Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women considers report of Belarus

27 January 2011

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women today considered the seventh periodic report of Belarus on how that country is implementing the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

Introducing the report, Marianna Shchotkina, Minister of Labour and Social Protection of Belarus, said that the report was prepared based on information from the various Government departments involved in gender issues. The report contained a picture of the endeavours undertaken by the Government of Belarus to eliminate discrimination against women. The National Council on Gender Policy had been created and charged with coordinating efforts and legislation to enhance gender equality. This National Council worked together with members of the Government, civil society and non-governmental organizations. Particular attention was given to problem areas affecting gender discrimination, especially in politics and economics. The Government sought to create balanced policies in order to ensure that women could participate in nation building and as such it had instituted social benefits which were generously distributed to families with children without discrimination.

Questions and issues raised by Experts during the discussion concerned Belarus’ gender parity in the realm of participation in the political life of the country, equality in employment opportunities, general legislation on direct and indirect discrimination against women, and how genuine was the Government’s engagement to ensure that basic equal rights were guaranteed by the current legislation. Committee members also asked for clarification on the prevention of abortion and other birth related deaths, the reason for the huge priority accorded to demographic issues in the report, prevention of human trafficking especially for sexual and other labour purposes as well as the amount of care provided to victims of trafficking. The delegation was asked to explain the measures put in place to ensure equal division of property in the case of a divorce. Experts also wanted to know if psychiatric services to cater for or assist people with mental problems, especially with the devastating effects of the Chernobyl accident, were available, and whether loans and grants were available to women and young girls in training in order to avoid them resorting to prostitution in order to pay their fees.

In concluding remarks, Ms. Shchotkina expressed sincere thanks for the general interest of the Committee members in the situation in Belarus. She assured the Committee that Belarus was very interested and willing to learn from the interesting comments and advice from the Committee because women were the future of the world. She said that she was available to supply answers to the questions that the delegation may not have satisfactorily answered.

In preliminary concluding remarks, Silvia Pimenta, Chairperson of the Committee, thanked the delegation for providing a further insight into the situation in Belarus. She commended the delegation for their commitment and urged them to undertake a more comprehensive implementation of the recommendations of the Committee which would be forwarded to them at a later date.

The delegation of Belarus included representatives of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Interior, and the Permanent Mission of Belarus to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

The Committee will next meet in public on Friday, 4 February to close its session and it will release its concluding observations and recommendations on the reports which it has considered this session at a later date.

Report of Belarus

The seventh periodic report of Belarus (CEDAW/C/BLR/7) presents an overview of the socio-economic situation in the Republic of Belarus as it affects demographic processes and the institutional machinery established in implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The report states that the contemporary demographic situation in the Republic of Belarus is marked by a process of natural decline in the size of the population with the number of deaths exceeding the number of births by 29,400 in 2007.

Achieving equal participation of men and women in all spheres of social life is one of the main principles guiding the development of contemporary society. The Republic of Belarus not only supports that principle but has fully assumed specific obligations towards that end. Belarus has announced various measures to ensure the equal realisation by men and women of their rights and freedoms as one of the main constitutional principles and priorities of Government policy and has assumed specific obligations towards its citizens and the international community to implement those rights. Implementation of the principle of equal rights is ensured by guaranteeing women equal opportunities with men to obtain education and professional training and equal rights with regard to employment, compensation for their work and advancement in their careers, and in social, political and cultural activities, as well as by adopting special measures to protect the labour and health of women. In the context of implementing the National Plan of Action for Gender Equality of the Republic of Belarus for 2001-2005, various targeted legal, institutional and administrative measures were taken to improve the status of women and defend their rights and interests. Activities undertaken under the Plan were aimed at promoting the development of small- and medium-sized enterprises and individual entrepreneurship among women and monitoring the working conditions of workers, especially women, in organisations under various kinds of ownership. There continues to be a problem of female unemployment in Belarus. However, thanks to the measures that have been adopted, the number of women registered as unemployed is slowly falling. In early 2002, the State Employment Service had 62,000 unemployed women on its rolls, but as at 1 January 2008 there were only 28,900, or 65.6 per cent of all unemployed.

Targeted efforts on the part of health care services to provide essential information on family planning and to disseminate up-to-date information on reproductive health matters have led to positive results. Thus, the decline in the number of abortions testifies to the effectiveness of programmes to preserve the reproductive health of women. During the reporting period the number of abortions in Belarus declined by a factor of 1.9 (89,900 in 2002, 80,000 in 2003, 71,700 in 2004, 64,700 in 2005, 58,500 in 2006, and 46,300 in 2007). In order to prevent prenatal HIV transmission, voluntary HIV testing of all pregnant women has been introduced in Belarus and centralised purchase of HIV transmission prevention medications has been set up for pregnant women, for women about to give birth ad for newborns.

Presentation of Report

MARIANNA SHCHOTKINA, Minister of Labour and Social Protection of Belarus, said that the report of Belarus was prepared based on information from the various Government departments involved in gender issues. The report contained a picture of the endeavours undertaken by the Government of Belarus to eliminate discrimination against women. The National Council on Gender Policy had been created and charged with coordinating efforts and legislation to enhance gender equality. This National Council worked together with members of the Government, civil society and non-governmental organizations. Particular attention was given to problem areas affecting gender discrimination, especially in politics and economics. The Government gave priority to health education and the extensive provision of social services to help promote and improve the situation of the Belarusian women.

In Belarus, women were the largest population group of the country. Women represented 53.7 per cent of the population in the cities and 52.9 per cent of the rural population. Belarus was a typical example of a country undergoing industrialization and as such, more women aged 27 and above lived in the cities while the women on pension mostly lived in the rural regions. The Government sought to create balanced policies in order to ensure that women could participate in the nation building of Belarus. Belarus had carried out policies in order to guarantee women’s welfare and these social policies had helped reduce child mortality and maternal mortality.

The Government had instituted social benefits which were generously distributed to families with children without discrimination. The state system spent about $ 1 billion in the realm of social benefits and the Government intended to continue with the distribution of these social welfare benefits and social support for the family. Belarus would increase social support to ensure that men and women had an equal participation in society.

In the realm of education all necessary conditions were in place to increase the level of education for Belarusian women and statistics showed that 43 per cent of the total number of students in primary and secondary schools were female. Many more women had gained admission into tertiary education and as a result, they were present in almost all professions given that they had received training in sciences and technology opening the way for employment.

The administration had introduced gender issues in schools through specialised optional courses and research on gender issues had gained importance. The results of the various academic research studies were very instrumental as they were generally used for formulating Government policy on gender mainstreaming. Ensuring the right to work was the basic concern of the Government and 52 per cent of the total workforce was made up of women and it was hoped that this figure would increase. Most of the women worked in office jobs. The Government gave support to women wanting to open their own businesses by providing them with financial support. Last year a special commission was created to promote the employment of women through job fairs where employed women helped other women to look for jobs and this programme had received funding from the Government. Although most of the registered unemployed population were women, the figure of unemployed women had been reduced to only about 20.5 per cent in 2009 which was remarkable and the Government was committed to ensure a continued downturn.

In general terms the salary for employed women was about 72.5 per cent of that of men and the Government was working hard to reduce this although the main reason was because women worked in areas with generally low salaries. Women qualified for pension at the age of 55 although this did not prevent the women from enjoying their professional careers and efforts had been made to eliminate the gap between the pension ages of men and women. Employers were encouraged to prolong the working contract for women for an additional two years after they turned 55.

Women’s presence in parliament had considerably risen and figures put Belarus at position 16 in Europe. Women were present in nearly all Government organs with a tendency to increase. Belarusian women had a high level of civil freedom and the Government had allowed the creation of non-governmental organizations for women empowerment and this had helped make the involvement of women in public life very noticeable. The Government was committed to continue collaboration with these non-governmental organizations in order to strengthen its inclusive nature of administration.

Belarus was working in partnership with UNICEF to combat domestic violence and it had a domestic normative basis to help combat trafficking in the country. Between 2005 and 2010 the number of cases in this domain had been reduced fourfold. In legislation temporary residences, legal and healthcare services and psychological services had been provided and victims equally received assistance to gain lucrative jobs. The Government had envisaged temporary financial subsidies to the victims of trafficking. Belarus was assisting other countries through a joint initiative to combat human trafficking and had adopted a human plan to that effect. At the implementation of the Plan the joint initiative had created a fund and Belarus had been the first to contribute to the fund.

The Minister of Labour and Social Protection stressed that the Government intended to focus on the contribution of women in consolidating a multi cultural, religious and racial society where women were free to choose their religious and other practices. Belarus ensured that gender equality, which had paved the way for the country’s increased participation in international initiatives, was respected. The country hoped to learn from the interactive dialogue with the international community in order to expand on and continue to promote and protect women’s rights.

Questions by Experts

An Expert asked the delegation to provide more information about the different laws prohibiting indirect and direct discrimination against women and that done by private persons in Belarus? Were there plans to create an Ombudsman for women and other measures to cover general issues with regards to women’s rights; was there information about the non-governmental organizations with respect to the adoption of laws with respect to gender equality in line with Articles 1 and 2?

Another Expert said that in spite of the progress achieved in several areas there was a lack of general legislation on direct and indirect discrimination against women, could the delegation explain why Belarus did not need this kind of legislation which was a core requirement of the Convention? The Committee understood that the requirements for legal address, but limitations for non-governmental organizations which were not registered ought to be abolished. Could the delegation assure the Committee that non-governmental organizations not recognized by the Government and present today in the interactive deliberations would not be persecuted upon their return home?

An Expert noted that the law protected against inequality in the society and discrimination against women, for example regarding illegal or prolonged detention and limitation of access to lawyers, and asked if the delegation could explain to the Committee how genuine was the Government’s engagement to ensure that basic equal rights were guaranteed by the current legislation. Was there a training programme for judges to give them the possibility to treat cases without bias?

An Expert expressed concern about the current national machinery for the advancement of gender equality in Belarus because the work of the National Council for Gender Policy was terminated; the Expert asked for clarifications in that respect. How many experts worked in the department of population and gender policy in order to pursue the policy of gender mainstreaming, and what were the results of the national action plan and the objectives of the next plan of action.

Answers by Delegation

The delegation said the aim of the meeting was to discuss issues about eliminating discrimination against women in Belarus and would try to answer them as much as possible. In Belarus everyone enjoyed equal rights irrespective of sex and the rights also went with responsibilities. The recommendations of the Committee were well known by the delegation and efforts were made to respond to these concerns.

Everyone in Belarus had the right to marry, to get employed and this was guaranteed by the Constitution. All the requirements set out in the Convention had been met in the civil, marriage and labour codes. Generally in the Council of Gender Policy, the government and parliament were independent but women were free to make proposals with regards to advancing gender equality and these proposals had been taken into account by the two bodies.

It was important for this Committee to know that upon the delegation’s return home they would raise questions as to what was needed to improve Belarus’ compliance with CEDAW.

There was no longer a problem with the ILO regarding the registration of non-governmental organizations and a new bill was under development to facilitate that aspect and the number of non governmental organizations had drastically increased. There was a list of all women non-governmental organizations and other groups that had been printed in order to encourage other women to go ahead and create their groups or militate in the existing ones. The Government would like to see more women actively involved in these organizations to ensure that women’s non-governmental organizations were promoted, developed and encouraged to take a greater part in the social life of the country.

The national council became passive at a certain time but activity had begun again and it included 10 men and 18 women. The Government relied a lot on the women non-governmental organizations because the feedback needed by the gender council could only be obtained via these groups.

Belarus was effectively preoccupied with population issues because the number of births had suffered a great reduction because of the economic situation and the social desires of couples. Many couples were more interested in securing a career first before having children. Most Belarus women now married later and became mothers later as well. The Government was making an effort to make sure that parental care was shared equally between men and women in order to encourage the women to enjoy a balanced family life. The State covered costs of day care centres for the children so that their mothers could go to work during the day. The Government supported the desire of women to have a career and raise children at the same time and this explained why Belarus had population issues high on its priority list.

Regarding the creation of an Ombudsman for women issues, the delegation announced that there were efforts in that direction through a special law. When a decision was taken to set up an Ombudsman, they had to be sure that the scope of complaints made were well understood and could be handled in an effective manner.

The delegation informed the Committee that there was an optional course on human rights in schools where students were taught about human rights instruments, including those related to gender rights issues. Judges were trained via international courses in order to equip them with adequate knowledge and understanding of women and their human rights. Belarus occasionally worked with the Council of Europe so that Belarus could understand how some of these issues were handled.

The delegation said Belarus had to go through its own internal procedures before considering international requirements which might take a long period but the delegation assured the Committee that it would report on the process later.

The delegation underlined that Belarus still needed to put in more effort to improve on the current efforts. Anything that dealt with gender and population policy in Belarus could not reach the final stage unless signed by the current Minister of Labour and Social Protection who was equally the Head of the Council on Gender Policy, something the Committee ought to bear in mind.

The policy on gender equality was being implemented and continued to undergo improvements because their decisions got modified in a progressive manner given that several issues came up which needed extra examination.

Questions by Experts

A Committee Expert said it would be very useful for the delegation to provide concrete answers to concrete questions. The Committee needed a concrete answer as to the women in the media who were currently in detention, and the question about the absence of a law which directly guaranteed gender equality.

Answers by Delegation

The delegation drew the attention of the Committee to the fact that the discussions were about public associations which had certain requirements and this included all other organizations. It was currently under deliberation and there were certain changes intended.

On the law of gender equality, the delegation underlined that it was important to understand the formal necessity of the implementation of this law because this was the case in Belarus since the ratification of the Convention.

Belarus was a State party to several international conventions about rights to organizations. All criminals were brought before the court and the decisions were made by the court and the court could not undertake to favour women or men in its decisions.

Questions by Experts

An Expert asked about examples of affirmative actions taken with respect to minority groups such as rural women, elderly women and other vulnerable groups.

An Expert asked about issues regarding measures taken by the Government to eliminate stereotypes and prejudices about women in Belarus because it would appear that women were frequently referred to as mothers and spouses. Were there efforts aimed at changing these societal views in order to help the women to value their status.

An Expert regretted that there was no separate part in the report specifically addressing the issue of domestic violence nor did it exist in the Criminal Code of Belarus and asked the delegation to refer to the specific recommendations of the Convention to address this aspect. The Expert wanted to know why police officers were not expected to inform victims of violence of their rights, and was there any legislation addressing marital rape?

Another Expert quoted other sources saying that the issue of domestic violence was unknown and remained latent and asked the delegation to provide explanation on this, including that of rampant cases of rape which went on unpunished in the country. The report said the criminal code did not identify sexual violence in families and other sexual offences as a penal crime, why was this so.

An Expert stressed that several States parties had used the CEDAW Convention to enact laws that criminalised violence against women and wondered why this was not the case with Belarus. Could the delegation explain where the country stood regarding the redefinition of the law in line with modifications on how rape should be viewed in legal terms?

Regarding trafficking of persons, Belarus had several Presidential Decrees on the matter and an Expert asked what the legal framework was regarding the issue of trafficking and what status was granted to international instruments such as the Palermo Declaration. Could the delegation explain who financed the whole initiative involved in combating human trafficking for sexual or labour purposes? What legal framework governed the collaboration between governmental organizations and non-governmental organizations and what body coordinated these activities.

Most of the victims of trafficking in Belarus were equally victims of sexual exploitation and an Expert asked the delegation to explain whether prostitution was prohibited or legalized. Did the Penal Code criminalise men or women who used or profited from prostitution and what was the real extent of prostitution in Belarus; in other words who were the women who practiced prostitution, were they stigmatized.

Answers by Delegation

The statistics for divorce cases showed that the reasons for divorces were varied and not limited to alcohol use or beatings. An independent national statistics committee had published a book containing objective information about the issue of marriage and divorce.

Crime statistics gave a clear picture of what percentage of crimes were directed at women but the trend was downward at the moment which was a positive development.

Belarus talked about motherhood because they believed that women should have the right to choose and the Government was readily supporting all efforts in that direction. The Government supported other opportunities directed to advancing the women’s situation in general terms.

About 56 per cent of the registered unemployed in the country were women and the reason was probably because the women wanted well paid jobs. The Government had undertaken several nationwide initiatives to help empower women to easily find the jobs for which they were competent and these included hairdressing, tailoring and several others.

The law stated that a woman may not be dismissed from her job when she decided to take time off in order to take care of a child. Managers had been made to keep women in their jobs for two extra years after they reached pension age. It was true that many people in rural areas lived all alone and this was explained by the fact that their children lived and worked in the cities but the Government ensured that these people received social services without bias.

The Government had set up Crisis Rooms for people in a crisis situation and provided services and support for people in need of it. Housing was also provided to people who needed it irrespective of their status or reason of dispossession of their homes – about 56 women requested and received housing last year.

The emphasis on maternity was such that networks had been established to ensure that stereotypes were eliminated.

Regarding violence and human trafficking, the delegation said that there had been a frank discussion with the Committee and the State was making sure that the recommendations were implemented accordingly. There was a network of social centres throughout the country open for women and children in crisis because of domestic violence. There was equally a hotline open for complaints about domestic violence and the Ministry of Social Affairs handled these complaints.

The delegation said consultations with victims of human trafficking were carried out with profile specialists under conditions recommended by international bodies. Given that they had registered about 1,000 cases, the issue had become one of national security and that explained why Presidential Decrees were adopted in order to expediently regulate this practice. The number so far had been reduced four fold whereas that of minor victims had been reduced ten fold.

Regarding rape, the legislation spoke specifically to females but did not discriminate against men because the language used employed the female pronoun.

Pertaining to laws against domestic violence, the Government would like to include all aspects in order to have an extensive law and there was a commitment to incorporate international experience in the effort. All international treaties such as the Palermo Protocol to which Belarus was a signatory were generally used by Belarus in order to draft national legislation.

Prostitution was not considered a crime in Belarus but if a second person - a pimp for instance - used money earned by a prostitute that person was prosecuted under the penal code.

The Government had no right to interfere with the work of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the collaboration had been initiated by the NGOs themselves. The Government was committed to working together with several neighbouring countries and hoped to learn from that international experience.

Questions by Experts

An Expert asked whether there were any female police officers specifically trained to handle victims of domestic violence and whether the victims had a possibility to get information as to what their rights were?

The delegation was asked to explain if data existed pertaining to women killed by their husbands or ex-husbands?

Answers by the Delegation

The problem of alcoholism had nothing to do with men but really concerned women. There were preventive measures to handle and treat women with alcoholic problems. People who came out from rehabilitation for drug and alcohol problems were allocated certain kind of jobs to help their re-insertion in society. Alcoholism was not just a bad habit but was considered a disease so they took it very seriously and work was underway to find lasting solutions.

The delegation noted that programmes had been launched with regards to the adoption of a number of laws pertaining to social welfare, especially for women and children.

Regarding the answers about gender equality, the delegation stressed that measures to prohibit violence against females had been initiated and the aim was to continue developing the legislation in order to further eliminate these acts of discrimination.

There were police women trained and working in the domains of interest to the Committee.

Questions by the Experts

An Expert said inequality basically occurred when public authority was attributed more to men than to women and it was expected that the State should endeavour to make a greater effort to balance the burden of the family between the men and women. The Expert asked the delegation what measures could be taken to guarantee the independence of the judiciary in order to enable more women to benefit from this service and participate more in public life? Some intellectuals of Belarus had urged the release of one outspoken activist, did the Government not deem that this detention could end up discouraging women from engaging in political activism.

An Expert noted that women in Belarus made up 45.7 per cent of elected politicians, with 13 women judges in the Supreme Court, while 32 women were elected to the national assembly, however the Government was invited to institute the use of quotas in view of increasing the participation of women in public life. What was the status of CEDAW and other international treaties and conventions vis-à-vis the constitution of Belarus?

Regarding participation in economic and social life, an Expert asked the delegation to put in context the data about women in positions of leadership in order to enhance better understanding. It would help the Committee to get information regarding the application or not of quotas for women in political parties, and elected positions in representative bodies such as the parliament in order to attain parity. Were there positive discrimination measures in force aimed at enhancing women in the political arena?

Answers by Delegation

The delegation said the Committee was welcome to visit the country whenever they chose to see for themselves the situation of women.

The judiciary was an independent body in Belarus and the courts handled cases independent of the executive body. People in Belarus had trust in the courts and had access to them at all times.

The delegation stressed that there was a continuous lobby for more and more women to participate in political life in the country. The details about the actual number of female ambassadors and ministers would be supplied at a later date. There were ongoing efforts to improve women’s qualification skills in order to help them move up the political ladder.

There was no quota system in Belarus for any group of the population because participation in politics was open to all motivated persons. There was no data pertaining to the number of women who effectively cast their votes in elections because of the secret ballot system; such information could only be obtained from the electoral commission.

Over 30 per cent of parliamentarians were women and this proved that women participated in greater numbers now in politics than was the case in the past.

There was no financial requirement to participate in elections.

Questions by Experts

Regarding the code of marriage and the family, an Expert asked how exactly could it be effectively implemented. Could the delegation explain what pre-nuptial contracts were meant for and if these were optional in Belarus, and what default rules existed prior to entering into such contracts, especially pertaining to property? What was the welfare situation of women and children following divorce and what legal provisions were in place regulating financial obligations of the spouses in the case of divorce? What legislation was in place to govern the removal of children from dysfunctional families? Were there any legal benefits in the case of informal relationships?

Answers by Delegation

The delegation underlined that when children were removed from dysfunctional families the first consideration remained the best interest of the child. There equally existed efforts to re-insert parents of these dysfunctional situations into the job market and of course these were optional because some of the individuals in question could refuse to cooperate.

When there was no agreement between spouses regarding property in the event of a divorce, the judge decided.

The delegation underlined that prenuptial contracts were used in Belarus and these were monitored by a government agent. This helped settle conflicts as a result of a divorce especially regarding parent care where children were involved. Child support in the country was paid until the age of 18 and in case the father could not be traced then a special pension fund would be used to cover the absence. The Government first of all took measures to locate the father to oblige him to pay the support.

Regarding informal relations, these were gradually being recognised in Belarus and if a woman chose to have a child without getting married, the Government took measures to support the woman because the tendency was to enable women to make their own choices.

Questions by Experts

If a couple married with no prenuptial agreement and lived in a traditional manner and accumulated property including the house, the car, bank accounts and others were mostly registered under the husband’s name, was there a provision for property distribution and what was it, an Expert asked?

Answers by Delegation

The delegation underlined that if the marriage was registered, then all property accumulated from the time of registration irrespective of whose names the property bore, would be divided 50-50.

Questions by Experts

An Expert said it would seem that women in Belarus were better trained than men but the salary distribution showed that women got lower salaries than their male counterparts and also occupied subordinate positions of leadership, could the delegation explain this? In the sphere of credits and grants, could the delegation explain how many loans and grants were available to women and young girls in training in order to avoid them resorting to prostitution in order to pay their fees.

Another Expert said there was a persistent gender pay gap in Belarus, and asked what the Government had done to change the situation. What special measures were implemented to increase the number of women in well paid government jobs? The Expert said allegations indicated that the 2000 trade union laws negatively affected women’s rights and gave leverage to employers who used threats of dismissal against women. What labour protection laws were in place and how did they ensure the respect of social partnerships, what was the exact meaning of social partnerships?

How did the Government handle discrimination at the level of hiring employees and how did the State implement the labour code in the private sector, and what sanctions were available for violators of the labour code.

An Expert said that the health and safety conditions for the women who worked in the chemical and petrochemical industry were said to be precarious and asked what efforts had the Government taken to remedy that situation. What efforts were made to foster the well-being of women in the informal sector in order to discourage the use of this sector as a weapon of exclusion?

With regards to maternity leave, the labour code guaranteed 18 weeks but said nothing about protection of those working in areas highly exposed to chemical agents, could the delegation tell the Committee what the actual situation was?

Another Expert noted that while some diseases were given attention by the Government there seemed to be no provisions for women to undertake screening and early detection of illnesses such as breast cancer and uterine cancer and others. The Expert asked the delegation to tell the Committee what efforts had been undertaken.

What were the measures defining the practice of abortions by medical staff in respect to the timeframe of the pregnancy in order to safeguard the life and health of the mother? Reducing abortion and morbidity among women was not a measure but rather a goal; could the delegation explain what other measures the Government had taken to prevent abortion?

An Expert asked if there were psychiatric services to cater for or assist people with mental problems, especially with the devastating effects of the Chernobyl accident.

Another Expert asked the delegation to say if women participated in sports and other leisure services or were they excluded because of the burden on their shoulders both at the work places and at home.

Answers by Delegation

The delegation underscored that all immigrant women and men in Belarus enjoyed the same civil and political rights like other citizens. Lesbian women were not classified separately because women in Belarus had the full right to live whatever life they chose.

Further, the delegation said the Constitution of Belarus enshrined the right to work, however no one in the country was obliged to work. In each town, city and village there were employment and labour services established in order to create jobs. There was a need to encourage the creation of jobs in rural areas in order to boost the rural population and the Government was committed to create social amenities that would make life in the rural areas as comfortable as in the urban areas.

The delegation underlined that information on the country’s report was based on statistical data provided by all Government departments which was confirmed and validated.

Women predominantly chose to work in the health sector which was run by the State and this sector’s wages had a ceiling set by the State. The State had also set a minimum wage for all industries and endeavours to control the strict adherence to these minimum wages by all. There were provisions about the payment of wages and any manager who violated the stipulations in the contract was liable for prosecution.

Regarding entrepreneurship amongst women the Government supported women who wished to set up their own businesses.

There were training programmes intended for young girls and boys to dissuade them from abortions in case of early pregnancies.

Regarding women living in danger zones as a result of Chernobyl, the women underwent thorough investigative measures in order to ascertain the state of their health. All pregnant women were given preventive treatment in order to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS to the child or any other persons at risk. The Government had created a mutual assistance programme to assist persons who were affected by HIV/AIDS and at least 90 per cent of youth in Belarus were informed about HIV/AIDS.

Men who perished in transport accidents or due to an irresponsible way of life were a growing concern and the Government could only increase sensitization efforts to get the citizens to value their lives.

Women who were less competitive on the job market received measures to increase their competitive advantage and this applied mostly to people with disabilities.

Conclusion Remarks

MARIANNA SHCHOTKINA, Minister of Labour and Social Protection of Belarus, in concluding remarks, expressed sincere thanks for the general interest of the Committee members in the situation in Belarus. She assured the Committee that Belarus was very interested and willing to learn from the interesting comments and advice from the Committee because women were the future of the world. She sincerely thanked the Experts for the interactive and in-depth reflections on the report of Belarus. She said that she was available to supply answers to the questions that the delegation might not have satisfactorily answered.

SILVIA PIMENTA, Chairperson of the Committee, in preliminary concluding remarks, thanked the delegation for providing a further insight in the situation in Belarus. She commended the delegation for their commitment and urged them to undertake a more comprehensive implementation of the recommendations of the Committee which would be forwarded to them at a later date.
__________

For use of the information media; not an official record