U.S. Department of State

II. Country Assessments - Belarus

Political Overview

The Belarusian Government does not respect human rights and is not committed to democratization or a market economy. Throughout FY 2002, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko continued to rule by decree. The Parliament expressed some dissent, but remained essentially powerless. The courts were not functionally independent from the executive branch. There were credible allegations of transfers of arms and dual-use equipment to Iraq and other states of concern. The government increased its pressure on independent and pro-democracy institutions. Civil society activists and political opposition leaders were physically harassed. The government closed a number of independent newspapers, brought criminal charges against several journalists, and manipulated trade unions. These policies further isolated Belarus from its Eastern European neighbors, who are generally converging toward democratic and economic reform and increasingly see Belarus' backwardness as an obstacle to the region's progress. The Russian Federation has linked its further assistance to Belarus to specific economic reforms, which the Belarusian Government has yet to adopt. The Belarusian Government effectively forced the OSCE Advisory and Monitoring Group (AMG) to discontinue its work in Belarus, which further strained Belarus's relations with the European Union and the United States. (The AMG hopes to resume activities in Belarus in spring 2003.) Local government elections are scheduled for March 2003, but the regime has yet to modify the electoral procedures that were discredited in the last two elections. The next major electoral focus for pro-democracy forces will be the 2004 parliamentary elections.

Economic Overview

Belarus retains a centrally planned economy. Most large-scale enterprises are still in government hands. The Lukashenko regime has blocked large-scale privatization, and the number of private small and medium-sized enterprises is declining due to the hostile legal and regulatory regime. There is little new foreign investment in Belarus. Subsidies to the state sector made many private businesses unprofitable and caused a dramatic increase in inventories of manufactured goods. The government faced increasing fiscal difficulties with increased wages and pensions, arrearages and a fall in tax payments. Belarus' economy remains heavily dependent on Russia, both as a market for exports and as a provider of subsidized energy resources, but Russia has moved to put relations on a more commercial basis and to press for economic reforms.

Overview of U.S. Government Assistance

In FY 2002, the U.S. Government provided an estimated $28.05 million in assistance to Belarus:

• $10.91 million in FREEDOM Support Act (FSA) assistance ($10.61 million in FY 2002 funds and $300,000 in prior-year funds);

• $1.28 million in other U.S. Government assistance; and

• privately donated and U.S. Defense Department excess humanitarian commodities valued at $15.86 million.

After the illegal constitutional referendum of November 1996, through which Lukashenko extended his term of office as president and dissolved Belarus's legitimate parliament, the U.S. Government adopted a policy of "selective engagement" with the Government of Belarus, under which no U.S. bilateral assistance is channeled through the Government of Belarus, except for humanitarian assistance (mainly consisting of medical supplies). Although certain Belarusian state employees do participate in U.S. Government-funded exchange programs, all other U.S. assistance to Belarus is almost exclusively targeted at the country's non-governmental sector and promotes the development of civil society by supporting institutional capacity-building, democratic processes and the free flow of information. Technical assistance and training have been provided to democratically oriented political parties on a nonpartisan basis. Capacity-building and institutional strengthening of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has promoted the growth of civil society and democratic processes in Belarus. The U.S. Government has also sought to counteract the Belarusian Government's efforts to limit the free flow of information in Belarus, providing small grants, legal aid, Internet access and other essential services to Belarus's independent press. In FY 2002, a robust program of educational and cultural exchanges also continued to introduce a wide range of Belarusian society to free market and democratic principles in action.

Training, Exchange, and Educational Reform Programs

Since FY 1993, U.S. Government-funded exchange programs have brought over 2,500 Belarusian citizens to the United States for short-term professional or long-term academic training, including over 170 in FY 2002 alone. These programs are giving reform-oriented Belarusians an opportunity to develop their skills and establish contacts with U.S. counterparts.

U.S. Department of State - Public Diplomacy Exchanges: In FY 2002, academic and professional exchange programs administered by the U.S. Embassy's Public Affairs Section (PAS) in collaboration with the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) continued to be a key component of U.S. Government-funded assistance to Belarus. Approximately 165 Belarusians traveled to the United States under the ECA Bureau's academic and professional exchange programs. A total of 40 people from throughout Belarus traveled to the United States for short-term professional training for business representatives and professionals under the Community Connections Program, which was launched in Belarus in 1997. Fifty Belarusian high school students spent one full academic year living with an American family and attending a U.S. high school under the Future Leaders' Exchange (FLEX) Program. Approximately 25 Belarusians received opportunities to study at U.S. universities through the Muskie and Graduate and FSA Undergraduate Exchange Programs, the Fulbright Program, the Regional Scholars Exchange Program and Fellowships in Contemporary Issues. Through the International Visitor (IV) Program, 40 Belarusians traveled to the United States for training in areas such as the U.S. political system, educational administration, library science, role of election commissions in democracy building, museum administration, entrepreneurship and trafficking of women and children. An IV program on the role of U.S. election commissions introduced members of Belarusian civil rights NGOs to the role these commissions play in ensuring a level playing field for candidates in a democratic election process. The information gained has assisted activists in their struggle to lay the groundwork for free and fair elections in Belarus' future. In addition, PAS brought nine U.S. specialists from various disciplines to Belarus within the framework of the U.S. Speaker Program to give lectures and consult with local counterparts. For example, an American professor of economics addressed the theme of regional reforms in transitional economies, meeting with various groups of economic specialists and sharing his views on the successes and failures of economic transformations in the region.

U.S. Department of State - Internet Access Training Program (IATP): In FY 2002, the IATP Program, which is administered by the ECA Bureau, opened three new public access Internet facilities in Belarus - in Molodechno, Polotsk, and a second facility in Minsk, bringing the total number of IATP facilities to ten sites in eight cities. The IATP facilities typically consist of eight to ten public-access Internet terminals.

U.S. Department of State - English Language Training (ELT): Under a program sponsored by the ECA Bureau, two U.S. Government-funded English teaching professionals taught at the Minsk State Linguistic University. U.S. funding also supported the attendance of a Belarusian ELT specialist at the Teachers of English as a Second Language (TESOL) conference in Riga, Latvia.

U.S Department of State - Support for the European Humanities University (EHU): In FY 2002, through a grant program funded by the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs (EUR) and administered by the American Councils for International Education, 414 undergraduate students at EHU received merit-based and means-tested scholarships. EHU is a non-state institution in Minsk that offers 12 undergraduate degrees in fields such as law, economics, psychology and political science. EHU has research centers in fields such as American studies and civic education. The project supports the development of the private educational sector in Belarus.

U.S. Department of Commerce - Special American Business Internship Training (SABIT): In FY 2002, two Belarusians traveled to the United States under the SABIT program for one-month internships in the areas of telecommunications and plastics.

Democracy Programs

USAID Political Process Support: In FY 2002, the International Republican Institute (IRI) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) continued to build up the institutional capacity of Belarusian pro-democracy political organizations. The party institutes also strengthened the political skills of pro-democracy party leaders and activists through training and internships for the national and regional party activists. Cross-border exchanges allowed participants to observe Ukrainian, Polish, Latvian and Lithuanian democratic parties' pre-election and election activities. As a result of USAID technical assistance, the Belarusian political party branches made a number of important strides in FY 2002. Belarusian party activists began to communicate with their voters more effectively, and several regional chapters increased the profile of their party's local chapters and encouraged membership growth by solving community issues through public opinion surveys and signature collection campaigns, thus bringing public demands to the attention of local government officials. In addition, intensive membership recruitment training led to moderate membership growth. USAID continued to support civic activists interested in organizing a new non-partisan national civic group. The parliamentary election in Ukraine provided a unique opportunity for a group of fifteen Belarusian activists to learn more about the Committee of Voters of Ukraine (CVU), a Ukrainian national civic group that has worked closely with the Belarusian democratic movement and has been conducting citizen education programs, as well as election monitoring, for almost a decade. The participants learned about CVU's programs and will seek to implement the CVU's best practices in Belarus.

USAID Support for Independent Media Development: USAID worked intensively with print and electronic media to increase the quality and quantity of information available to citizens, and in so doing, to counteract government control and manipulation of information. Some of the progress made by Belarusian media in FY 2002 can be attributed to USAID media development assistance. For example, the total weekly circulation of independent newspapers substantially increased in FY 2002: the cumulative weekly circulation was 832,748 copies, compared to 650,000 the previous year. A successful distance-learning pilot project involved 15 journalists from 12 national and regional newspapers and focused on improving the quality of news stories. Approximately 30 well-researched, well-written, and professionally edited articles per month were written with the help of this initiative. The first national festival of regional television, held in September 2002 with USAID support, helped raise the professional skills and profile of regional television in Belarus. Approximately two dozen stations entered a total of more than 100 programs in the festival's competition. The winners attended the International Regional Television Festival in Slovakia, where two Belarusian films won prizes. In addition, USAID made equipment grants to 17 local television stations, which used the equipment to produce solid analytical programs.

To augment editorial independence, USAID conducted a joint project with the Belarusian Association of Journalists. Since financial sustainability is key to editorial independence, market research was conducted for the major Minsk newspapers, giving them the tools to approach independent advertisers. In many cases, this resulted in increased advertising revenues (e.g., one independent newspaper raised its revenues by 25 percent and increased its circulation by 2,000 copies, and its media-holding company launched three new papers). A series of business plan seminars and on-site consultations resulted in six newspapers drawing-up business plans. Through its implementing partners, USAID also addressed the problem of extortionate rates for independent media distribution through the state system. Customized software was developed to expand the rudimentary distribution systems at several major newspapers. The software was tested at a major Minsk newspaper, enabling the newspaper to control its distribution and track sales, and was later installed at several additional media outlets. While USAID specialized in providing technical assistance, the U.S. Embassy's Democracy Commission and other small-grants programs complemented USAID's technical assistance with material support.

USAID Civil Society Development Programs: USAID is helping Belarusian civil society establish fundamental democratic institutions and more effective public dialogue. Civil society organizations were provided with training to improve their expertise in protecting their constituencies' rights. As a result, about 40 percent of the training receipients employed these techniques in their work. Based on the successes of USAID's 2002 NGO Sustainability Development Project, eight rural clubs were established throughout Belarus. These clubs provided community members with access to information, technical instruction and a forum to discuss issues of local importance. Three clubs in initially selected sites have been functioning for about a year, and five new communities were selected on a competitive basis in August 2002. Approximately 400 consultations were provided on topics such as rural club creation, program development, cooperation and coordination, planning, and management. The club leaders developed their knowledge and skills, and served as experts for the community. A series of training sessions for rural club members in advocacy, legal forms of civic activism, and legal clinic development, resulted in the creation of a legal clinic on "Public Representation of Citizens' Rights" in one of the rural clubs. The clinic assisted several community members in successfully defending their rights in court. In the framework of the rural club model, the Rural Talk Show Project was also started at three local television stations—this was a format completely new to the participating stations. The project helped create 38 television talk show programs on a variety of social and economic issues. The topics of the shows were suggested by local NGOs and reflected local priorities. The programs provided an opportunity for local officials, NGO representatives, entrepreneurs, and other community members to participate in an open discussion and freely exchange their opinions on existing problems, and to discuss possible solutions. In addition, local journalists and cameramen received on-site training in talk show production. Positive feedback from the audience convinced the stations to re-broadcast the programs two to three times. Examples of other rural club activities included an HIV awareness campaign for students in Vileika, an HIV awareness concert attracting 300 youth, and a food drive for the disabled. A Youth Leadership School was launched to educate an important constituency of young community members from rural clubs, and two groups of 25 youth each were formed on a competitive basis to actively participate in community work with their peers.

USAID Rule-of-Law Programs: The goal of USAID's rule-of-law programs is to increase access to justice for Belarusian citizens. USAID's three Belarusian partners—the Free Trade Union (FTU), Independent Trade Union (ITU) and the Belarusian Organization of Working Women (BOWW)—operate over 20 Legal Advice Centers, which provide citizens with legal representation. In FY 2002, a total of 38 legal education seminars were conducted and attended by almost 900 trainees. Substantive issues addressed at the seminars included: human rights and election law, tax, NGO, and labor, housing, and consumer rights law, and rules of civil procedure, privatization, and commercial law. In 2002, the institution building project, aimed at strengthening NGOs' effectiveness and financial viability, yielded impressive results. The Legal Information Clearinghouse, which was established in 2001 by the American Bar Association's Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative (ABA/CEELI) and a local NGO and is now fully operational, provides 20 consultations per month to LAC lawyers on substantive and procedural legal matters, and responds to 30 requests for assistance per month. The Clearinghouse also provided a monthly analytical update of changes in Belarusian legislation.

U.S. Department of State - Democracy Funds Small Grants Program: In FY 2002, the U.S. Embassy's Democracy Commission awarded 40 grants totaling approximately $570,000 in support of independent print and electronic media, youth and women's groups, human rights groups, independent trade unions, and other pro-democracy organizations. This brings the cumulative number of Democracy Commission grants awarded by the embassy to almost 400. Although Democracy Commission grants are limited in size (individual grants do not exceed $24,000, with most falling between $5,000 and $15,000), they are an effective vehicle for supporting the reform efforts of non-governmental segments of Belarusian society. In conjunction with technical and legal assistance and training provided by USAID, Democracy Commission grants have helped sustain national, regional and local independent print media in Belarus despite growing government harassment. The grants have helped Belarusian NGOs and independent media explain the importance of a free and fair democratic electoral process to Belarusian citizens, and to mobilize independent opinion and action at the community level. Democracy Commission grants have also played a significant role in supporting human rights monitoring and education programs in Belarus.

U.S. Department of State - Support for the National Endowment for Democracy (NED): In FY 2002, the Department provided $1 million in FSA funding to NED to supplement its grant-making activities in Belarus. This supplemental funding was used to support 35 democracy-building projects promoting NGO development and independent media in Belarus. Recipients included youth groups, regional NGO resource centers, human rights organizations and third-sector umbrella groups in Belarus, as well as NGOs from Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine and the Czech Republic, which carried out cross-border programs with counterparts in Belarus. In addition, NED used FSA funding to make approximately 200 micro-grants for local pro-democracy programs in Belarus's regions. In the field of independent media, NED provided support to more than a dozen national and regional newspapers, youth publications, web sites, regional publishing centers, press freedom NGOs, and Belarus' first Internet newspaper.

U.S. Department of State - Human Rights and Democracy Fund (HRDF): In FY 2002, the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) allocated HRDF resources to support pro-reform trade union leaders at the local level.

U.S. Department of State - Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) - Support for IOM Anti-Trafficking Activities: In FY 2002, the PRM Bureau supported an anti-trafficking project implemented by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Belarus, a major source country for trafficked women. This protection-oriented project works with existing civil society groups to raise awareness among potential victims.

Business and Economic Development Programs

USAID Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise (SME) Development Project: In FY 2002, USAID's SME Development Project continued to work to increase the constituency for a free-market economy in Belarus by providing assistance to business associations. Despite the difficult environment for business development, (e.g., the number of legally registered SMEs is decreasing), the program achieved important strides in the institutional devlopment of business organizations. The information/education campaign conducted by the project reached every fifth Belarusian entrepreneur. As a result of USAID technical assistance, since the beginning of the project in 2000, 18 partner organizations expanded their client base by 100 percent and their membership base by 60 percent. Over the first nine months of 2002, these organizations' client base expanded by seven percent and their membership base by 14 percent. In addition, the program catalyzed the creation of the Council of Regional Business Associations, which unites 11 such organizations and provides a forum for the leaders of regional business associations to coordinate their efforts to improve the business environment at the local level and to lobby more effectively on the national level.

USAID Agribusiness Development Programs: Under USAID's Farmer-to-Farmer (FTF) Program, the Citizens' Network for Foreign Affairs (CNFA) is administering a regional activity in Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus to strengthen the ability of private farmers' associations to improve the incomes and businesses of their members, to develop private agribusinesses, and to stimulate the development of entrepreneurial initiatives within former collective farms. In FY 2002, CNFA placed 12 volunteer American farmers and agricultural experts in Belarus to carry out 15 assignments. The volunteers each provided an average of three weeks of their time and brought invaluable experience and skills (which they have developed in the context of the competitive U.S. agricultural market) to Belarusian private farmers, agricultural cooperatives and agricultural associations.

U.S. Department of Commerce - Business Information Service for the NIS (BISNIS): Although BISNIS had no representative in Belarus, it nevertheless managed to publish two Search for Partners and eight Trades and Tenders leads in FY 2002 to promote business relationships between private companies in Belarus and U.S. companies.

Security, Regional Stability and Law Enforcement Programs

As it has for the past several years, Belarus remained ineligible to receive U.S. Government-funded security-related assistance in FY 2002. In February 1997, President Clinton de-certified Belarus under the U.S. Defense Department's Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) Program due to its poor record on human rights, resulting in program suspension and the reallocation to other countries of unobligated CTR funds. The U.S. Government, however, has provided minimal security-related training to Belarus on a case-by-case basis. For example, the Scientific and Technical Center in Sosny is receiving support under the U.S. Energy Department's (DOE) Material Protection, Control and Accounting (MPC&A) Program to upgrade its nuclear facilities' safeguards in accordance with the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) revised 1999 guidelines. DOE also helped complete prior upgrades from 1996-1999 to meet IAEA's earlier standards. In addition, the U.S. Embassy in Minsk continues to send Belarusians from both the governmental and non-governmental sectors to courses at the U.S. Defense Department's Marshall Center in Germany and has sponsored the participation of Belarusian journalists and academicians in NATO familiarization programs. The U.S. Government is currently not providing any law enforcement assistance to the Government of Belarus.

Humanitarian Assistance Programs

U.S. Department of State - Coordinator's Office Humanitarian Assistance: In FY 2002, the Humanitarian Programs Division of the Office of the Coordinator of U.S. Assistance to Europe and Eurasia transported approximately $15.86 million in privately donated and U.S. Defense Department excess humanitarian commodities to Belarus at a cost of approximately $820,000 to the U.S. Government. The U.S. private voluntary organizations involved in this effort were CitiHope and Counterpart International.

USAID/U.S. Department of State - Counterpart Humanitarian Assistance Program (CHAP): Since 1995, CHAP has delivered and distributed more than $31.5 million in humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable groups in Belarus, including almost $2.1 million in FY 2002. CHAP continued to coordinate its efforts with Counterpart's NGO Development Program (CAP) to provide Belarusian NGOs with commodities that enhance the effectiveness and visibility of their community-focused projects. CHAP donations to CAP-targeted NGOs have been almost $2.2 million since the program's inception; 273 CAP-supported NGOs have received CHAP donations. CHAP's approach has helped Belarusian NGOs play a more important role in social services, humanitarian relief, and health, especially in rural areas. The State Department's Office of the Coordinator of U.S. Assistance to Europe and Eurasia supplemented CHAP's activities by providing transportation and commodity support.

U.S. Department of Defense - U.S. European Command (EUCOM) Humanitarian Assistance: In FY 2002, EUCOM funded five humanitarian assistance projects in Belarus for a total value of $400,000. Four were excess property shipments totaling $200,000. The fifth was a construction/renovation project for the Gomel Regional Emergency Medical Center. The cost of this project was $200,000.

Cross-Sectoral Programs

Eurasia Foundation: In FY 2002, the Eurasia Foundation awarded seven grants totaling approximately $680,000 to NGOs in Belarus. The Foundation funded two partnership grants to continue developing business education programs in Belarus, the first of which supported the continuation of the partnership between Central Connecticut State University and the Minsk-based Institute of Privatization and Management and European Humanities University (EHU) and the Warsaw-based Leon Kozminski Academy of Entrepreneurship and Management (LKAEM). Phase III of this project strengthened faculty qualifications, introduced new teaching methodologies, developed region-specific case studies, and implemented a sustainable visiting-lecturers program that will result in the issuance of European-accredited LKAEM diplomas to graduates of the program. The second grant completed the implementation phase of a self-financing Western-style MBA program at the Yanka Kupala State University in Grodno, in cooperation with Riga Technical University's business school and the University of Buffalo. This grant supported continued faculty training, design of a more cost-efficient core management curriculum, and the implementation of marketing and recruiting strategies. Through a grant to the Domovladeniye Association of Minsk, the Foundation is supporting efforts to create a more favorable environment for condominium development. With the goal of increasing the number of condominiums and associations that can provide basic services for homeowners, the project will create a consulting center to provide legal, information, and technical support to existing condominium associations and initiative groups; raise public awareness on housing issues through a broad information campaign; and develop draft regulations and recommendations to create a more favorable legislative environment in the housing sector. The Foundation's grants also supported the Initiative for Social Action and Renewal in Eurasia (ISAR) Belarus grant program for environmental NGOs.

Preview of FY 2003 Programs

The goal of U.S. assistance is to aid Belarusian civil society to develop democratic political structures that represent all segments of society and can bring Belarus up to Western democratic standards. In FY 2003, U.S. Government assistance programs will continue to strengthen civil society organizations and political parties, thereby fostering Belarusian citizens' participation in government. The focus will be on support for local community initiative programs, training for democratically oriented political parties, and training and assistance to the independent media. Educational and cultural exchanges will continue, as will humanitarian programs to provide privately donated and excess commodities. Some assistance will also be provided in the areas of human rights, rule of law and trafficking in persons. Unfortunately, limited funding has necessitated a significant reduction in assistance aimed at small and medium-sized enterprise development and the economic sector.

FY 2002 FUNDS BUDGETED FOR U.S. GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE TO BELARUS
(millions of dollars, rounded to the nearest $10,000, as of 12/31/02)