Anti-Belarusian propaganda, silent reforms, women’s entrepreneurship – digest of Belarusian analytics
Artiom Shraibman discusses what is wrong with the reaction of Minsk to the anti-Belarusian propaganda. KAS releases a brochure to discuss how civil society can promote transformation in Eastern Europe. A new report of the Centre for Strategic and Foreign Policy Studies calls the changes in Belarus’ economic policy as ‘silent reforms’.
Belarus in Focus: civic initiatives successfully negotiate local agenda with the authorities. BEROC fresh study: absolute poverty in Belarus has doubled and reached 29% of the population. Forecast-2018: natural acceleration of the Belarusian economy in 2018 will not happen.
This and more in the new edition of the digest of Belarusian analytics.
Domestic politics
Off Target. What is Wrong With the Reaction of Minsk To the Anti-Belarusian Propaganda – Artiom Shraibman, TUT.BY, analyses the reaction of the state Belarusian media to the Russian NTV channel programme that discussed the desire of Belarus to improve relations with the EU. The journalist notes that the inability to behave adequately in the world of modern information wars is the main flaw of the Belarusian ideological apparatus.
Officials Pretend to Be Civic Activists to Pump Money From the West (video) – Belsat TV program raises the issue that the Belarusian state creates governmental NGOs in order to receive European grants. The program highlights a number of cases when citizens themselves solve serious issues, although officials should do this.
Counterbalancing the State: How Can Civil Society Promote Transformation? – The articles in the brochure are based on the contributions from civil society experts during the closing event of a large-scale EU-funded project in support of civil society in Eastern Europe implemented by KAS. In Belarus section, it is noted that given the difficult economic situation and increasing tensions in relations with Russia, Belarus’ rapprochement towards the EU provides a small window of opportunity for CS activity.
Economy
Belarusian Economy: Achievements and Limits Of ‘Silent Reforms’ 2015-2017 – A new report of the Centre for Strategic and Foreign Policy Studies summarises the changes that have occurred in the economic policy of Belarus since 2014. The authors believe that while the authorities preserved the conservative-populist rhetoric, the period was marked by many important transformations in the Belarusian economy, which can be called ‘silent reforms’.
Barriers and Drivers of Women's Entrepreneurship in Belarus During the interviews, the authors identified four groups of factors that prevent women from starting up or developing their businesses. Read more
Determinants of Poverty in the Period of Economic Growth and Its Absence. Assessment Of Dynamics of Poverty in Belarus in 2009-2016 – In its recent study, the BEROC Research Centre estimates the level of poverty based on consumer spending. The key conclusion is that over the past two years, absolute poverty in Belarus has doubled and reached 29% of the population.
Forecast-2018: Stagnation, Devaluation Or a Bright Future – Naviny.by sums up the economic results of the year, conclude that the natural acceleration of the Belarusian economy in 2018 will not happen. This is possible using an artificial way. However, the Belarusian authorities have very limited opportunities to use the administrative resource for this.
How to reform the Belarusian regions. The Ideaby team presents a landing page dedicated to the critical situation in the Belarusians regions and discussion of the ways of their recovery through conducting comprehensive reforms.
Belarus Policy
Barriers and Drivers of Women’s Entrepreneurship in Belarus. The study is based on the number of interviews with female entrepreneurs and top managers of Belarusian companies. During the interviews, the authors identified four groups of factors that prevent women from starting up or developing their businesses. These barriers include the social pressure and family responsibilities; gaps in education; lack of managerial experience and strategic orientation; general challenges of the entrepreneurial ecosystem and macroeconomic instability.
Influence of the Legal and Judicial System on Doing Business in Belarus. The analysis is based on the data from the survey of small and medium business and a series of interviews with experts in the legal sphere. Read more
The authors propose recommendations to stimulate female participation in business, which include: the introduction of new role models; development of the infrastructure for women’s work-family balance; promotion of academic and business education which takes into account gender-specific needs; financial and information support as well as initiatives to develop social capital.
Influence of the Legal and Judicial System on Doing Business in Belarus. The paper analyses the impact of judicial environment on business development in Belarus. The analysis is based on the data from the survey of small and medium business and a series of interviews with experts in the legal sphere.
In particular, the study focuses on the risks stemming from the legislation and law enforcement practices, which pose a certain threat to businessmen both in the short and long term. Separately, the paper studies the experience of participation of businessmen in court proceedings, their trust in courts and their assessment of the quality of protection by the judiciary, as well as the level of understanding of procedural features.
Belarus Digest prepared this overview on the basis of materials provided by Pact. This digest attempts to give a richer picture of the recent political and civil society events in Belarus. It often goes beyond the hot stories already available in English-language media.
Human Rights Award 2017, information security, Women and Elections – Belarus civil society digest
Winners of 2017 National Human Rights Award. Photo: spring96.org
Documentary Film Festival on Human Rights Watch Docs goes to Minsk cinemas. Good Neighbor master class tells how to make a playground. MAKEOUT announce a contest for anti-discrimination stickers. Human rights community delivers its award.
Blakit online project visualises data on public procurement. SYMPA invites to masterclasses on effective local governance by a Polish mayor in Brest and Minsk. Journalistic conference in Minsk: pressure on freelance journalists in Belarus is unprecedented. The first KEF School of Economics is open for students of regional universities.
Onliner and Talaka announce a competition for projects to make life in Belarus better. Teplitsa School of Urban Initiatives opens enrollment for its third season in Mahilioŭ. PraRovar Forum takes place in Minsk to discuss cycling development in Belarus.
This and more in the new edition of Belarus civil society digest.
Human rights
Documentary Film Festival on Human Rights Watch Docs Belarus will be held in Minsk, on 14-17 December. The festival is held in Belarus for the third time, and for the first time, it comes to one of the Minsk central cinemas. The festival is initiated by Zviano CSO and gathers support via crowdfunding. The festival aims to draw attention to the most actual events and create a space for discussion. Admission is free.
National Human Rights Award 2017. On 8 December, in Minsk, the 9th National Award of the Belarusian human rights defenders was delivered in three nominations. Human rights defender of the year became the head of the Belarusian Documentation Centre Raisa Michajloŭskaja, Journalist of the year – journalist Radio Liberty Halina Abakunčyk, and Campaign of the year – campaign to assist to repressed By_Help.
Contest of anti-discrimination stickers is announced by MAKEOUT project. The contest raises the topic of gender-neutral toilets and experience of gender-non-binary and transgender people. The best stickers will be printed and available to stick in the cultural spaces of cities, like toilet doors with traditional “Male” and “Female” to make visible Other experience.
Media
Presentation of the report on information security of Belarus. On 14 December, in Press Club, Research Centre EAST will present the results of the study Information Security in Belarus: How Serious the Issue And What To Do? The researchers analysed the Belarusian media landscape to assess the availability of disinformation sources, calculated vulnerability and resistance indices related to foreign information attacks, and prepared recommendations.
Conference “Prospects and Challenges for Freelance Journalism in Europe. A special focus on Belarus” in Minsk. Photo: baj.by
Prospects and Challenges for Freelance Journalism in Europe Conference took place in Minsk. The conference organised by Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) and International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) highlighted that the pressure on freelance journalists in Belarus is unprecedented. Thus, in 2017, freelance journalists in Belarus suffered interference from the authorities over 180 times. The conference adopted a Resolution.
Governance
Blakit visualises data on public procurement. The new online platform will allow journalists and stakeholders to analyse what state companies are buying and to inform representatives of civil society about suspicious transactions. Thus, the project will help accelerate the reform of public procurement in Belarus. The Blakit project team plans to release the project by the end of 2017.
Women and Elections gender conference was held in Minsk. The event presented a study on the participation of women in democratic politics in Belarus. The 12 parties and political organisations participated in the poll and noted that the activity of Belarusian women increased in three circumstances: due to the economic crisis, the shock after the events of 2010 and the spring protests of 2017.
How to make an effective local government. On 2 and 3 December, the SYMPA Research Centre for Public Management and Budźma! campaign invite to master classes on effective local self-government with Krzysztof Zacharzewski, a philosopher, civic activist, and the current mayor of Złocieniec town in Poland. The speaker will talk about the citizens’ participation in decision-making processes, tools to improve the transparency of government etc.
Study: Self-regulation of Business in Belarus. On 29 November, the Liberal Club invites to the presentation of its fresh study on the prospects of business self-regulation on the example of advertising activities. The presentation and the subsequent discussion will raise a point whether business, the state, and consumers are actually ready for self-regulation.
Local and urban activism
Good Neighbor: how to make a playground and find resources for it. On 18 December, in Minsk, the Office for European Expertise and Communications invites to a master class, where activists will share their experience on establishing playgrounds in their yards, as well as architects and engineers will present new creative ideas.
Teplitsa School of Urban Initiatives invites for the third season. The Teplitsa/Greenhouse School in Mahilioŭ includes a series of meetings and lectures that will help the participants to become more proactive and active in improving life in the city. Based on the results of the training, students develop and implement urban projects. The School is traditionally organised by the Mahilioŭ-based Urban Initiatives Centre.
PraRovar Forum takes place on 24-26 November, in Minsk. PraRovar/ Pro-Bike Forum is dedicated to the development of cycling at the city and national levels and aims to acquaint Belarusian cyclist activists from different cities and synchronise their activities for the development of urban cycling in Belarus. The event is held within the framework of the EU-supported project Urban Cycling in Belarus.
Rating of Belarus’ protest cities for the recent two years is composed by Sxod.by site. Minsk heads the list – in 2016-2017, Belarus observed 124 street protests and 64 of them run in the Belarusian capital. The 2nd place is taken by Baranavičy city, Brest region, with 10 protest actions.
#Paskarenne national interactive competition of projects is launched by Onliner.by together with Talaka.by non-profit platform. #Paskarenne/ #Acceleration competition aims to support any Belarusian projects – from social and urban to entrepreneurial and technological. The prize fund is $2K. The projects’ development will be covered in the format of a reality show. The winner will be announced in February 2018.
Other
School of Economics KEF 2018. The first round of the KEF School of Economics is open for students of regional universities. The School aims to improve the knowledge of students on economics and create regional communities of students interested in economics. The school is organised by the Centre for Economic Research BEROC and the IPM Research Centre. The deadline is 5 January 2018.
Overview of CSOs dealing with children and young people with disabilities is presented in an analytical report of the ENCON project – Enhancing CSOs Contribution to Evidence-Based Policy Making for Vulnerable Groups. The project is implemented by CASE Belarus in concert with the ACT NGO and international partners.
Belarus Digest prepared this overview on the basis of materials provided by Pact. This digest attempts to give a richer picture of the recent political and civil society events in Belarus. It often goes beyond the hot stories already available in English-language media.
