Ensuring gender equality and supporting motherhood and childhood are priorities of Belarusian state policy, according to the Natalia Pavlyuchenko, Chairwoman of the Standing Committee of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus on Education, Science, Culture and Social Development, while speaking at the International Women’s Dialogue “The Role of Women in Maintaining Peace and Achieving Sustainable Development” in the Avaza National Tourist Zone, the THP reported.
According to Pavlyuchenko, Belarus has created and is developing a system of measures to support women during the most important periods of their lives. She also said that 2026 has been declared the Year of the Belarusian Woman in the country. Women account for 54% of Belarus’ population, while their employment rate among the working-age population exceeds 85.5%.
Belarus has a National Council on Gender Policy under the government, equal pay is ensured, and conditions are being created to allow women to combine professional activities with raising children. According to Pavlyuchenko, women hold nearly 33% of seats in the National Assembly, 36% of positions in senior state administration, 48% of seats in local government bodies and 67% of positions in the courts. The share of women in entrepreneurship has reached nearly 42%.
Pavlyuchenko also noted that protecting the family as an institution has been elevated to the level of an important state function and enshrined in the Constitution. She said Belarus actively promotes a pro-family agenda on international platforms, including the United Nations, the Eurasian Women’s Forum and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, viewing a strong family as a foundation of national and global security.
At the end of her speech, Pavlyuchenko invited international partners to participate in a family forum, which will be held in an international format for the first time in Polotsk, Belarus, on Oct. 12–13.
