The realization of human rights in the Brest region: achievements, existing problems

On September 30, 2018, the Belarusian section of the ISHR held an off-site meeting on the theme “The realization of human rights in the Brest region: achievements, existing problems,” and the republican scale agro-town of Ostromechevo of the Brest district was chosen as its venue.

The area is located 24 kilometers away from Brest, and it first mentioned in chronicles in 1516. Currently, it is the headquarters of the OJSC “Ostromechevo” that is the leading agricultural enterprise in the region, and thanks to the success of which, the social infrastructure of the village can be envied by larger cities.

Within the framework of the three thematic sessions of the meeting (1. “On the realization of the human rights to work and an adequate standard of living,” 2. “On the realization of the rights of rural youth to education,” 3. “On the realization of environmental rights”), prominent regional problems in the field of human rights were identified, resulting in a fruitful discussion of them.

The Brest region is the least economically developed one among other regions of the Republic of Belarus, what causes a high level of poverty. Creating fair working conditions is another pressing problem that is only aggravated by high levels of unemployment, both registered and hidden.

Improving the quality of education, its focus on work should become the direction the state has to pay attention on. On the other hand, the sitting participants have noted the need to improve the status of the teacher, and to provide assistance with housing to retain young people in the countryside.

The urgency of the problem of the preserving of the ecological environment for the region and the realization of environmental rights in the period of widespread industrialization were also highlighted. Respect for nature must be accompanied by universal education about what is actually being done to contribute to environmental protection.

Representatives of the local authorities of the city of Brest and the Brest region have been informed on the results of the meeting of the active members of the Belarusian section of the ISHR on-site. In addition to that and following the results of the event, the article “Rights to work and education” by the journalist Valeriy Tsapkov was published in the issue № 40 of the newspaper “Brestskiy Vestnik” dated October 4, 2018 (see photo).

Pavel Pernikau

acting executive secretary,

head of the press center of the Belarusian section of the ISHR