My work in the UNFPA Belarus

The UNFPA Country Office in Belarus The UNFPA Country Office in Belarus is full of committed people who is actively working to contribute to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to strengthen and continue with the progress made in terms of sexual and reproductive health services (SRHS) and reproductive rights for all. It has worked with various stakeholders in order to increase the prevalence of modern methods of contraception; support in the strengthening of the capacities of service providers in areas such as prevention of domestic violence, the expansion of the outreach of sexual and reproductive health service providers; and to foster and sustain durable partnerships between the state, civil society, and private sector in order to advance in the achievement of UNFPA’s goals.

The UNFPA in the country has proposed some ambitious goals. As part of the middle-income countries, Belarus needs to shift to advocacy, policy dialogue and advice, and to generate evidence and objective information for policy design. Its work should also focus on providing technical assistance in areas like sexual and reproductive health policies and strategies, strengthen the policy and capacity of SRHS, information, and education.

I have seen and experience the enormous advances that the UNFPA in cooperation with other UN agencies in the country have achieved in terms of SRHS. They also have expressed that young people are one of the most vulnerable groups in the country and accepts that cultural, social, and political constraints are impeding factors for their development and an obstacle for the achievement of the agency’s mandate among this group. In order to achieve their full potential, adolescents and youth need to have access to comprehensive sexuality education as well as reproductive and health services. They also need to find spaces of empowerment to become partners in development and to have effective channels of dialogue between the government and the civil society to facilitate and boost their participation in decision-making processes regarding their lives. Nonetheless, they have recognized that they are having some obstacles reaching young people and decentralizing their efforts from a mere SRHS perspective.

Just as I'm about to start my third month here, I've come to get familiar with the general situation and conditions of youth in Belarus. I'm always very cautious to make assumptions about a reality that is not mine and since I've been entrusted to come to a strategy and general recommendations to enable the UNFPA Belarus country office to address and expand their work on youth empowerment. I know that I have a great responsibility upon my shoulders and I'm taking it seriously. 

As an strategy, first I wanted to know first-handedly what youth in Belarus think are the main challenges they face and that prevent them from developing a proper sense of ownership of their own lives. I met with several youth-led organizations, international and local organizations working with and for the youth in the country, numerous UN agencies, universities, government, and some independent regional census institutions. Thanks to this I realize the numerous obstacles that, first the government and second the cultural and social realities impose to adolescents and young people. I know some things are structural and cannot be changed from one day to another, but through strategies aimed to behavioral change there can be a probably slow but gradual improvement. I'm still working on the report I want to deliver and I think my main challenge is the lack of time I have to address everything that I consider important.

As I hear from and work alongside committed people, I have  the opportunity to make a personal reflection of what I can do, from an organization or on my daily life, to facilitate the resources to bring the opportunity to vulnerable groups to empower themselves. This is something that I most definitely will bring to my professional experience from this moment on.