Belarus

Photo: Belarusian Children's Hospice

HealthProm has been working in Belarus since 2016, sponsored by the European Commission for two separate projects. 

In April 2020, we were awarded a three-year grant from the European Commission to continue and expand our activities in Belarus as part of a new project ‘Building effective advocacy mechanisms to better protect the rights of children with severe disabilities and life-limiting conditions in Belarus”. This builds upon our previous work in the country, and see us partner again with the Belarusian Children’s Hospice, as well as the Mogilev branch of the Belarusian Children’s Fund, the Association of Parents with Prematurely Born Children (RANO), and the Office for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.  

This project focuses on providing advocacy and legal support to families, empowering parents as advocates for the rights of their children, and developing early intervention services for new families. We are working with local partners to develop a national monitoring system to ensure that the needs and rights of children living in state institutions are recognized and protected. 

Main achievements in 2021/22:

• The Belarussian Children’s Hospice provided advocacy support and advice to 1,167 children with severe disabilities and life-limiting conditions and their families

• Association of Parents of Premature Children “RANO” provided regular early years home visiting assistance to 26 families with premature babies

• Belarusian Children’s Fund in Mogilev focused their work on empowering parents in the Mogilev region and they reached 627 parents

• Est’ Delo experts developed a monitoring system for 9 children’s residential institutions in all 6 regions of Belarus and supported 219 disabled children living in residential institutions

• HealthProm organised and facilitated a series of capacity- building training for our local partner NGOs

• We organised a successful joint PR campaign called “Different Together” in March 2022 in three regions of Belarus (Minsk, Mogilev, Gomel). This campaign was co- funded by the British Embassy in Minsk. 

Please read Milana’s story here to see how our advocacy programme is helping disabled children to receive an education fitting their abilities.  

Local partners: Belarusian Children's Hospice, RANO, Belarusian Children's Fund

Funders: British Embassy in Minsk, European Commission