MINSK, Belarus — Poverty in Belarus runs rampant. With a population over 9.4 million people, Belarus borders Russia and Ukraine. Unfortunately, due to the prominence of diseases such as TB and HIV/AIDS, high human trafficking rates, and recent violence in Ukraine, the Belarus is experiencing many setbacks in its quest to eliminate poverty.
Bordered by Russia and Ukraine, much of the poverty in Belarus stems from the three main problems of the nation: human trafficking, internally displaced people (as well as refugees) and the prominence of diseases, like HIV/AIDS.
However, organizations like UNDP are working to combat poverty in Belarus through initiatives to advocate for change and give nations access to information they wouldn’t have otherwise. UNDP is the pioneer for healthcare development in Belarus. Thanks to recent grants from Global Fund to Fight AIDS and the Ministry of Health in Belarus, the government is able to provide mass treatment to patients with Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the 7,000 people affected with the HIV infection.
Regarding the development of children specifically, the organization Humanium is working to protect the welfare of children affected by poverty in Belarus. The organization works to educate the international community about the fragility of a child’s development in early years as well as the dangers associated with large human trafficking industries.
In recent years the human trafficking industry has begun to take a different approach in gathering workers by promising allegedly legal positions where people are able to earn large amounts of money. In doing so, the industry has begun to prey on the unemployed of Belarus.
With great effort in the past few years, Belarus has dramatically decreased its numbers of human trafficking crimes. Part of their success includes collaboration between the World Bank and the government of Belarus to create the World Bank Group Country Partnership Strategy for Belarus, which is designed to increase employment in industries such as energy, transport, customs reform, forestry, education and public finance management.
Yet, there still exists the problem of displacement. Many impoverished children are displaced, and after the fighting broke out in the summer of 2014, tens of thousands of the more than 1.4 million people fleeing sought refuge in Belarus.
The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies recently launched a 740,000 Swiss franc emergency appeal to support a further 10,000 people who fled Ukraine to Belarus. The European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department pledged 327,610 Swiss francs to the IFRC’s Belarus appeal, but additional funds to cover the rising necessities of vulnerable Ukrainian families are still urgently essential.
Despite these recent efforts and improvements, Belarus is in need of not only a comprehensive plan that allows for an increase in the employment rate but also the internal development of Belarus, regarding infrastructure and the standard of living. Combatting poverty in Belarus can and should be a priority. Before poverty reduction can occur, international organizations need to recognize that poverty in Belarus stems from both domestic and border issues.
– Veronica Ung-Kono
Photo: Flickr