Belarus: international conference on prevention of child abuse

The conference titled "Development of a child protection system: national and international experience" will be held in Minsk on 22nd - 23rd April 2010. It will be the first conference in a series of annual conferences "Safe Belarus for children" that will be organized by NGO "Ponimanie". The aim of the conference is to improve the quality of assistance to children affected by violence, exploitation and trafficking. For this purpose, Belarusian specialists will be able to exchange professional experience with leading international experts.

"The willingness to discuss the problem of all forms of child abuse states the level of development of civil society. By today, this willingness is, as well as the desire to take effective measures to eradicate this phenomenon. It is necessary to conduct professional and public debate to develop a set of measures. Therefore, we decided to start a series of annual conferences "Safe Belarus for Children", - says Andrey Makhanko, chairman of the board of directors of "Ponimanie" - Each year the conference will focus on a narrow topic, and the first conference will set the tone, I hope, for a few years of productive discussions. Throughout the world there is no country without the problem of child abuse, and Belarus, unfortunately, is not an exception. Only by the combined efforts of government agencies, NGOs, mass media and society, we can protect the Belarusian children and guarantee them a safe childhood. The objective of this conference is to promote the achievement of this goal."
The conference participants will be the representatives of governmental and public organizations working in the sphere of child protection. Experts from the European Union, Georgia, Russia and the US will share with Belarusians their practical experience in combating the problem of child abuse. Interactive presentations will give an opportunity to exchange experience.
The Conference will be preceded by an Institute for interdisciplinary team of specialists. During 21st April 21 the participants of the Conference will visit one of the four parallel specialized trainings.

It is expected that about 150 Belarusian specialists will participate in the conference. Currently NGO "Ponimanie" is registering the participants. For further information on the conference and registration conditions consult www.ponimanie.org.