The reforms of the educational system initiated and supported by the State apply fully to all levels and aspects and are aimed at improving the quality of knowledge, developing the creative and moral/intellectual potential of the nation, inculcating among students humanistic ideals, independence, and the willingness and skills to live in a dynamically changing multipolar world, and training highly skilled and competitive specialists. The changes which are taking place take into account the interests and needs of girls and women in the area of education and ensure them equal opportunities from the start in personal growth and self-fulfilment.

The first level of the national educational system is pre-school education, the goal of which is to develop the personality of the child, foster his or her individuality and physical and intellectual growth, and protect and implement his or her rights. Conditions have been created in Belarus for universal access to pre-school education, which is the fundamental prerequisite for the exercise of the right to appropriate education. While in 1994, 58.5 per cent of children, including 35.8 per cent in rural areas, attended pre-school institutions, in 2000, the number of children rose to 70.8 per cent, including 46.1 per cent in rural areas. In 2000 there were 4,423 pre-school institutions, with 390,800 pupils. Almost every second family receives services from pre-school institutions. The tuition fees for children in pre-school institutions amount to less than 30 per cent of the cost of meals. In order to provide social support for families with children, the law provides for allowances to cover the costs of pre-school institutions for needy families, families with many children or with mentally or physically handicapped children, families living in areas of radioactive contamination, and also families living in rural settlements in areas subject to periodic radiation monitoring. In order to meet the needs of society and families in respect of the education of children under six years of age, various types of institutions have been developed in the pre-school system, including institutions with intensive instruction and flexible work schedules. Of the total number of institutions at this educational level, 354 are school-kindergarten complexes, 20 are child development centres, 21 have intensive instruction, 48 are therapeutic centres, 39 are remedial and 737 are a combination. This variety in the area of pre-school education is best suited to the needs of families and the interests of children and allows for improvement of the quality of the services provided.

The transition to a general education school for children over six years of age requires preparation of all five-year-olds for entry into school. In 2000, 87,700 five-year-olds, of both sexes, were receiving pre-school education, or 85.7 per cent of the total. School preparation for all five-year-olds is feasible within the next few years. Thus, regardless of gender, social situation or income level of the parents, children are ensured equal starting opportunities when entering school.

Universal secondary education consists of three levels and comprises primary education (at age four), basic education (at age nine) and secondary education (at age 11-12). The objective is to ensure intellectual and physical development, prepare the younger generation for a full life in the community, educate citizens of the Republic of Belarus, instil in them the foundations of science, national languages, and mental and physical work habits, and inculcate moral values, culture, an aesthetic sense and a healthy lifestyle.

Virtually all children in urban and rural areas who have reached school age enter primary school, and then basic school.

In the 2001/02 academic year, there were 503,000 children, including 243,600 girls, or 48.4 per cent, at the primary level (preparatory, first to third grades). When urban and rural areas are separated, these figures are as follows: urban areas — 367,800 children, including 178,300 girls, or 48.5 per cent; rural areas, 135,200 children and 65,200 girls, or 48.3 per cent. At the basic level of general education school (fourth to ninth grades), there are 759,300 students, including 370,200 girls, or 48.8 per cent. In urban areas, there are 562,800 students, including 275,000 girls, or 48.9 per cent, and in rural areas, 196,800 students, including 95,000 girls, or 48.4 per cent.

Altogether there are 4,631 general education day schools (1,465,769 students), including 632 primary schools (18,982 students), 996 basic schools (67,407 students), 2,774 secondary schools (1,264,098 students), 100 grammar schools (81,795 students), 25 high schools (11,235 students), six grammar school-colleges (2,065 students), and 98 schools for children with mental and physical handicaps (20,184 students). There are also 12 non-State-owned general education schools with an enrolment of 1,025 students.

A transition is under way to a 12-year instruction cycle starting at the age of six. In the current academic year, 102,700 children have been admitted to preparatory classes, including 85,300 six-year-olds; in urban areas — 88,100 and 68,900 respectively, and in rural areas — 28,800 and 25,600. For this category of children, the optimal educational conditions have been established. Most preparatory classes are located at pre-school institutions (58.1 per cent of the total number of students).

The variety of general education institutions, including grammar schools, high schools, colleges and the non-State sector, offer an opportunity to receive in-depth and specialized education, and the choice of the most appropriate option for families and children.

The reforms and the establishment of a system of education centred on the individual have substantially changed approaches to meeting the needs of each child in order to create optimal conditions for fulfilling their educational needs. The fulfilment of this principle has led to the introduction of new models of special education and a search for new ways of delivering services to children with mental or physical handicaps. A national special education system is being established. Its goal is to ensure access to education at all levels for children with mental or physical handicaps, depending on their abilities, and to find positive forms of integration in society. At the general education schools, the number of integrated classes for teaching children with special developmental needs has been increased, as has the number of children in this category studying in vocational/technical, secondary specialized and higher educational institutions. Remedial education centres are a new means of delivering services to children with developmental difficulties and their families. This is a type of institution which provides comprehensive remedial/educational and socio-educational assistance to disabled children in the home. At the centres, education is organized for children with severe, multiple handicaps, who were previously considered uneducable and remained outside the educational system. Currently, in the regions of Belarus, there are 95 remedial education centres, 3,706 integrated education classes for 7,577 children, 412 special classes (4,547 children) and 822 school centres for remedial and educational help (28,820 children).

Vocational and technical education in the Republic of Belarus is accessible, free of charge and flexible, and preserves social benefits for students. There are 248 vocational and technical institutions, with 135,800 students, including 50,200 girls, or 36.9 per cent. Beginning in the second half of the 1990s, there was an increase in the number of students admitted to vocational and technical institutions, from 55,200 in 1995 to 60,000 in 2001, and out of the total number of accepted students, 40 per cent were girls, which was 3 per cent higher than in the previous year. The vocational and technical education system is highly mobile and flexible and is being developed in the light of the needs of the labour market and the implementation of programmes for the reduction of unemployment, including women’s unemployment. The vocational and technical institutions offer training in 350 occupations, 77 per cent of which are integrated and combined. Currently over 60 per cent of vocational and technical institutions operate as multidisciplinary educational institutions, training workers and specialists in a variety of areas for various sectors of the economy. Every year training is conducted in educational institutions in 20-30 integrated occupations, taking into account the expanded opportunities for obtaining an occupation available to girls, including those living in rural areas. For example, girls studying for the occupation “farm manager” generally study three of the seven occupations offered: fruit and vegetable gardening, milking machine operator, operator of livestock complexes and farms, laboratory assistant for chemical and bacteriological analysis, cook, seamstress, and sales clerk. Such graduates have a broader range of job opportunities. A procedure has been established and is being put into practice for converting vocational and technical institutions into higher vocational and technical educational institutions, vocational high schools and vocational/technical colleges, in which conditions have been established for obtaining secondary specialized education. In 19 vocational and technical colleges and 18 higher vocational and technical institutions there are about 12,000 female students. In recent years, in the vocational and technical institutions, training has been made available for specialized workers in new occupations in which women predominate, such as basketry and wicker-work, computer operators, and secretaries/editors. In 20 educational institutions, secretaries/typists with various specialized skills are receiving training.

In the 1996/97 academic year, training was introduced for skilled workers in such occupational spheres as entrepreneurship, insurance, and social work. Workers, mainly girls, are being trained as entrepreneurs, insurance agents and social workers. Entrepreneurial training is also provided to students as a supplement to training in the main occupation, which enables graduates to engage in individual entrepreneurial activity.

Over 120 vocational and technical institutions provide vocational training for the unemployed, including women. Of that total, 31 institutions provide training and retraining for occupations in communal services, trade and public catering.

Girls with physical and mental handicaps, including disabled girls, may study in vocational and technical institutions of the Republic in 30 occupations in 28 schools (15 per cent of the total number of schools). At the Mogilev economic vocational and technical college and the Bobruisk college, centres have been established for the vocational and social rehabilitation of disabled girls and children with mental and physical handicaps, where children, including girls, not only receive vocational and technical education, but also benefit from medical treatment and social rehabilitation.

The new list of educational fields and qualifications, which has been drawn up with a view to ensuring a more inclusive list of individual occupations, envisages broader opportunities for women to obtain vocational and technical education.

The network of secondary specialized educational institutions has been maintained. While in 1994 there were 145 secondary specialized educational institutions, in 2001, there were 150. They have 155,300 students, of whom 56 per cent are girls. In addition, there are eight secondary specialized educational institutions which are not State-owned, in which there are 6,767 students. In the secondary specialized educational institutions, the system of vocational training for unemployed women has been expanded in new, fast-growing occupations with the help of the employment fund: marketing, management, accounting, banking activities, the tax system, basic principles of law, entrepreneurial activity, small business, environmental protection and the rational use of natural resources.

The most dynamic growth rates in recent years have been in higher education. The contingent of students at State higher educational institutions increased from 173,800 in 1994 to 301,700 in 2001, including students in educational institutions with extrabudgetary sources of financing.

In Belarus there are 301 students per 10,000 members of the population, which is the best indicator in the country’s history, comparable with the figures for the economically most developed countries of Europe; this demonstrates the transition to universal higher education. In the higher educational institutions there are 17,000 girls, or 57 per cent of the total.

The higher educational institutions have been converted into universities and academies. Of 44 State higher educational institutions, 24 are universities, 9 are academies, 5 are institutes, 5 are advanced colleges, and one is an advanced school. There are 14 higher educational institutions and 9 affiliates which are not State-owned, with 41,700 students.

The characteristics of professors and teaching staff in higher educational institutions under the direct control of the Ministry of Education, taking into account the gender approach, are shown in the following table.

	At year’s end	Total	Of which, women	%
Number of professors/teaching staff	1995 2001	10 775 13 826	4 702 7 395	44 53
Including: rectors and pro-rectors in scientific and technical work	1995 2001	87 119	9	7
Deans	1995 2001	165 237	56	23
Heads of department	1995 2001	744 889	230	26
Departmental professors	1995 2001	480 627	118	19

The gender-disaggregated distribution of students in higher educational institutions according to fields of specialization is provided in the following table.

2001/02

Field	All students	Women	%
Military-engineering	4 692	21	0.45
Humanities	41 217	26 525	64.35
Medicine	9 806	6 983	71.21
Natural history and science	11 968	6 401	53.48
Education	51 565	38 242	74.16
Agriculture	16 180	5 206	32.18
Technology	60 134	17 232	28.66
Economics	64 431	46 532	72.22

Belarus is setting up a system for the study of human rights, including women’s rights, and also gender education.

In 1998, a special course “Human Rights” was introduced in general-education schools, vocational-technical schools and secondary specialized and higher educational institutions, which included women’s rights as set forth in international instruments. In higher educational institutions, the “Human Rights” course is conducted for 18 to 40 hours, depending on the field and specialization.

The “Human Rights” Academic Methodological Laboratory and its Centre for Information and Training in the Field of Human Rights and Civil Education have been functioning since 1995 at the State University National Institute of Higher Education.

The National Institute of Higher Education, the National Institute of Vocational Education and the Academy of Postgraduate Education organize specific courses, “Rights of the Child — Human Rights”, “Human Rights”, “Civil Education”, “The Individual and Society”, and “Gender Education: Traditions and General Status”, for teachers at higher educational institutions, secondary specialized and vocational training institutions, and general-education schools, in which 236 education specialists have participated over the past two years.

Various aspects of training and education in the field of human rights and gender problems have been incorporated into the content of courses for the further training and retraining of teachers in social-science disciplines, the basis of social and humanitarian disciplines, and social and political sciences and also of social-science instructors, whose functions include providing information on human rights, the rights of the child, women’s rights, gender education and consultation among children and young people. More than 220 such specialists received training in 2001-2002. Courses on gender problems have been included in the curricula of the Byelorusian State University, the ENVILA Women’s Non-State College, the European Humanities University and others.

Further training and retraining of personnel are carried out at 377 education training institutions (subdivisions). The training of working personnel is organized also directly in enterprises. Each year, more than 500,000 persons, of whom more than 40 per cent are women managers and specialists, receive instruction in the system for further training.

In 2002, expenditures for education were allotted at the rate of 6.9 per cent of the gross domestic product, representing an increase of 0.2 per cent over the 2001 level.

The following are among the basic positive trends in the education system that make it possible to enhance the quality of education, including that of girls:

–Reform of general-education schools (transition to a 12-year instruction cycle, start of instruction at 6 years of age, a 5-day school week, and a 10-grade marking system), making it possible to humanize education, minimize psychological stress and maintain the health of students;

–Maintenance and rationalization of the network of pre-school educational institutions, general-education schools, and vocational-training, secondary specialized and higher educational institutions; development of new types of educational establishments (development centres, grammar schools, lycées, colleges, etc.) and various forms of ownership; and a flexible work schedule, particularly for pre-school institutions, enabling parents and children to select them with account taken of their requirements and enhancing the quality of educational services;

–Availability and continuity of various levels of education, maintaining social functions aimed at supporting and protecting pupils and students in difficult living situations, developing a system for educating children with psychological development problems and providing social and teaching assistance and support to the needy;

–Changing the content of education and its functional and practical orientation, enabling students to prepare for life in society and determine their future on the basis of their own resources;

–Consolidation of efforts to review education problems taking into account gender-based approaches.

Gender-disaggregated data on teaching personnel in general-education schools are provided in the following table.

Data from all ministries:

As at 1 October 2001	Overall number	Number of women	Percentage
All teachers and school administrators	136 350	113 300	83.1
Including:
Primary school principals	300	390	96.7
Basic school principals	1 060	560	52.8
Secondary school principals	3 000	1 470	49.0
Basic school assistant principals	900	800	88.9
Secondary school assistant principals	4 800	4 400	91.7
Teachers (not including school administrators)
1-4 and preparatory years	30 900	30 600	99.0
5-11 (12) years	68 300	59 300	86.8
Music and singing, fine arts	24 750	13 750	55.5
Drawing, physical education and work training

During the 2000-2001 academic year, from 5 September 2000 to 5 September 2001, 755 persons prematurely withdrew from school. Of this number, five children (two in a town and three in a village) did not complete primary school, 327 pupils (173 and 154 respectively) left secondary classes and 423 senior pupils (258 and 165 respectively) left school. We would again note that gender-based statistics are only starting to be introduced in the calculation systems of the corresponding services and, therefore, the requested gender disaggregation has not been given in the figures provided.

Increased attention is currently being focused in the Republic of Belarus to developing a system for protecting families’ reproductive health, providing families with the possibility to use at their discretion the necessary information on family planning, and also disseminating up-to-date information on the culture of reproductive behaviour.

Thus, article 20 of the Health Care Act, in the version of 11 January 2002, categorizes measures for family planning and maternal, paternal and child health care as basic, accessible types of medical assistance.

Articles 33, 34 and 35 of the Act regulate assisted reproduction, sterilization and induced abortion.

Work on family planning and the provision of contraceptive services is conducted primarily by doctors and midwife-gynaecologists in women’s clinics. In accordance with Ministry of Health order No. 212 of 22 June 1998 “on measures to strengthen reproductive health”, there are family planning offices in most women’s clinics. The Health Centre at the Second Municipal Gynaecological Hospital in Minsk provides women with highly qualified medical and consultative assistance, including with regard to family planning.

The National Plan of Action for Gender Equality for the period 2002-2005 also contains measures for protecting reproductive health, including broadening the range of family planning services, sex education for young people, and preventing sexually transmitted diseases. A number of measures are designed to encourage responsible behaviour by men with regard to reproductive and sexual health. In particular, there are plans to carry out the programme “Partnership in Childbirth”: from the joint childbirth preparation for fathers- and mothers-to-be to the creation of family-friendly maternity wards. The section also contains measures aimed at broadening health-care services for women throughout their lives.

The Office of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in the Republic of Belarus plays a major role in carrying out measures to ensure the reproductive rights of men and women, including the provision of modern contraceptive devices.

Women’s non-governmental organizations are making a definite contribution to providing more information on family planning to the population. In 2002, the Women’s Independent Democratic Movement carried out a sociological research study entitled “Reproductive behaviour of the population of the Republic of Belarus (2002)”. The compendium “The Demographic Situation and Reproductive Rights in Belarus” deals with its results.

The international public philanthropic organization “Nadezhda-Ekspress”, in cooperation with the United States humanitarian organization “City Hope International”, is carrying out in Belarus a number of programmes for maternal and child protection and prevention of violence against women. Within the framework of the project “Belarusian Madonna-XXI Century”, four information centres were established providing the population with access to foreign and domestic information on the protection of reproductive rights, the foundations of the family, and a healthy lifestyle. A telephone and postal hotline has been opened, and consultations with legal experts and psychologists are being conducted.

Article 11

1.Under the Constitution, women and men in the Republic of Belarus have, in accordance with their capabilities and occupational training, the right of equal access to any posts in State bodies (article 39), the right to choose a profession, type of occupation and work in accordance with their vocation, capabilities, education, occupational training and with account taken of societal requirements, and also the right to healthy and safe working conditions (article 41), the right to equal remuneration for equal work (article 42), the right to health care, the right to an education (article 49), and the right to social security in old age (art. 47).

Labour relations regarding women are governed by the Labour Code, which entered into force on 1 January 2000. Under article 11 of the Code, both women and men have the following basic rights as workers:

1.Work is the most dignified means of self-affirmation, which means the right to choose a profession, type of occupation and work in accordance with one’s vocation, capabilities, education, occupational training and with account taken of societal requirements, and also the right to healthy and safe working conditions;

2.Protection of economic and social rights and interests, including the right to form trade unions, conclude collective contracts and agreements, and the right to strike;

3.Participation at meetings;

4.Participation in the management of organizations;

5.Guaranteed and fair remuneration for labour in accordance with its quantity, quality and social significance, but not lower than a level that ensures workers and their families a free and dignified life;

6.Daily and weekly rest, including weekend days during State or other holidays and leave, the length of which is no shorter than that established under the Code;

7.Social insurance, pension security and guarantees in cases involving occupational diseases, industrial accidents, disability and loss of work;

8.Non-interference in one’s personal life and respect for personal dignity;

9.Judicial and other protection of labour rights.

In chapter 19 of the Labour Code, on “the specific details of regulating work by women and workers with family obligations”, the following areas relating to the labour rights of women are regulated:

–Work where women’s labour is prohibited;

–The prohibition or restriction of night work, overtime work, and work on State or other holidays and on weekends and of travel assignments for pregnant women and women with children under three years of age;

–Assignment to night work, overtime work, and work on State or other holidays and weekends and of travel assignments for women with children from 3 to 14 years of age (disabled children up to 18 years of age) only with their consent;

–The transfer to lighter work of pregnant women and women with children under 18 months of age;

–Granting of maternity leave;

–Breaks for breastfeeding;

–An additional day off work.

The State creates conditions for the full employment of the population by drawing up and carrying out a policy to achieve complete and productive employment and ensure proper economic and social protection of the population against unemployment and a transition to targeted social support for socially vulnerable population groups. State regulation of the labour market is designed to prevent the growth of unemployment to a level threatening to result in social upheaval.

The mechanism for regulating the labour market in Belarus has been developed on the basis of the Employment Act, which defines the following basic principles of the State employment policy:

–Ensuring equal opportunities for all citizens of the Republic able to work in implementation of the right to work;

–Providing social guarantees and unemployment compensation;

–Taking measures aimed at preventing unemployment;

–Taking additional measures to promote the employment of citizens with limited ability to work;

–Providing social protection in the field of employment, and carrying out special measures to find jobs for citizens wishing to work.

The most acute problems relating to the status of women are in the field of employment. Female unemployment continues to be a serious problem.

At the beginning of 2002, 102,900 persons, of whom 62,000 were women (60.3 per cent) were registered in employment services as unemployed.

Women predominate in all age groups of registered unemployed persons. The past five years have witnessed a trend whereby their number has tended to increase in the younger and older age groups and correspondingly decrease in intermediate age groups. Women 20 to 34 years of age — 33,200 persons or 47.9 per cent — are most frequently unemployed. The average age of a Belarusian unemployed woman is 30.7 years.

Under the conditions of competition in the labour market and the increased demand on the part of employers with regard to the quality of the labour force, the lower educational level of unemployed persons that has been noted to a large extent impedes efforts to solve the problem of placing them in jobs. On the one hand, most employers prefer workers who are highly qualified (not lower than categories 4 or 5) and have work experience; on the other hand, the labour market sector monitored by the employment service is increasingly being filled by lowly qualified workers. This trend was characteristic for both unemployed women as well as men.

At the same time, compared to men, registered unemployed women have a higher level of education: 25.6 per cent have a higher and secondary specialized education, 62.9 per cent have a secondary general education, and 11.5 per cent have an incomplete secondary education. Among men, 16.8 per cent have a higher and secondary specialized education, 64.5 per cent have a secondary general education, and 18.7 per cent have an incomplete secondary education.

Women constituted 46.1 per cent of those persons recently registered as unemployed, 75.7 per cent of those dismissed owing to staff reductions, but only 31.2 per cent of those released at their own request.

The gap between the professionally qualified structure of unemployed persons and the vacancy structure has more distinctly negative consequences for women than for men.

Women experience more serious problems with job placement. This is reflected both in the average periods for finding a job and in the number of those who have been seeking work for at least one year. Whereas unemployed men found new work rather quickly — in 2.2 months, the period for women was 4.4 months.

As a result, women have a longer period of unemployment — 6.9 months as compared to 5.6 months for men. Women make up 80 per cent of unemployed persons registered for more than one year. The longer search for work is one of the aspects of the vulnerable position of women in the labour market.

The priority areas of the employment policy have remained all these years proactive measures such as helping the unemployed find jobs, developing territorial mobility on the part of the workforce, providing occupational guidance and training, promoting entrepreneurial initiative and supporting the independent employment of unemployed citizens, creating new jobs and developing the system of public works, reserving (setting quotas for) jobs in functioning enterprises and organizations in order to find employment for citizens who are unable to compete on an equal footing in the labour market (job placement of disabled persons, young people, women with children and others), ensuring the social protection of the unemployed population and so forth. These measures are being implemented under annual State and regional employment programmes. A number of measures are characterized by a rather substantial gender component.

The practice of setting job quotas is widely used in Belarus in order to find employment for underprotected categories of citizens, primarily single women with many children and women bringing up minors and disabled children.

Employment centres conduct “Job Fairs”, “Fairs for Specialists”, and “Open Doors at Enterprises” everywhere in order to assist women in actively seeking work and acquaint them with the labour market situation and trends affecting its development.

The level of funding from the State fund to promote employment earmarked to create jobs primarily for women has increased each year.

The most effective measure for mitigating the social effects of unemployment is to provide vocational training to unemployed women for occupations that are in demand on the labour market, including those enabling them to engage in independent employment. After they have received the training, the job-placement indicator of women rises considerably. Work has been stepped up on organizing vocational training for women with guaranteed job placement.

The new list of teaching specialties drawn up on the basis of a deeper and broader integration of individual occupations in the current unified handbook on rates and qualifications provides for expanding the possibilities of providing women with vocational training. The number of vocational training schools providing training to workers, mainly women, in such occupations as entrepreneurs, insurance agents and social workers has increased. There are 18 training institutions in the system of secondary specialized education that reorientate women towards occupations that are traditionally considered women’s occupations: the accounting and economics field, entrepreneurial activity, and the fields of trade, public catering, medicine, culture, service and national crafts.

Training is provided on a flexible schedule for unemployed women with under age children and also women who combine vocational training with correspondence and evening instruction.

The employment centres continually provide unemployed women with vocational reorientation services and social and psychological support in order to adapt them to the conditions of the changing labour market.

Self-employment and entrepreneurship are among the most important areas in strategies aimed at lessening the problem of women’s unemployment, combating destitution and poverty and expanding women’s economic opportunities.

In order to develop such forms of employment, the new “regulations on providing assistance through the State employment service agencies to unemployed persons in organizing and further developing entrepreneurial activities” were approved in 2000. The regulations provide for an increase in the size of the unemployment loans and compensation payments disbursed and extend the periods for providing loans. In addition, the procedure and conditions were laid down for providing unemployed persons who have organized their own businesses through the participation of funds from the State Employment Assistance Fund with further financial support from the State employment service for a period of two years after registration as individual entrepreneurs.

In accordance with the State employment programme, financial assistance was provided in 2000 in organizing entrepreneurial activities to 585 women (57 per cent of the overall number who received loans and subsidies) under the State employment programme. In 2000, the Belarusian financial support fund for entrepreneurship provided 35 per cent of its funds to small enterprises headed by women.

An entrepreneurship support and development infrastructure is gradually being set up, and approximately 25 per cent of the infrastructure entities are headed by women.

The basic types of women’s entrepreneurial activities are sewing, knitting, wholesale purchasing, and providing domestic services (hairdressing, medical and cosmetic massage, clothing repair etc.).

The organization of temporary employment in the form of paid public work, which enables persons without work and the unemployed population to supplement their income and maintain or renew useful work habits, has been further developed. In 2000, employment centres concluded 6,147 contracts with economic entities for paid public work, which made it possible to provide temporary employment to 120,800 persons.

The basic objective of the State employment policy in the long term should be: rationalizing the employment structure by improving the quality of jobs and enhancing the competitiveness of manpower potential and effective incentives for highly productive work.

The State Labour Inspectorate, together with public prosecutors offices, continuously monitors compliance with women’s labour and employment legislation. Particular attention in this regard is given to the registration in the employment service of pregnant women, women with children under three years of age and also single mothers with children from 3 to 14 years of age who have been dismissed by employers as a result of staff reductions.

In carrying out women’s employment strategies in coordination with the strategies to combat poverty, special emphasis must be placed on expanding women’s economic opportunities, which should provide for:

–New approaches to developing entrepreneurial activities, including the creation of a favourable environment for women entrepreneurs and providing access to non-traditional financing sources, first of all, microcredit;

–Assisting women in expanding opportunities for obtaining a stable means of subsistence, including facilitating their access to professional training, more up-to-date technologies and corresponding information, and land and other natural resources.

The women’s employment situation in unfavourable working conditions remains complex. A total of 420,700 persons (or 25.7 per cent of all persons employed in production) work in conditions which do not meet sanitary and hygienic norms. This figure includes 132,400 women (or 31.9 per cent of the overall number of persons employed in jobs which do not meet such norms). In the various branches of the economy, however, the employment of women in harmful production conditions varies and depends on the distribution of women’s labour according to branches. To date, the proportion of women working in harmful conditions in industry is 31 per cent, in the chemical and petrochemical industries — 41.1 per cent, in light industry — 68.1 per cent, in the leather, fur and footwear industries — 57.2 per cent, in the chemical-pharmaceutical industry — 69.4 per cent, in the printing industry — 57.8 per cent and so forth. The most widespread harmful production factors affecting women at work include increased noise levels and a high dust and gas content (from harmful chemical substances) in the air in the work area.

Of course, harmful production factors do not have a favourable effect on women’s health: the number of occupational diseases and morbidity with temporary incapacity for work are tending to rise. The indicators for morbidity with temporary loss of capacity for work is 18 to 20 per cent higher among women than among men of the same age working in the same conditions.

Some progress has been made in tackling this problem. In implementation of decision No. 90 of the Belarusian State Labour Commission of 29 July 1994 “on the list of difficult jobs and jobs with harmful working conditions where women’s labour is prohibited”, women have begun to be released from difficult and harmful work at enterprises in a number of branches of the economy.

Ministry of Labour Decree No. 111 of 8 December 1997 “on standards governing the manual lifting and transport of loads by women” is designed to ensure healthy and safe working conditions for women employed in enterprises and organizations, irrespective of form of ownership. It stipulates that as of 1 January 1998 the project documents for new construction and renovation projects must incorporate the new maximum permissible norms. This same decree also provides for the complete mechanization during 1998-2003 of all work carried out by women.

The Republic of Belarus possesses a full system of benefits and compensation for persons employed in harmful occupations, including women. This includes, in particular, preferential (early) retirement pensions, supplementary leave, reduced work hours, and diet and preventive nutrition.

Approximately 50 per cent of women working in jobs with harmful conditions are eligible for early retirement pensions.

The State Labour Inspectorate, together with public prosecutors’ offices, continuously monitors compliance with the labour and employment legislation and fulfilment of safety and hygiene requirements in respect of work carried out by women. Measures are taken based on the results of such inspections, including appropriate penalties against employers and officials.

Women’s working conditions, injury and sickness rates are subject to scrutiny as part of the monitoring of the social and labour sphere carried out by the “Working conditions and labour protection” unit. Proposals to improve working conditions and reduce injury and sickness rates among workers are made on the basis of the results of such monitoring. A new system for recording temporary loss of capacity for work, industrial injuries and occupational diseases has been adopted for the purpose of conducting situation analyses and devising measures required to prevent industrial injuries and occupational diseases among women.

Parity of salaries is important to the realization of equal rights and the creation of equal opportunities for men and women. Pursuant to article 42 of the current Constitution of the Republic of Belarus, “Women and men, adults and minors have the right to equal pay for work of equal value”. In addition, equal pay for equal hours, difficulty and intensity of work is guaranteed to men and women by the Labour Code and several other legislative and regulatory acts.

Nationwide, the average gap between men’s and women’s salaries during the transition period has narrowed. Whereas in 1992, women’s average pay was 78.4 per cent that of men’s, already by 2000, it had increased to 81 per cent.

The protection of motherhood, fatherhood and childhood having been acknowledged as a priority task, the State is implementing special measures for the protection of pregnant women and women with children.

Under the provisions of articles 16 and 268 of the Labour Code, the refusal to conclude an employment contract with a woman or the reduction of her salary because of pregnancy or the existence of children under three years of age or, in the case of a single mother, the existence of a child under 14 years of age (or a disabled child under 18 years of age) is prohibited. When refusing to conclude an employment contract with these categories of women, the employer is required to inform them in writing of the reasons for such refusal. Refusal by an employer to conclude an employment contract may be appealed in a court of law. Pursuant to article 136 of the Criminal Code, the refusal to hire or the dismissal from work of a woman on the grounds of pregnancy and, similarly, the refusal to hire or the dismissal from work of a nursing mother is punishable by attachment of up to one year’s earnings or dismissal from office.

The cancellation of an employment contract with a pregnant woman or a woman who has children under three years of age on the initiative of the employer is prohibited, except in cases of closure of the enterprise, institution or organization, or cessation of activity by the entrepreneur. The cancellation of an employment contract with a single mother who has children from 3 to 14 years of age (or disabled children under 18 years of age) on the initiative of the employer is permitted in cases of the closure of the enterprise, establishment or organization, or cessation of activity by the entrepreneur, as well as on the grounds stipulated in other provisions of labour law (art. 268 of the Labour Code).

Pursuant to article 264 of the Labour Code, pregnant women, in accordance with medical findings, must have their productivity and service requirements reduced or be transferred to alternative, lighter, non-hazardous work on full former average pay.

Until a pregnant woman can be provided with alternative, lighter and non-hazardous work, in accordance with medical findings, she has to be released from work on full former average pay, at the employer’s expense, for all the workdays consequently missed.

Pursuant to article 264, in the event that they are unable to carry out their previous work, women with young children under 18 months of age must be transferred to alternative work on full former average pay until the child reaches the age of 18 months.

In the new Labour Code, provisions regulating the granting of maternity leave for 70 calendar days preceding childbirth and 56 (in cases involving complications in childbirth, or the birth of two or more children — 70) calendar days after childbirth, with payment during this period of a State social insurance allowance, have been retained (art. 184). The amount of the maternity allowances is regulated by article 6 of the State allowances for families with children Act of 19 March 2002. The Act, inter alia, provides for an increase in the minimum allowance of up to 50 per cent of the average per capita minimum subsistence budget for each month of maternity leave, and a cap on the maximum amount of the allowance at triple the average wage of manual and white-collar workers in Belarus.

Pursuant to article 185 of the Labour Code, irrespective of length of service, a woman, at her request, may be granted special leave to care for a child until it reaches its third birthday, with payment of a monthly State allowance during that period.

Leave to care for a child until it reaches its third birthday is granted in full or in instalments to the child’s mother, or, at the family’s discretion, to a working father or other relatives actually caring for the child. The individual’s job (post) is safeguarded for the duration of the childcare leave.

The period of childcare leave is included within the total length of service, as well as length of service in the specialized field, occupation or post.

Revision of labour legislation affecting women will involve a progressive shift away from benefits towards State guarantees relating to a child’s birth and expanding the right of working fathers to equal participation in caring for the child, while ensuring the preservation of those that are directly connected with the fulfilment of women’s reproductive role.

The development of a network of children’s pre-school institutions together with infant education and childcare enables women to combine professional activities and study with the fulfilment of household and family responsibilities. There are currently 4,454 such institutions in Belarus, serving 403,000 children, i.e. 70 per cent of the children of pre-school age. The pre-school coverage indicator for children is at its highest in the Republic’s history. This has been achieved through a targeted policy, including the development of a kindergarten and nursery payment mechanism which is affordable for parents. Pre-school institutions currently serve heterogeneous groups of children of mixed ages, with permanent or changing enrolments; they have flexible schedules and provide assistance for raising pre-schoolers at home. All of the above allows families, especially mothers, to select the most appropriate option for pre-school education, and affords them additional opportunities for personal development and professional and social advancement.

To enable women to more easily combine professional and family duties, pursuant to article 265 of the Labour Code, women raising three or more children under 16 years of age and single mothers raising two or more children under 16 years of age are entitled to one day’s leave from work each week on an average day’s pay.

The legislation in force in Belarus provides for measures to encourage men to share parental responsibilities with women.

In accordance with articles 185 and 271 of the Labour Code, the child’s mother or, at the family’s discretion, a working father or other relatives caring for the child are granted childcare leave until the child reaches its third birthday. In such event, the person caring for the child until its third birthday receives a monthly State allowance. In accordance with the State allowances for families with children Act, working mothers or fathers or other relatives or adoptive parents (guardians) on childcare leave, women studying under work release arrangements, servicewomen, and female regular and managerial staff of the internal affairs organs are paid a childcare allowance until the child reaches its third birthday; this allowance is equivalent to 35 per cent of the minimum consumer budget of a family of four determined in accordance with the prices of September of the previous year; for non-working women (including women looking after a disabled child until it reaches its eighteenth birthday and women registered as unemployed), the allowance is equivalent to 20 per cent of the minimum consumer budget of a family of four determined in accordance with the prices of September of the previous year.

At their request, the child’s mother, father or other relatives actually caring for the child may work part-time (for not more than half of standard monthly working hours) at their main workplace or at another workplace or work from home during the period of childcare leave while maintaining the monthly State allowance (part 4, article 185 of the Labour Code). In addition, they continue to be eligible to receive the full allowance. In case of suspension of leave to care for a child until it reaches its third birthday in order to take up full-time or part-time work, or upon the child’s registering in a pre-school institution, the allowance is reduced by one half of the stipulated amount.

In addition, pursuant to statute No. 593 on the procedure for granting and remunerating one day’s leave from work per week for mothers raising three or more children or a disabled child under 16 years of age, as well as for single mothers with two or more children in the same age bracket, of 27 May 1997, fathers raising two or more children under 16 years of age without their mothers are granted one day’s leave from work per week under the same conditions as the above-mentioned categories of mothers.

In accordance with the Pensions Act, fathers raising disabled children (disabled from birth) for at least eight years before they reach the age of majority are eligible for an old-age pension at 55 years of age after at least 25 years’ service if the mother of the disabled child (disabled from birth) has not claimed her acquired right to an old-age pension after caring for a disabled child and has relinquished that right in the father’s favour or has not claimed her right to an old-age pension in accordance with the above-mentioned criteria owing to death.

Pursuant to part 4, article 271 of the Labour Code, the benefits granted by law to working mothers (“women-mothers”) are extended to fathers raising children without their mother (owing to her death, deprivation of parental rights, extended hospital stay — exceeding one month, or on other grounds).

The needs of families, working parents and women are being met through the development of a social services system offering socio-economic, socio-medical, psycho-pedagogical, socio-legal and household services.

In recent years, the social services infrastructure has been expanding. A new type of institution has emerged, offering various social services to the population. The further development of the social infrastructure and the introduction of new types of service is hampered by inadequate regulatory and legal provisions. A legal framework to regulate the existing social services system has clearly become necessary. To ensure a regulatory framework for this purpose, A model Statute on the National Social Services Centre for Families and Children was approved by decree No. 1,136 of 21 June 1998 of the Council of Ministers.

The work of social welfare institutions in this field is supplemented by the efforts of educational bodies and youth affairs committees. In order to respond appropriately to the changes taking place within the family, the Ministry of Education is taking steps to actively promote the social and pedagogical dimension of the activities of educational bodies. Priority is being accorded to protecting the rights of the child and working with difficult and problem families. A psychological service is being established to that end, as well as diagnostic, rehabilitation and other centres and psycho-pedagogical clinics. Social worker posts have been introduced in educational institutions of all types.

To assist the family, improvements have been made in the organizational and pedagogical capacity to serve heterogeneous and mixed-age groups of children, the work of pre-school institutions with permanent or changing enrolments of children (flexible schedule) and the provision of assistance for raising pre-schoolers at home. A new model for pre-school education is being developed at experimental sites: the kindergarten is an open-plan, socio-pedagogical complex. The network of non-school structures has been preserved and its work has been qualitatively enhanced. The socio-pedagogical functions of non-school structures have been significantly broadened. These structures work with disabled children and difficult adolescents, carry out charitable and sponsored activities and undertake activities to celebrate “Family Day”, “Mothers’ Day” and “Senior Citizens’ Day”, and events for children and their parents.

A nationwide, interdepartmental programme has been developed for the purposes of organizing home-based activities for children, teenagers and young people. Eleven centres (143 specialists) offering home-based activities for children and young people have been set up by the youth affairs committees (departments) under regional (district, municipal) executive committees.

Article 12

The general system of health-care bodies and institutions provides health care for women and various types of medical assistance. The organization and provision of all types of medical care and services to women are regulated by the following basic laws and government decrees:

1.The Health Care Act;

2.The Rights of the Child Act;

3.The Demographic Security Act;

4.The presidential programme “Children of Belarus”;

5.The national plan of action for gender equality for the period 2001-2005;

6.The guidelines for implementing demographic policy, taking account of sustainable development of the economy during the transition period;

7.The nationwide programme “Health of the nation”;

8.The nationwide programme “Youth of Belarus” for 2000-2003.

Women’s reproductive health during the fertile years has traditionally been accorded priority attention in Belarus. In addition, measures have recently been implemented to extend women’s health services to cover their entire life cycle, with an emphasis on improving adolescents’ reproductive health and women’s health during the menopause.

The female population’s requirements for medical care and maternity services are met by the Republic’s health centres and clinics, which have 6,238 obstetric beds (6.3 per 10,000 persons) and 5,217 gynaecology beds (5.2 per 10,000 persons). Out-patient care is offered by more than 200 women’s clinics. The Republic’s medical institutions employ 2,614 obstetricians/gynaecologists and more than 6,000 midwives, although doctor coverage in districts with a predominately rural population is one half to one third the coverage in urban areas.

Pursuant to the Health Care Act, medical care is provided free of charge to women.

In virtually all areas of Belarus, regional programmes have been adopted to strengthen reproductive health. A multi-tiered system of perinatal care has been established to ensure that care can be provided in large maternity centres to pregnant women with serious illnesses, and to women in childbirth and newborns requiring intensive care and resuscitation. In 2000, 30 of the largest maternity hospitals catered for approximately 70 per cent of all births (56 per cent in 1990). Maternity hospitals are moving towards a rooming-in system for mothers and babies, as well as wide advocacy and support for breastfeeding. Increasingly, the gender dimension is taken into account in safeguarding reproductive health, whether it be joint childbirth preparation for mothers- and fathers-to-be or the creation of family-friendly maternity wards. To treat married couples suffering from infertility, “marriage and family” clinics have been established in every regional centre and in Minsk; Belarus also has two assisted reproduction centres.

In 2000, women accounted for 53.1 per cent of the total population. In the female population age structure, fertile women (15-49 years of age) account for 50 per cent (46 per cent in 1994). Despite the comparatively large proportion of women of fertile age, the birth rate continues to fall (13.9, 9.8, 9.4 and 9.2 per 1,000 members of the population in 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2001 respectively).

Early registration of pregnant women with obstetricians and gynaecologists are one of the most important factors in safeguarding the health of women and children. Some time ago, an incentive allowance was introduced for pregnant women who registered with prenatal clinics before the twelfth week of pregnancy and were complying fully with doctors’ recommendations. As a result, the proportion of women registering in the early stages of pregnancy increased significantly. In 2001, 91.7 per cent of all pregnant women registered with a women’s clinic before the twelfth week of pregnancy (81.3 per cent in 1990), while 98 per cent of pregnant women underwent a compulsory medical check-up; 76.3 per cent of pregnant women were diagnosed with various illnesses (53.7 per cent in 1992), including 30.4 per cent with anaemia (16 per cent in 1985), 13 per cent with diseases of the urino-genitary system, 10 per cent with circulatory diseases and 19.3 per cent with dysfunction of the thyroid gland. In 2001, there were 92,019 deliveries, including 16.3 per cent by Caesarean section (7.5 per cent in 1990). There were 92,816 live births, with 4.8 per cent of newborns weighing less than 2.5 kg.

In 2001, 838 infants died before reaching their first birthday, and the infant mortality rate was 9.1 per 1,000 live births. Twelve women died from complications during pregnancy, birth or the post-partum period, and the maternal mortality rate was 12.9 per 100,000 live births.

In recent years, the high morbidity rate among pregnant women has been reflected in the high morbidity rate among newborns, which has more than doubled since 1990, accounting for approximately 270 per 1,000 newborns. The introduction of modern perinatal technologies alongside a series of measures to protect the health of pregnant women has made it possible for the maternal, perinatal and infant mortality rates to be stabilized and reduced overall, but the health of newborns and young children continues to be a cause for concern, if not alarm.

	1990	1993	1995	1997	2000	2001
Maternal mortality (per 100,000 live births)	21.8	20.4	13.8	25.7	21.3	12.9
Perinatal mortality (per 1,000)	12.5	10.1	12.2	10.3	7.4	6.9
Stillbirths (per 1,000)	6.7	5.05	6.3	5.8	4.3	4.3
Early neonatal mortality (per 1,000)	5.8	5.05	5.9	4.5	3.1	2.6
Neonatal mortality (per 1,000)	7.6	7.2	8.3	7.0	4.7	3.9
Infant mortality (per 1,000)	11.9	12.5	13.3	12.4	9.3	9.1

In recent years in Belarus, considerable attention has been paid to reproductive health problems and measures to safeguard and improve reproductive health. Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and infections, including HIV/AIDS, as well as abortions, account for some of the most widespread reproductive health problems.

In Belarus, as in other countries, more than half of all STDs occur at an early age (15-24 years) when young people have very limited knowledge of such infections. This regrettable situation is caused by a number of factors, above all social. The most significant of these are: high migration; the fall in living standards; spread of prostitution and pornography; change in society’s moral values; increased premarital sexual relations, especially among young people; the absence of institutionalized sex education; and the current inability of the health care system to meet the population’s needs in the area of sexual and reproductive health.

Syphilis is one of the most widely registered STDs in Belarus. The highest incidence of syphilis occurred in 1996, with 21,616 registered cases, i.e. 209.7 per 100,000 persons. From 1997, the incidence of syphilis showed a tendency to stabilize and progressively diminish, with only 8,024 new cases of syphilis registered in 2001; however, the incidence of syphilis remains relatively high and far exceeds the incidence in developed countries. According to official data, syphilis is one of the most widespread STDs in Belarus, accounting for almost 30 per cent of all STDs. There has been an increase in the proportion of rural inhabitants infected by the disease.

The incidence of syphilis among adolescents (15-19 years of age) is more than double the incidence among the general population, and 70-75 per cent of all new cases of syphilis registered among adolescents are diagnosed in girls. This situation can also be explained by the fact that many girls suffer from low self esteem, do not know how to protect themselves and are often coerced into sexual relations, both by their peers and by older persons.

The four-year decline in the incidence of gonorrhoea was reversed in 1999; in 2001, 8,579 new cases were registered. The incidence of gonorrhoea among adolescents is also several times higher than in the general population. The incidence of other STDs among the population shows an annual increase. Thus, there were 35.6, 48.9 and as many as 79.9 cases of urogenital chlamydial infections per 100,000 persons in 1998, 1999 and 2000 respectively; over the same period, the incidence of ureaplasmal infections rose from 66.7 to 112.8 per 100,000 persons and the incidence of gardnerella vaginitis increased from 32.8 to 124 per 100,000 persons. The sum total of officially registered cases of STDs exceeded 70,000, although the true incidence of STDs is much greater. Up to 50 per cent or more of all STD cases occur among young people under 30 years of age.

Until 1996, Belarus belonged to the group of countries with a low incidence of HIV infections, 5 to 20 new cases being diagnosed each year. By early 1996, 113 cases of HIV had been registered. In 1996, there was a sudden surge in HIV infections among intravenous drug users in the Svetlogorsk district, Gomel region. In 1996, a total of 1,021 new HIV cases was registered. In subsequent years, the figures were as follows: 653, 554, 411, 527 and 1,952 new cases in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001 respectively. Thus, by 1 June 2002, 4,422 cases of HIV infection had been registered, or 45 cases per 100,000 members of the population.

Overall the years of registration of HIV cases in Belarus, 229 HIV-infected persons have died, including 28 from AIDS (24 adults and four children).

Young people (under 30 years of age) predominate in the HIV age pyramid, accounting for 80.8 per cent of the total, of whom 16.6 per cent are young people under 20 years of age. In the period 1997-2001, 170 children were born to HIV-infected mothers, 20 of whom were diagnosed HIV-positive.

The majority of HIV-infected persons are in the asymptomatic phase. The infection is mainly spread parenterally (78.4 per cent) through intravenous drug use. An increase in the sexual transmission of HIV is also apparent: sexual transmission accounted for 7.7, 30.5 and 21.6 per cent of HIV cases in 1996, 1999 and 2001 respectively. There is also an increasing geographic spread of HIV; while in 1996, the majority of registered HIV cases were in the Gomel region, HIV-infected persons are now being registered in more than 35 of the Republic’s districts.

Abortions constitute one of the most significant reproductive health problems.

In Belarus, abortions are authorized by law. At the woman’s request, her pregnancy may be interrupted up to the twelfth week. In weeks 13-22, pregnancy may be interrupted in special circumstances (including medical grounds — serious illness and social grounds — for example if the woman is a minor or a victim of rape). Pregnancy may be interrupted on medical or genetic grounds (if the embryo is found to have a congenital defect incompatible with life) at any time following detection of the defect, taking into account the woman’s state of health.

Although the number of abortions performed in Belarus over the past decade has decreased by a factor of almost 2.5, Belarus, like the Russian Federation and other CIS States, belongs to the group of countries with a high abortion rate. Induced abortion continues to be the main method of birth control.

Abortion rate in Belarus

(Data supplied by maternity hospitals)

Years	All abortions (surgical and vacuum aspiration), absolute number	Number of abortions per 1,000 women of fertile age	Number of abortions per 100 live births
1990	247 266	101.3	173
1995	186 680	72.6	184
1998	141 051	52.3	152
1999	130 788	45.7	138
2000	116 345	44	123
2001	95 954	36.1	103

Age structure of women obtaining abortions

	Age (Percentage of age group)
Year	15-19 years	20-24 years	25-29 years	30-34 years	35-40 years	40 years or more
1995	7	26.2	28	20.6	12.6	5.6
1998	10	25.5	25	20	13.8	5.7
2000	9	25.5	25.5	20.1	13.4	6.2
2001	9.2	25.8	25.2	19.8	13.6	6.4

Teenage pregnancy, including teenage abortions and births, poses a particularly serious problem for the quality of reproductive health. In most Western European countries, the teenage pregnancy rate ranges from 5 to 25 per 1,000 girls in the 15-19-year age bracket; in Belarus, the rate for this group was 74, 67, 60 and 54 per 1,000 girls in 1995, 1998, 1999 and 2000 respectively, one of the highest rates in the region.

The main reasons for the persistently high abortion rate are: low level of public awareness of sexual and reproductive health issues and modern methods of contraception; poor quality of family planning services; the insufficiently responsible attitude of most women towards their health; men’s extremely low sense of responsibility for preventing their partners’ unwanted pregnancies; and the high cost of hormonal contraceptives and their intermittent supply through the pharmaceutical network.

Usage of female contraceptives

	1995	1997	1999	2000
Number of women fitted with intrauterine devices (coils)	705 692	669 969	637 448	612 418
including per 1,000 women of fertile age	272	252	241	231
Number of women using hormonal contraceptives	163 146	196 754	184 175	207 080
including per 1,000 women of fertile age	63	74	70	78

Incidence of infertility in Belarus

(per 100,000 members of the population over 18 years of age, disaggregated by gender)

	1994	1997	2000
Male infertility	34.1	35.2	41.4
Female infertility	118.8	108.3	104.7

An analysis of women’s reproductive health and the state of health of pregnant women in the 1990s reveals that both have significantly deteriorated, even though the traditionally accepted general indicators (such as maternal and infant mortality, number of abortions per 1,000 women of fertile age) show a consistent decline. Meanwhile, the morbidity rate of newborn infants and the health of children under five years of age are worsening. The Ministry of Health’s policy in this connection involves compulsory observation of girls over stipulated intervals (6-7, 10-12, 14-16 years of age), with a view to ensuring the timely diagnosis and treatment of conditions affecting the organs of the reproductive system. Belarus also possesses a so-called “fertile reserve” of women 15-40 years of age capable of producing babies in the future. These women are given annual preventive check-ups free of charge by medical specialists, and treatment is prescribed for any conditions diagnosed, as well as appropriate contraception. In addition, women who have expressed the wish to have a child are given appropriate medical care prior to conception and deficiency prevention treatment (iron, iodine, calcium) during pregnancy to reduce the risk of birth defects and of complications during pregnancy or delivery.

The Committee’s concern over the reintroduction of symbols of motherhood (Mothers’ Day, Mothers’ Award), which it sees as “encouraging women’s traditional roles”, is groundless. Over the course of many years in Belarus, conditions have been created to allow men and women to choose freely their main sphere of self-fulfilment, whether it be employment, the family, or a combination of both. The State is developing a network of children’s and medical institutions and an infrastructure of and social services, thereby allowing parents to combine work and family responsibilities. Labour legislation is moving away from the concept of “mother and child” by offering labour guarantees and benefits to “parents” and “workers with family responsibilities”.

Society views the celebration of Mothers’ Day and the presentation of a Mothers’ Award to mothers with many children as a way of providing recognition to those women who shoulder a dual burden by combining professional and family responsibilities, as well as to those who devote themselves exclusively to the family, especially since child-rearing and housekeeping are recognized as socially useful work under the legislation on marriage and the family.

Article 13

(a)The system of social protection of families with children is defined as the totality of economic, social and legal guarantees and rights established through legislation and the social institutions and establishments ensuring their implementation and creating the conditions for maintaining a system that sustains life and for the active existence of different categories of families with children, especially the socially vulnerable.

In implementing the State Allowances for Families with Children Act, the State is carrying out a policy of providing targeted support for families with children. The system of allowances paid under the Act has covered approximately 708,000 children — 37 per cent of the total number of children. Moreover, allowances are paid to all families with children three years of age irrespective of their material circumstances, and for children over that age, targeted allowances are paid, taking into account total income.

The State Allowances for Families with Children Act (version of 19 March 2002) entered into force on 1 April 2002.

Pursuant to this Act, families with children are awarded the following State allowances:

–For pregnancy and maternity;

–In connection with the birth of a child;

–For mothers registered with medical institutions before the twelfth week of pregnancy;

–For the care of a child up to three years of age;

–For children over three years of age;

–For children aged 3 to 16 (students attending secondary day schools, colleges of higher education and similar types of educational institutions until their graduation; non-working students attending evening (shift) schools while at the same time learning an occupation; disabled children, and students attending secondary specialized schools and vocational and technical schools and courses at their own expense, working during the daytime under the regime of educational institutions and not receiving a scholarship, up to the age of 18;

–For the care of a sick child up to 14 years of age;

–For the care of a child up to three years of age and of a disabled child up to 18 years of age in the event of the mother’s illness or that of any other person actually caring for the child;

–For the care of a disabled child up to 18 years of age;

–For the care of disabled children in sanitoria/boarding schools;

–For the care of children suffering from HIV/AIDS, up to 18 years of age.

The Act establishes a new approach to determining the amount of allowances and total income, entitling families with children over three years of age to receive them. The amount of the allowances is established as a percentage of the minimum subsistence budget, and not of the minimum consumer budget, as in the Act previously in force. This is due to the fact that pursuant to the Minimum Subsistence Act, the minimum subsistence budget is established as a basic criterion for the recognition of citizens and families as impoverished, and also as a basis for the establishment of minimum State social guarantees.

Allowances in connection with the birth of a child are established at double the rate of the minimum subsistence budget, and incentive allowances for women registered with prenatal clinics before the twelfth week of pregnancy are established at the rate of the minimum subsistence budget.

Allowances for the care of a child under three years of age are established for working women at the rate of 65 per cent, for non-working women at the rate of 35 per cent, and for children over three years of age, at the rate of 30 per cent of the minimum subsistence budget.

Allowances for the care of a disabled child under 18 years of age are established at the rate of 65 per cent of the minimum subsistence budget and are paid to non-working persons not receiving a pension who are actually caring for the child.

In lieu of the two types of allowances paid under the previous Act for children under 18 months of age, a supplement at the rate of 75 per cent of the established allowance has been introduced for women who have children out of wedlock, if information concerning the child’s paternity is entered in the vital statistics register on instructions from the mother (formerly “the single mother”).

A supplement at the rate of 40 per cent of the allowance is provided for separate categories of families, specifically incomplete ones, where children are raised by one parent and the other parent refuses to pay maintenance; families with disabled children under 18 years of age; and families with members serving in the armed forces for a fixed period.

Changes were also made to the amount of the allowances for pregnancy and maternity. In particular, the Act provides for an increase in the minimum amount of the allowance of up to 50 per cent of the average per capita minimum subsistence budget for each month of maternity leave, and a cap on the maximum amount of the allowance at triple the average wage of manual and white-collar workers in the Republic. This limitation affects an extremely small number of women.

Since 1 January 2001, additional targeted social assistance has been provided to poor families, including those with many children, incomplete families, families with disabled children under 18 years of age and those in which both parents are unemployed. Targeted social assistance is provided if the total average income per person for the three months preceding the month in which assistance is applied for does not exceed 60 per cent of the average per capita minimum subsistence budget in effect on the date of application, as confirmed by means of established procedure, and its amount for one recipient constitutes the difference between a sum equal to 60 per cent of the average per capita minimum subsistence budget in effect on the date of the application and the total average family income per person.

Incomplete families with many children constitute 94 per cent of the recipients of targeted social assistance.

Within the system of material assistance to families with children, the State also employs benefits such as tax exemptions, payment for the maintenance of children in pre-school institutions, payment for textbooks and school supplies, and provision of free meals for children during the first two years of life.

In accordance with the Income Tax Act, which came into force on 1 January 1999, income for the maintenance of children or dependants is deducted from income at the rate of double the minimum wage for each child under 18 years of age or each dependant, for each month of the year during which or for which the income is received.

The income referred to is deducted from the month in which the child is born or responsibility for the dependant is assumed and continues until the end of the month in which children have attained 18 years of age, students have attained 23 years of age or a natural person has ceased to be a dependant, or until the end of the month in which the death of the children or dependants has occurred.

The income is deducted for both spouses, a widow or widower, a single parent or guardian or trustee, by whom a child (dependant) is supported, on the basis of documents confirming the existence of the child (dependant).

In the current Act (1999 version) there are no rules governing the provision of allowances in the form of a tax rebate for single mothers who have two or more children or for two-parent families with three or more children.

Policy concerning the status of elderly people, including elderly women, is reflected in the integrated national programme dealing with the problems of the elderly which was drawn up and adopted in compliance with decision No. 578 of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus on “Measures in connection with the Day of the Elderly”, of 23 September 1992.

An integral part of the work of local executive bodies and social welfare departments is to survey the living conditions of elderly persons and, based on the results of the survey, to draw up measures for providing concrete assistance to citizens who are unable to work and on low incomes. They are provided with financial assistance, assistance in kind and humanitarian help.

One of the goals of social welfare for elderly and disabled persons is to provide social services in the form of outreach services.

For particularly difficult cases which rule out care in the home, a form of care such as nursing care departments (wards) set up in district hospitals is used.

There are currently 1,936 hospital beds for nursing care available. The greatest number of beds are operated in the Vitebsk (435 beds), Brest (375), Minsk (328) and Gomel (297) regions.

Social services centres are being revived to service the population in small and remote localities. At the 176 social services centres operating in the Republic, the premises have been equipped for trade, work by medical teams and domestic services. Cultural events and meetings with information groups and social welfare department workers are held at these centres.

Nursing homes accommodating from 8 to 20 veterans are being started up and financed by enterprises and local executive bodies.

In order to improve social services to elderly people a Model Statute on the Social Services Centre for Elderly and Disabled Citizens was ratified in August 1999. The main aim of establishing such centres is to provide maximum and varied assistance to people in their own homes and to strive to give them a chance to stay at home within their familiar surroundings until their final days, and only in extreme cases to move them into hospital care.

In implementation of measures for holding an International Year of Older Persons, the Ministry of Social Welfare has drawn up a Programme of Support for National and Local Veterans’ Organizations for the Period 2000-2005.

In order to solve the problem of raising the level of pension provision and increasing the differentiation of pensions depending on previous earnings, a decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus was adopted on 22 March 1999 on “Additional Measures to Improve Pension Provision for Citizens”. As a result of implementation of the decree, the level of pension provision was raised for more than a third of pensioners. The rate of the increase in pensions for them varied depending on the individual’s wage and length of service prior to retirement and was equivalent to as much as 37.8 per cent (6 per cent on average). At the same time a rise in pensions is planned for non-working pensioners as well as for pensioners engaged directly in agricultural production in collective farms, State farms and other agricultural enterprises.

(C)In accordance with article 32, paragraph 5, of the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus, “Women are guaranteed equal rights with men in their opportunities to receive education and vocational training, in employment and promotion at work, and in socio-political, cultural and other spheres of activity, as well as in the creation of conditions for the protection of their labour”. This provision has been laid down in a range of legal and regulatory acts — the acts of the Republic of Belarus on Culture, Scientific Activity and Physical Education and Sports.

Article 14

Article 10 of the Act of the Republic of Belarus on “Priority Sociocultural and Economic Development of Rural Areas and the Agro-Industrial Complex” establishes the following benefits for women working in rural areas:

•At least 28 calendar days of basic annual leave;

•For those involved in direct agricultural production, one additional day of leave per month with maintenance of the average wage.

Women working on collective or State farms or in other agricultural enterprises who have had five or more children and raised them to the age of 16 are entitled to a pension regardless of age after at least 20 years’ service in direct agricultural production (including absences to care for the children) or after at least 10 years’ service (not including absences to care for the children).

In the process of reform of the political and economic system of society, starting opportunities for rural and urban women proved to be far from equal. This made it difficult for many rural women to adapt to new social and economic conditions and their social situation has sharply worsened. This can be seen both in their unfairly low wages and triple workload — at work, at home and on their personal plots — and in their sharply exacerbated working conditions. Discontent with the poor quality of life, the lack of comfortable housing, and insufficient prospects for professional and social growth have led to a sharp drop in the prestige of agricultural work among young people, resulting in the migration of young people, especially girls, from rural areas.

The exodus of young people is having an impact on the gender balance in the rural population. According to the 1999 census, for every 1,000 men, there were 1,192 women, including 1,123 in urban areas and 1,144 in rural areas, as compared with 1,131, 1,127 and 1,140 respectively at the beginning of 2000. Thus, the gender and age imbalance in the population is more pronounced in rural areas.

Working conditions and social conditions in the countryside have an impact on mortality and longevity indicators. In 1999-2000, for example, the mortality rate among rural women rose by 20 per cent. The negative mortality trends substantially changed the trends in the indicators of life expectancy at birth, which decreased for women from 74.7 in 1990 to 72.6 in 1997, rising slightly thereafter to 72.9 in 2000. Moreover, in 2000, this indicator was 2.5 years lower for rural women than for urban women.

In analysing the trend in the indicators of life expectancy at birth, it should be noted that the drop in this indicator was more significant for the male rural population, from 63.9 in 1990 to 60.4 in 2000.

There were 260,600 women working in agriculture in 2000, representing 11.2 per cent of the total number of women employed in the economic sectors of the Republic. The majority of these women perform unskilled manual labour in crop-raising and animal husbandry. Agriculture developed over a long period of time under conditions of a constant decrease in the number of persons employed, with higher unemployment rates among women.

Wages for women working in agriculture in 2000 stood at 62.4 per cent of the average wage of women in the economic sectors of the Republic. Also characteristic of this sector was an insignificant differential in the wages of men and women, amounting to 6 per cent at most.

A peculiarity of poverty in the Republic is that it depends on the place of residence. The proportion of households in the countryside with average available resources per person below the minimum subsistence level was 26.2 per cent in 2001 (22.8 per cent in urban areas). In addition, for households with children under 18, this indicator stood at 42.9 per cent (33.6 per cent in urban areas), and for families with three or more children, it was 75.6 per cent (62.6 per cent in urban areas).

In urban settlements the proportion of the population living below the poverty threshold fell from 35 per cent in 1995 to 26.7 per cent in 2001; in rural areas, it fell from 44.1 per cent to 33.6 per cent.

The production of agricultural produce on the personal plots of rural residents and in the country homes and market gardens of urban residents continues to have a substantial impact on the standard of living of the population. As at 1 January 2000 the proportion of households owning a plot of land was 63.8 per cent, both in urban settlements (48.7 per cent) and in rural areas (92.7 per cent). Production on these plots is basically for household use (93 per cent), but at the same time it is offered for sale and used to provide assistance to relatives and friends (7 per cent).

Household research has shown that nearly one quarter of the respondents (24 per cent) mentioned income from the sale of produce from their personal plots (meat, milk, vegetables and fruit). Income from these sales as a share of total income in 2000 was 3.4 per cent; in urban areas it was 0.4 per cent, and in rural areas, 11.5 per cent.

Accordingly, taking into account all types of income, including from sales and from the use of produce grown on personal plots (cash and in-kind income), the level of poverty in rural areas is declining significantly.

In characterizing the distribution of households below the poverty threshold, note should be taken of the inequality in the allotment of social benefits depending on the place of residence. During the first quarter of 2002, for instance, the average amount of social benefits received per family was 1.7 times higher in urban than in rural areas, particularly in terms of food (1.23 times higher), payment for the maintenance of children in pre-school institutions and for children’s education (1.7 times higher) and payment for medicines (2.6 times higher). This is partially offset by the allotment of targeted social assistance. In rural areas, for instance, the proportion of families which received such assistance out of the total number of families which applied for it was twice as high as in urban areas.

With a view to a more active involvement of women in reform of the agrarian sector in the Republic, a series of measures is being implemented to increase their competitiveness in the labour market. In the agricultural institutes training is being offered in new specializations. The list of occupations for which training is given in rural vocational and technical institutes has been revised. In the agricultural production institutes, work has begun on the multidisciplinary vocational training of girls for work in peasants’ (farmers’) holdings through the integrated occupation of “farm managers”. Girls learning this occupation generally learn three specializations out of the seven offered: vegetable and fruit grower, milking machine operator, animal husbandry and farm complex operator, laboratory assistant for chemical and bacteriological analysis, cook, seamstress, sales clerk.

Women constitute 30.9 per cent of those studying in agricultural institutes, which train people for work in agriculture, and 26.5 per cent in secondary specialized schools. Taking into account the special significance of the agrarian sector of the economy and the worsening of the social-demographic structure of the population, there is a need to build up the technical base through mini-technologies for farmers’ holdings and to improve living conditions in rural areas. Currently in the Republic the State is implementing an active migration policy aimed, in particular, at regulating the geographical displacement of experts from various disciplines (especially agricultural experts) working in rural areas. All these measures are being implemented taking into account the particularity of rural women’s life activity, place and role in the development of rural areas.

In order to promote the employment of unemployed persons and to supply workers for enterprises of the agro-industrial complex, during the first nine months of 2001, 252 families of unemployed persons were assigned to rural areas by the State Employment Service for resettlement to a new place of residence and employment, with financial support provided for them from the State Employment Promotion Fund. Women were placed in jobs in the following occupations: milkers, calf-herds, field-crop growers, agronomists, veterinarians, bookkeepers, economists and others.

The organs of the State Employment Service conduct vocational training for unemployed women in agricultural occupations and specializations, and provide vocational training to order for agricultural enterprises and collective and State farms.

In accordance with the Pensions Act, women are generally entitled to a pension when they reach 55 years of age and provided their length of service is at least 20 years.

There is provision for certain categories of women employed in agriculture to retire on preferential terms (before reaching the generally specified pensionable age). Women who have worked at least 20 years milking cows (operating milking machines) or raising calves or pigs on collective or State farms or in other agricultural enterprises are entitled to a retirement pension upon reaching the age of 50. For women who have worked the minimum labour quota in the social unit of a collective farm, the entire period of their work is included in their length of service which entitles them to preferential pension provision. Women working on collective or State farms or in other agricultural enterprises who have had five or more children and raised them to the age of 16 are entitled to a pension regardless of age after at least 10 years’ service in direct agricultural production (not including absences to care for the children).

Taking into consideration the specific nature of agricultural work, the Pensions Act provides for pensioners who have been employed directly in agricultural production on collective or State farms or in other agricultural enterprises to be paid their pensions in full. (In certain circumstances, restrictions apply to the payment of a pension in respect of persons employed after being awarded a pension in other sectors of the economy.)

In order to solve the problem of raising the level of pension provision and increasing the differentiation of pensions depending on previous earnings, a decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus was adopted on 22 March 1999 on “Additional Measures to Improve Pension Provision for Citizens”. As a result of implementation of the decree, the level of pension provision was raised for more than a third of pensioners. The rate of the increase in pensions for them varied depending on the individual’s wage and length of service prior to retirement and was equivalent to as much as 37.8 per cent (6 per cent on average). At the same time a rise in pensions is planned for non-working pensioners as well as for pensioners employed directly in agricultural production in collective farms, State farms and other agricultural enterprises.

Article 15

1.The Constitution of the Republic of Belarus, together with the provision in article 2, paragraph 3 whereby “the State shall guarantee the rights and freedoms of the citizens of Belarus that are enshrined in the Constitution and the laws and specified in the State’s international obligations”, establishes the principle of equality for all before the law. It also provides for the right to equal protection of rights and lawful interests, without any discrimination (art. 22 of the Constitution).

Article 23, paragraph 1 of the Constitution allows for the restriction of individual rights and freedoms only in cases stipulated by the law, in the interest of national security, public order, the protection of morality and public health or the rights and freedoms of other persons.

2.The new Civil Code of the Republic of Belarus was adopted on 7 July 1997 and came into force on 1 July 1999.

Article 2 of the Civil Code, on the basic foundation of civil legislation, sets out principles defining and regulating civil relations.

Under article 2, the subjects of civil law participate in civil relations on an equal footing, are equal before the law, may not enjoy advantages or privileges that are at variance with the law and have the right, without any discrimination, to equal protection of their rights and lawful interests (principle of equality of persons participating in civil relations).

Article 2, paragraph 1 provides that citizens and legal persons may freely enter into contracts.

Article 2, paragraph 3 states that participants in civil relations acquire and exercise their civil rights of their own free will and in their own interests. They are free to assert their rights and obligations on the basis of a contract and to establish in it any terms which are not contrary to the law.

Issues relating to the legal and dispositive capacity of citizens are regulated by the provisions of chapter 3, “Citizens (natural persons)” of subsection 2 (“Persons”) of the Civil Code, which guarantees equal civil capacity (art. 16) and dispositive capacity (art. 20) for all citizens.

Article 16 states that all citizens equally have the capacity to have civil rights and obligations (capacity under civil law). The legal capacity of a citizen arises at the time of his birth and terminates with his death.

Article 61 of the Constitution states that all persons are entitled to the protection of their rights and freedoms before a competent, independent and impartial court within a period defined by the law.

4.Under article 30 of the Constitution, citizens have the right to travel freely and to choose their place of residence within the borders of the Republic of Belarus, to leave it, and to return to it unimpeded.

Article 16

An examination of Belarusian family law from a gender perspective shows that current family legislation is founded upon strict observance of the principle of equality between spouses, on the basis of the constitutional principle of equality between men and women, and also the principle of equal rights for spouses in family relations (art. 32 of the Constitution).

In the new Marriage and Family Code of the Republic of Belarus, which came into force on 1 September 1999, the principle of equality is enshrined in article 1, which establishes the basic principles of family law. That article states that family relations are based on equal rights for both spouses within the family and on mutual love and respect and mutual assistance among all family members.

The legal regulation of marital and family relations in the Republic of Belarus is the prerogative of the State. The Republic recognizes only marriages contracted in State registry offices. Religious ceremonies relating to marital and family issues have no legal significance (Marriage and Family Code of the Republic of Belarus, art. 4).

The Marriage and Family Code, article 12, states that marriage is a voluntary union of man and woman, concluded under the procedure and conditions and in accordance with the requirements of the law, that its purpose is the founding of a family and that it gives rise to mutual rights and duties for the parties. In order to enter into marriage both parties must be consenting and have reached marriageable age, and there must be no impediments to the marriage as set out in article 19 of the Marriage and Family Code (art. 17).

Article 18 of the same Code sets the legal age for marriage at 18 for both women and men. If a child has been born to the couple or if there is a certificate of registration of a pregnancy, or in the case of a person under 18 who has been emancipated, and provided that the other conditions for contracting a marriage as stipulated in article 17 of the Code are met, the State registry office may lower the minimum age of marriage established by law, but by no more than three years.

The rights and duties of spouses arise as of the date of registration of the marriage by a State registry office (art. 20).

Family relations are regulated in accordance with the principles of the voluntary nature of the union between husband and wife (the Marriage and Family Code, arts. 1 and 12) and the joint settlement of marital and family issues by mutual agreement (art. 20).

The equality of spouses’ rights within the family is expressed first and foremost in the fact that husband and wife have equal rights in terms of the resolution of all matters relating to their shared life, and this principle is enshrined in other articles of the Marriage and Family Code which regulate the spouses’ specific rights and duties. Thus, article 21 of the Code provides for the right of spouses at the time of their wedding to choose the family name of one of the spouses as their shared name or to retain their own names. Article 22 provides for the right of the spouses freely to choose their occupation and place of residence.

Under article 23 of the Marriage and Family Code spouses have equal rights in the ownership, use and disposal of property acquired during the marriage, regardless of which of them acquired it or by whom or on whose account the financial resources were provided.

Unless the marriage contract provides otherwise, equal rights also apply in relation to jointly acquired property in cases where one of the spouses has, during the marriage, been occupied with housekeeping or childcare or for other valid reasons did not have his or her own salary (income).

The Marriage and Family Code, for the first time, established the marriage contract as a means of governing the relations between spouses. Under article 13 of the Code, the marriage contract is recognized as an agreement between the spouses relating to joint property and the individual property of each of them and, should the marriage be dissolved, the procedure for dividing the spouses’ joint property and their material obligations towards each other; the manner, methods and means of their children’s upbringing; the childrens’ place of residence, amount of child support, visitation arrangements for the non-custodial parent and also other issues of the support and upbringing of children in the event of dissolution of the marriage.

The marriage contract may also regulate other aspects of the relationship between the spouses, subject to the provisions of marital and family law (art. 13 of the Code).

A marriage may be dissolved by a court of law on application by one of the spouses. Dissolution cannot be granted during pregnancy or during the first three years following the birth of a child, unless the other spouse has given written consent for the divorce (arts. 34-35 of the Code).

In order to protect the legal rights of under-age children, the Code has for the first time created the possibility for the spouses, upon dissolution of the marriage, to enter into an agreement relating to the children (art. 38). In such an agreement, the parents determine where the children are to live, the amounts of child support, visitation arrangements for the non-custodial parent and other aspects of the children’s life and upbringing in accordance with their rights (art. 38).

Should the parent with whom the children are living require State assistance in resolving problems relating to the children’s care and upbringing, the following forms of financial support are available:

•Financial benefits for low-income families;

•Placement of pre-school children in a day-care centre providing round-the-clock care, and of schoolchildren in a general educational boarding school if the parent’s work schedule requires him or her to work at night.

Children may go home from boarding school at the end of the day’s lessons; in addition, they spend days off, public holidays and school vacations with their parents. Parents are also free to visit their children in the boarding school at their convenience.

In cases where the parents have divorced, the children remain with one of the parents or a close relative such as a grandparent, or enter a State boarding institution. Maintenance in a boarding institution is a form of financial support for families experiencing financial difficulties, generally single-parent families where the mother is working. It takes place with the mother’s consent, and she is able to spend time with the child as needed. The children spend days off, public holidays and school vacations at home.

One urgent issue in the area of marital and family relations is that of the recovery of maintenance payments. In order to better ensure the material welfare of children in case of divorce, the new Marriage and Family Code makes it possible for the resources of the Social Welfare Fund to be used to make up shortfalls in maintenance payments resulting from disruption of business activities or other factors beyond the control of the liable person, subject to later refund by the employer of the sums disbursed.

Any dispute arising between the spouses relating to the division of their joint property (art. 41 of the Code) or to recovery of alimony (art. 40), as well as disputes concerning child support and the upbringing of children (art. 39) are dealt with by the courts.

Under article 68 of the Code, the parents have equal individual non-property-related rights and obligations, including rights and obligations in determining a child’s given name, patronymic and family name, its citizenship in those cases provided for by the law, and its place of residence; in the children’s upbringing, care and supervision, in their representation and in the protection of their rights and legal interests.

The Marriage and Family Code clearly establishes anti-discrimination rules concerning the equality of rights between parents in resolving issues relating to their children. Under article 76 of the Code, the father and mother have equal rights and duties in relation to their children. The parents also enjoy equal rights and carry equal responsibilities concerning their children in the case of the dissolution of the marriage, unless otherwise provided for in a formal agreement concerning the children.

Under article 75 of the Code, the parents are obliged to take care of their children’s physical, mental and moral development, their health, their upbringing and their preparation for independent life in society. The same article emphasizes that all issues relating to the children’s upbringing shall be resolved by both parents by mutual agreement. In the absence of such agreement, the dispute shall be resolved by the guardianship and trusteeship body, with the participation of the parents. Appeals against such decisions may be made through the courts.

The parents confirm their authority over the protection of their children’s rights and interests by means of documents relating to parenthood, such as the child’s birth certificate, and also their own passports (art. 73).

Under article 125 of the Code, children may be adopted by persons of either sex who are of legal age, and also by those not of age but having full dispositive capacity. The following are excluded: persons who have been declared incompetent by a court of law; married couples, where one of the spouses has been declared by a court to be incompetent or of limited competence; persons who have been deprived of their parental rights entirely or partially by a court of law; persons who have been discharged from their obligations as guardians or trustees owing to improper fulfilment of the responsibilities entrusted to them; former adoptive parents, if the adoption has been revoked by a court through some fault of theirs; persons who at the time of adoption do not have an income sufficient to provide to the adopted child the legal minimum standard of living; persons having no fixed place of residence or living in accommodation which does not comply with legal sanitary and technical requirements; persons who at the time of adoption have a conviction for a premeditated offence; or persons who for health reasons are unable to exercise the rights and comply with the obligations of parents.

The status of guardian or trustee can be held by persons of either sex who are of legal age, and also by those not of age but having full dispositive capacity. The following are excluded: persons who have been declared incompetent or of limited competence by a court of law; persons who for health reasons are unable to exercise the rights and comply with the obligations of guardians or trustees; persons who have been deprived of their parental rights by a court of law; former adoptive parents, if the adoption has been revoked owing to improper fulfilment of the responsibilities entrusted to them; or persons who have been discharged from their obligations as guardians or trustees owing to improper fulfilment of the responsibilities entrusted to them (art. 153 of the Code).

Belarusian legislation pays considerable attention to issues of reconciling family and work obligations; these are particularly important for women. Under article 3 of the Code, the State demonstrates its concern for the family by creating conditions for the economic independence and greater well-being of the family. These include a policy of reduced taxation, payment of State allowances to families with children, and preferential credit. The State is developing a network of child welfare and medical institutions and amenities, thereby giving parents the possibility of combining employment with the fulfilment of family responsibilities. At the same time, child-rearing and housekeeping are recognized as socially useful work.

The basic principles of State family policy, established by Presidential Decree No. 41 of 21 January 1998, are the principles of equal rights for women and men in the achievement of equitable sharing of family responsibilities, and also in opportunities for self-fulfilment in the area of employment and in public life (para. 3).

Priorities in the implementation of State family policy include the creation of favourable conditions to enable parents to combine outside employment with the fulfilment of their family responsibilities, including the extension of the rights of the father and other family members to the benefits currently granted at the workplace to mothers in relation to the upbringing of their children (para. 4.2).

One of the most gender-sensitive areas of family law is the reproductive rights of citizens. The connection between reproductive rights and family law is obvious: parenthood is essentially the direct result of the exercise by citizens of their reproductive rights. Until recently, however, this area lay almost entirely outside the legal system of the Republic of Belarus; this is due to the fact that reproductive rights are a new concept in Belarusian legislation.

At the same time, a sharp deterioration in the reproductive health of the population, a fall in the birth rate and increased international awareness of reproductive rights and reproductive health have begun to draw increased attention to these issues in Belarus.

Under article 20 of the Marriage and Family Code, as mentioned above, parenthood issues are resolved jointly by the spouses in accordance with the principle of equality. This situation, however, is admissible only insofar as it does not infringe upon the freedom of each of the spouses to make decisions. In case of a disagreement or dispute over parenthood, each parent is entirely free to make a final decision. This applies equally to situations where a woman wishes to have a child and her husband objects or, on the contrary, where the woman does not wish to have a child but her husband opposes an abortion.

Increased attention is currently being paid in Belarus to developing a system for protecting families’ reproductive health, providing families with the possibility to use at their discretion the necessary information on family planning, and also disseminating up-to-date information on the culture of reproductive behaviour.

Thus, article 20 of the Health Care Act, in the version of 11 January 2002, categorizes measures for family planning and maternal, paternal and child health care as basic, accessible types of medical assistance.

Articles 33-35 of the same instrument regulate assisted reproduction sterilization and induced abortion.

The national plan of action for gender equality for the period 2002-2005 also contains measures for the protection of reproductive health, including broadening the range of family-planning services, sex education for young people and preventing sexually transmitted diseases. A number of measures are designed to encourage responsible behaviour by men with regard to reproductive and sexual health. In particular, there are plans to carry out the programme “Partnership in childbirth” from joint childbirth preparation for mothers-and-fathers-to-be to the creation of family-friendly maternity wards. There is also a section providing for measures to broaden health-care services for women throughout their lifetimes.

The UNFPA Office in Belarus plays a major role carrying out measures to ensure the reproductive rights of men and women, including the provision of modern contraceptive devices.

Part III

A.Progress achieved in enhancing the status of women

The social and economic reforms carried out in Belarus during the 1990s contributed to the establishment of the elements of a market economy, the creation of a non-State sector and the emergence of new relations in the labour market. These economic reforms and a reassessment of spiritual values were accompanied by a rethinking of women’s role in society.

The resulting changes expanded women’s opportunities for self-fulfilment and provided women with many opportunities for participation in the country’s social, employment, political and public life.

During the period 1994-2001 legal, organizational and administrative measures were taken in Belarus, within existing resources, to raise the status of women, protect women’s rights and interests, and mitigate the adverse effects of the transition period.

During this period the national plan of action to improve the situation of women for the period 1996-2000 and a programme entitled “Women of the Republic of Belarus” were successfully implemented.

Throughout the period under review efforts to improve national legislation, bringing it into line with international legal norms, continued. This process has been supplemented by efforts to enhance women’s legal literacy. The most significant changes in this area have been the adoption of the new Marriage and Family Code and the new Labour Code.

The period 1994-2001 also saw the approval, through presidential decrees, and the adoption, through government decisions, of 15 documents which have major significance for the effort to increase the social protection afforded to families, women and children, and for the development of a system of social services. These included the presidential programme entitled “Children of Belarus” (1998-2000); the Act amending and supplementing the State Allowances for Families with Children Act of the Republic of Belarus (1997 and 1998); the Social Service Act (2000); a presidential decree on the fundamental aims of State family policy (1998) and government decisions setting out priority measures for achieving the fundamental aims of State family policy (1998); and model regulations governing the national social services centre for families and children.

The period 1994-2000 was characterized by a marked strengthening of the role of local authorities and administrative bodies and the implementation of measures to enhance the status of women in all areas and prevent gender-based discrimination. At the regional level, special programmes are being formulated which cover efforts to address the problems faced by women, families and children in society; assistance in the area of women’s employment; protection of health; and the guaranteeing of reproductive and other rights. Coordinating councils are being established in the regional executive committees to address family-related issues and protect children’s rights. Experts from the labour, social welfare, education, public health and internal affairs departments and representatives of public organizations are involved in this process.

The period 1994-2000 saw the establishment of a national mechanism to implement a policy for ensuring gender equality and the elimination of discrimination against women. To promote the development and implementation of a gender policy in Belarus, a National Council on Gender Policy was established within the Council of Ministers of the Republic in May 2000. Representatives of legislative and executive bodies and public associations as well as scholars participated in this effort.

An important mechanism for action during the reporting period has been the holding of a series of applied scientific conferences, round tables and training seminars at the national and local levels to review the current situation and formulate strategies and tactics for enhancing the status of women.

There has been a significant increase in the activities of women’s organizations, which have become a fundamental component of civil society. During the period under review these organizations experienced considerable growth, both in their number and in the type of activities undertaken. There are currently 20 national women’s organizations active in Belarus. Each runs a series of specific projects that seek to address various problems facing women. The range of activities is extremely broad, from helping women find employment to educating women to make them more aware of their rights.

Cooperation between women’s associations and government bodies in the implementation of national policy to enhance the status of women is increasing.

In addition to the international instruments it had already ratified, Belarus signed the final documents of the Beijing Conference in 1995, thereby affirming its readiness to assume concrete obligations relating to the implementation of a policy to enhance the status of women.

From 1997 to 2000, as an expression of its support for efforts to promote and protect human rights, Belarus prepared documents relating to the country’s participation in the following instruments:

Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (instrument of accession deposited on 23 January 2002);

Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (signed on 29 April 2002);

United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (signed in December 2000);

Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (signed in December 2000);

Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (instrument of accession deposited on 12 January 1998);

Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in respect of Intercountry Adoption (signed by Belarus on 10 December 1997).

Steps are being taken to permit Belarus to become a party to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, and to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.

The period under review was marked by a gradual increase in women’s participation in decision-making in the political, economic and social spheres. Following the elections in 2000-2001, the number of women deputies in the legislature more than doubled (from 4.5 per cent to 10.3 per cent). Women’s involvement in the work of local elected councils of deputies at all levels has gradually increased, as has their participation in the work of executive bodies.

Gender-based statistics have been compiled, providing greater opportunities for a comparative analysis of the men’s and women’s positions. A statistical compilation entitled “Women and Men of the Republic of Belarus” was published in 1999 and 2001.

One positive effect of the rise in women’s status has been an increase in information exchanges and cooperation with women’s organizations in other countries.

New emphasis has been placed on gender research. The most striking example has been the preparation and publication in 1997 of a national report entitled “Belarusian Women as Seen Through an Era” as part of the UNDP “Women in development” project and the conducting of three sociological studies on violence against women. The question of the status of women has received wider coverage in the mass media. A system of gender education is in the early stages of development. Courses on gender issues are being taught in one quarter of all institutes of higher learning in Belarus.

To provide support to women in difficult situations, a network of social service centres for families and children has been set up and is being developed. From 1998 to 2001 the number of such centres grew to 24.

Recognition of the significance and complexity of the problem of traffic in persons led to the adoption of a national programme, covering the period 2002-2007, of comprehensive measures to prevent traffic in persons and prostitution.

Many of these achievements would have been much more difficult had it not been for the close cooperation of the Government and the United Nations Office in Belarus within the framework of the UNDP projects on women in development and support for the activities of the Centre for Gender Information and Policy. The Centre, which was created during implementation of the first project, has actively assisted the national machinery in the implementation of gender policy during these years.

In May 2001 the Government of Belarus approved the second national plan of action for gender equality for the period 2001-2005; the plan seeks above all to create conditions that will provide equal opportunities for both sexes and reduce the gap between their de jure and de facto equality in all areas of life. In developing the new plan, consideration was given to the recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, which were made following the Committee’s consideration of the third periodic report of Belarus in January 2000.

B.Remaining obstacles

The problem of gender discrimination in employment and dismissals, the guaranteeing of women’s right to fair and equal pay for work equal in value to that done by men and the creation of favourable conditions of work, taking into account women’s reproductive function, and of economic and social guarantees for the successful combining of professional and family obligations continue to be highly topical issues throughout the world.

In Belarus, as in other countries, serious obstacles stand in the way of a solution to these problems. Among these obstacles are:

The inertia that tends to characterize social processes, which is reflected in the lag between the time a measure on behalf of women is adopted and the time significant results are achieved through its implementation, and the fact that it takes a long time to develop new protective mechanisms capable of responding to possible new socio-economic phenomena.

Another factor slowing down the process in this area is the complex economic situation, which is further aggravated by the need to allocate more than 10 per cent of the State budget for efforts to eliminate the effects of the disaster at the Chernobyl atomic energy plant.

Moreover, even though there are no legislative provisions that discriminate against women, the guarantees set out in these measures are not always fully implemented in practice. The process of enhancing the effectiveness of legislation, especially labour legislation, is not helped by the fact that neither draft legislative and regulatory texts nor the legislation in force are informed by the requisite gender expertise.

There are instances of violations of Belarusian legislation in respect of women’s entry into and dismissals from the workforce. Over 12 per cent of working women are employed in facilities that do not meet sanitary or health standards.

Over the past decade, financial insecurity has grown among both women and men. The share of men having per capita incomes below the standard minimum rose from 39.4 per cent in 1995 to 42.9 per cent in 2000, while the corresponding figures for women rose from 37.4 per cent to 41.0 per cent.

The persistence in society of stereotypes with regard to men’s and women’s social roles, the inadequate development of civil society structures and the reluctance of society as a whole to accept new notions of equal opportunity all have an impact on efforts to enhance women’s social status. Problems of gender equality are still viewed by many as being exclusively women’s issues rather than being viewed in the overall context of socio-economic problems.

Yet another serious obstacle is the insufficient involvement of men in efforts to ensure gender equality.

A major problem is the lack of statistical data on many issues and the lack of in-depth research on the influence of transformational processes on all aspects of women’s and men’s activities.

While a national mechanism for the implementation of gender policy at the local level is slowly being created, the level of qualification of experts in this field is noticeably inadequate.

Today women in Belarus continue to be insufficiently represented at the decision-making level in legislative and executive government bodies.