Civil society and local authorities in Belarus are working together to address the ongoing effects of the Chernobyl disaster. Through an EU-UNDP funded program, local communities and administrations have come together to complete projects that improve quality of life, such as refurbishing schools, equipping kindergartens, and restoring drinking wells. This participatory approach has led to 60 small-scale initiatives across affected regions, helping to heal suffering and bring communities together over 25 years after the disaster.

1. Civil society and local authorities > Belarus
Students,
parents
and teachers to heal
the wounds of Chernobyl
How do you deal with the
consequences of such a disaster
as Chernobyl after so many years? In a town
www.enpi-info.eu
in Belarus, some students, teachers and parents have joined
efforts and refurbished a school. In other villages, people have equipped their
kindergarten, or opened a music school, or restored drinking water wells.
This is how a joint EU-UNDP Programme – funded to minimize the consequences
of the Chernobyl accident – is bringing local communities and administrations together
to heal the suffering and to improve the quality of life.
Text by ITAR TASS/ENPI Info Centre
Photos by ITAR TASS/UNDP
Minsk – Refurbishing a school; equipping a rehabilitation centre for children with
special needs; providing games and physiotherapeutic support to a kindergarten: in
a word, healing a suffering territory through community-based small scale projects,
mainly addressing children and youth needs. This is the overall aim of a EU-UNDP
joint project, launched in August 2010 to the tune of €2.2 million to minimize the
consequences of the Chernobyl accident in the territory of the Republic of Belarus.
Bringing together communities and local administrations
The project took off in August 2010 and was due to be completed by the end of
2010. Sixty different initiatives are being implemented within the project frame-
This publication does work. Their overall purpose is to improve people’s life and to rehabilitate a territory
not represent the
official view of the EC which has suffered enormously from the consequences of the Chernobyl accident.
or the EU institutions. What is peculiar about the project, is that individual initiatives are
The EC accepts no being suggested by local authorities and residents proper. “The idea ENPI Info Centre – Feature no. 36
responsibility or liability This is a series of features on
behind this project,” explains Andrey Pinigin, the project manager, “is
whatsoever with regard projects funded by the EU’s Regional
to its content. to improve quality of life through a specific interaction between local Programme, prepared by journalists
communities and administrative bodies. Together, common people and photographers on the ground
and authorities are identifying and addressing the most urgent social or the ENPI Info Centre.
© 2010 ENPI Info Centre / EU
and economic problems of a particular region.”

2. Students, parents and teachers to heal the wounds of Chernobyl p. 2
ENPI Info Centre – Feature no. 36
And thanks to the project, some of theses problems find an immediate solution. “The
idea of a dynamic interaction between communities and administrations is quite
new,” continues Pinigin, “and that is why one of the most important elements of our
initiative is the organisation of training sessions and workshops for all programme
participants. We hope that the interaction model we are establishing could in future
“Together,
spread throughout Belarus.”
common people
But there is more to this project than community participation, says Pinigin: “The
and authorities
condition for including each initiative into the project was equal financial participa-
are identifying
tion of the Belarusian side.” Local administrations, communities and international
and addressing
donors have thus joined their efforts in support of something that is more than just
the most
a selection of initiatives, but a vision of local development. The project has been of-
urgent social
ficially endorsed by the Government of Belarus, which has put in charge the Ministry
and economic
for Emergency Situations. Other partners are the Gomel Executive Committee, as
problems of
well as executive committees of four administrative districts in Gomel region – Buda-
a particular
Koshelev, Vetka, Zhitkovichi and Hoiniki, where the project operates.
region”
School is our home!
Out of the 60 initiatives submitted under the project, many have already been im-
plemented. In the farming town of Krivsk a music school has been opened; an anti
flash-flood dam has been built in Zapesochiye; in five villages of Buda-Kosheleb,
27 drinking water wells have been restored, while in Velikiye Nemki the secondary
school has changed beyond recognition as a result of a fundamental overhaul.
In September 2010, three projects were completed in the same region: after major
refurbishing a school was opened in Pyhan, a kindergarten in Vetka and the Centre
for Correctional-Developmental Training and Rehabilitation for children with special
needs was inaugurated in the town of Hoiniki. Thanks to the financial support re-
ceived, Vetka kindergarten has been provided with game sets aimed at helping chil-
dren improve their skills, as well as up-to-date physiotherapeutic equipment. Rooms
were also refurbished, for a total disbursement of €22,600 from the EU and UN, while
Belarusian partners matched the funding. Now teachers at the kindergarten are able
to put in place a comprehensive system for physical development and rehabilitation,
using traditional and non-traditional physical exercise and herbal therapy.
As for the school in Pyhan, the project’s authors called their initiative “School is Our “What has been
Home!”. Here, the students themselves, their parents and teachers – 50 volunteers all achieved here
together – managed to raise the funds to match the international support. For the thanks to the
first time in 20 years, and thanks to the building skills acquired by the volunteers, the joint efforts of
school was refurbished, opening its door to enthusiastic pupils who could proudly parents and
sit in rooms they themselves had helped to restore. teachers, as
N The opening of the wells
after renovation. Finally, the 300 kids with special needs living in Hoiniki region will benefit immensely well as local,
from the new equipment acquired national and
through the project by the Centre international
for Correctional-Developmental organizations,
Training and Rehabilitation for chil- is impressive: it
dren with special needs of Hoiniki is a celebration
town. Recently, the children from of life”
the Centre have won prizes in re-
gional and national arts festivals, in-
cluding a ballet festival called “The
Autumn Express”.

3. Students, parents and teachers to heal the wounds of Chernobyl p. 3
ENPI Info Centre – Feature no. 36
Jumping on a trampoline to celebrate life
Completing all three projects at once has been a big event for the local communi-
N Young patients and staff ties. Adults and children have celebrated their accomplishment through a number
of the Centre for Correctional- of fairs, concerts, theatre performances and competitions. In Hoiniki on inauguration
Developmental Training in
Hoiniki. day, guests visiting the Rehabilitation Centre ended up jumping on the trampoline
with the children…
“These funds are invested into our
future: our kids.”
This is what Jean-Eric Holzapfel,
Chargé d’affaires for the Euro-
pean Union in Belarus, had to
say about this project. “What has
been achieved here thanks to the “These funds
joint efforts of parents and teach- are invested
ers, as well as local, national and into our
international organizations, is im- future:
pressive: it is a celebration of life.” our kids”
Area Based Development of the
Chernobyl-Affected Areas of Belarus
Specific socio-economic problems in the Chernobyl-affected areas of Belarus are addressed
through a participatory community development approach. Projects are selected thanks
to a dynamic interaction between local communities and administrations. International
EU and UN funding are being matched by an equal participation of the Belarus side.
http://undp.by/en/undp/db/ac732319d40cdfd9.html
Participating countries Objective
Belarus (Minsk, The project aims to enhance the livelihoods of rural residents in the Chernobyl-affected areas of Belarus.
Mogilev and Gomel This is done through the promotion of participatory community development approach, meaning that
districts) the planned output of the project is a working model of interaction and cooperation between the rural
residents, the local authorities and other organizations and institutions.
Timeframe
2009-2010 Find out more
Project fiche http://undp.by/en/undp/db/ac732319d40cdfd9.html
Budget Project results http://undp.by/en/undp/doc/ee6418705ce01.html
€1,504,259
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