and Verena Tadler (Crisis Centre for the Survivors of Domestic Violence, Vienna) shared their 15-year experience of implementing the Programme Against Domestic Violence and the development of the national network for working with male aggressors in Austria.
