About UNDP in Belarus

UNDP has been present in Belarus since 1992. The organization's mandate in Belarus is determined by the Agreement between the Government of the country and UNDP of 24 September 1992, which requires UNDP “to support and supplement the national efforts at solving the most important challengers of the economic development and to promote social progress and better standards of life.”

What do we want to accomplish?

The UNDP's initiatives in Belarus are currently guided by the Country Programme Document (CPD) 2021-2025, which centers on four key areas aligned with the country's development priorities:

• Green transition for inclusive and sustainable growth.
• Implementation of climate change mitigation and adaptation measures with orientation towards future generations.
• Development of an effective digital ecosystem and large-scale spread of innovations.

• Productive employment and decent incomes, sustainable development of the family institution and quality growth of human capital. 

In 2015 Belarus committed itself to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. UNDP helps the country to implement and mainstream the SDGs at the national and local level, particularly through advocating for the National SDGs Coordinator and aligning local actions with the SDGs.

What are our results?

UNDP works to produce concrete and measurable results. The agency also works to ensure that the individuals, institutions and systems assisted by UNDP continue to function effectively after external support ceases and, in fact, have the capacity to improve continuously their ways of working.

• UNDP assisted Belarus with design and implementation of its national low-carbon development strategies and facilitated green investments, minimizing financial burden on public funds. Together with the EU, the Global Environment Facility and the GEF Small Grants Programme, UNDP has supported projects in energy efficiency, renewable energy, sustainable peatlands management, flood protection, and green economy development, including:

- Expanded renewable energy to transition residential building and schools away from fossil fuel dependency; shifting to renewable energy sources. Energy efficient measures offer a four-fold reduction of thermal energy consumption and reduction of GHG emission of CO2 up to 10 thousand tons per building.

- Helped Belarus cut CO2 emission by more than two million tons by restoring 51,000 ha of damaged peatlands turning them back into “carbon sinks”. UNDP also contributed to the development of the National Strategy on Peatlands Use — the first national document to protect the Belarusian peatlands from unsustainable use in the future.

• Supported Belarus in its adoption of its first National Human Rights Action Plan in November 2016 that sets a framework for government action and covers a wide list of human rights concerns, including the rights of people with disabilities and the death penalty.
• Took a stand against bad attitudes to disability and assisted Belarus in its move to sign the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities that views people with disabilities as full and equal members of society and aims to improve living standards of 556,000 Belarusians.
• Helped 1,000 entrepreneurs to unlock new business opportunities in ecotourism, developed seven large-scale infrastructure and waste management projects through boosting private-public partnership, introduced tax advisory services and accelerated responsible business practices among the private sector.
• Saved 180 lives and helped prevent 3,800 new HIV infections in Belarus. Working together with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, UNDP also made progress in achieving a three-fold reduction of tuberculosis incidence among children.
• Helped 700,000 people in 21 Chernobyl-affected regions of Belarus live in security and dignity with better skills, income and access to medical services and finances through training and supporting hundreds of local initiatives in agriculture, education, radiation control and healthcare.