**************************************************************
The material posted here was provided to the Division for the 
Advancement of Women by the Government in response to a note 
verbale. It is being made available in electronic format in
the form received. In cases where it was not possible at this 
time to reproduce charts and tables supplied, these can be 
obtained by contacting the Division for the Advancement of 
Women directly.
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Approved
by Decree of Cabinet of Ministers
of the Republic of Belarus
of 6 June 1996, No. 373



NATIONAL PLAN of Action for the Improvement of the Status of
Women, 1996-2000

No.:  1
Activity:  Study and publicizing of the final documents of the
Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing,
September 1995)
Implementation period: 1996 - 2000
Responsability for execution:
Ministries, other central management bodies, local executive
and administrative bodies


No. :2
Activity:
Provision of systematic information to society anc specialists,
in newspapers and periodicals and television and radio
broadcasts, on progress in the implementation of the Platform
for Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women
Implementation period: 1996 - 2000
Responsability for execution:
State television and radio, the State Press Commission, the
Ministry of Social Welfare

No. : 3
Activity:
Improvement of the legislative base:

Submission for consideration by the Cabinet of Ministers of the
Republic of Belarus of drafts of the Marriage and Family Code
and the Law of the Republic of Belarus on the introduction of
additions and amendments in the Law of the Republic of Belarus
on State allowances for families bringing up children
Implementation period: First half of 1996
Responsability for execution:
Ministry of Social Welfare, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of
Finance



Development of drafts of new administrative and criminal codes
of the Republic of Belarus, incorporating measures to increase
liability for violent crime which endangers the life, health,
freedom and worth of women and minors, and introducing severe
penalties to ensure payment of child support
Implementation period: 1997
Responsability for execution:
Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Internal Affairs

Conduct of a gender analysis of existing legislation and
impending draft legislation
Implementation period: 1996 - 2000
Responsability for execution:
Ministry of Social Welfare


No. :4
Activity: Drafting and submission for consideration by the
Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus
of:

Republic-wide programmes:

     The women of the Republic of Belarus
     Family planning
     Marriage and family education for young people
Implementation period: 1996 - 1997
Responsability for execution:
Ministry of Social Welfare, Ministry of Health, Ministry of
Justice, Ministry of Education, Academy of Sciences of Belarus


The outline of a State demographic policy
Implementation period: 1996 - 1997 
Responsability for execution:
Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Social Welfare

No. :5 
Activity: Development of a comprehensive human rights education
programme for purposes of making women more informed of their
rights and the mechanisms for protecting them:

     Development of study programmes in the human rights field
     for students in higher educational institutions, primarily
     those studying law and social and political sciences,
     highlighting the rights of women I the form in which they
     are formulated in United Nations conventions
Implementation period: 1997 - 1998
Responsability for execution:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of
Education, Ministry of Social Welfare

No. :6
Activity: Development and introduction of a course providing:
information on problems of gender relations; conduct of the
course on a trial basis in a numb, of higher educational
institutions in the Republic of Belarus
Implementation period: 1996 - 1998
Responsability for execution:
Ministry of Education

No. :7 
Activity: Full implementation of the National Plan of Action to
Protect the Rights of Children for the Period 1996-2000
Implementation period: 1996 - 2000
Responsability for execution:
Ministry of Education and other ministries concerned

No. :8
Activity: Development of a concept for vocational training,
re-training and further training for the unemployed and the
unoccupied population, including a section devoted to women
Implementation period: Second half of 1996
Responsability for execution:
Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Education


No. :9
Activity: Study of the question of establishing in the Women's
Enterprise Support Centre a special fund to finance business
activities organized in the Republic by women entrepreneurs
Implementation period: 1996 - 1997
Responsability for execution:
Ministry of Social Welfare, Ministry of Finance jointly with
the Fund for Financial Support to Entrepreneurs 

No. :10
Activity: Conduct of scientific studies on: problems of working
conditions and a healthy lifestyle; participation of women in
the decision-making process; violence against women, with
special attention to violence in the family; socioeconomic
status of various categories of families (families headed by
women,
families with many children, families which include invalids,
etc.)
Implementation period: 1996 - 2000
Responsability for execution:
Ministries and other central administrative bodies, scientific
research institutes

No. :11
Activity: Increase, within the limits of resources allocated
(and including on a paid basis) in the number of services for
social assistance to families and social and pedagogical
assistance to children
Implementation period: 1996 - 2000
Responsability for execution:
Ministry of Social Welfare, Ministry of Health, Ministry of
Education, Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Finance, regional
executive committees and Minsk Municipal Executive Committee

No. :12
Activity: Establishment of the Women's Health Centre 
Implementation period: 1996
Responsability for execution:
Ministry of Health


No. :13
Activity: Improvement of statistical reporting on the status of
the family, women and children in the Republic:

     Publication every two years of a statistical compilation
     "The Family, Women and Children in the Republic of
     Belarus" and of information bulletins; periodical
     compilation of statistical data, broken down by sex, on:

          Employment in administrative bodies
          Incidence of disease
          Use of time during the day
          Wages
          State of working conditions
          Violence, etc.
Implementation period: 1996 - 2000
Responsability for execution:

Ministry of Statistics, Ministry of Social Welfare and other
concerned ministries, central administrative bodies

No. :14
Activity: Submission to the President of the Republic of
Belarus and the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus
on a regular basis of reports analysing the status of women in
the Republic
Implementation period: Once every two years
Responsability for execution:
Ministry of Social Welfare and other concerned ministries

No. :15
Activity: Improving the qualifications and level of information
of workers dealing with family problems by:
Implementation period: 1996

     Holding scientific and practical lectures and training
     seminars
     Implementation period: 1996 - 2000

     Providing methodological and information materials
     Implementation period: 1996 - 2000

Responsability for execution:
Ministry of Health, regional executive committees, Minsk
Municipal Executive Committee

No. :16
Activity: Establishing a gender-balanced reserve of staff for
employment in administrative bodies and the diplomatic service.
Establishment of databanks on women working in administrative
bodies 
Implementation period: 1996 - 1997
Responsability for execution:
Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Statistics, ministries and
other central administrative bodies

No. :17
Activity: Conduct of information and publicity campaigns on:

     Improving information on human rights

     Eliminating stereotypes in the presentation of women in
     the mass media

     Publicizing the cooperation between women's societies in
     the Republic and progressive women's organizations in
     other countries

     The harmful consequences of violence in the family

     Raising awareness of the joint responsibility of men and
     women in relation to sexual and reproductive behaviour

     Promoting a healthy lifestyle, including advocacy of:

          Women's participation in physical culture and sports

          Breast-feeding

          Stopping smoking, abuse of alcoholic beverages and
          use of narcotics 

Implementation period: 1996 - 1997
Reponsibility for execution:
Minitries, central administrative organs