Working Group of the Assembly of NGOs accepts new members and defines the main activity directions
Assembly of Pro-Democratic NGOs of Belarus
Yesterday, on January 14, the Assembly’s Working Group meeting was held. Unanimously, three new organizations were admitted into the association. At the same time, the Working Group the Executive Bureau to revise the list of the regional offices of the Assembly’s members to exclude the ones that have stopped their activities. As for today, the Assembly unites over 300 NGOs.
Belarusan nuclear power station construction: latest news and civil society’s reaction
A passionate discussion on further cooperation of civil activists in the sphere of protesting against the nuclear power station construction splurged. Tacciana Novikava and Mikalaj Ulasievic, the Belarusan national antinuclear campaign representatives and Working Group members, told that the nuclear plant constructions isn’t transparent and is held in contravention with Belarusan and international legal norms. They stressed that it’s necessary to inform the public about the problem, using the Assembly’s and other civil organizations media resources.
Just to remind you, on the VII Congress of the Assembly, an appeal urging the authorities to stop the nuclear plant construction in Astraviec was adopted.
Siarhiej Mackievic, Head of the Assembly’s Working Group, said that the cooperation in the field will be developed among human rights defenders, experts and all civil activists who are interested in the issue.
International Hockey Championship 2014 in Minsk
The Working Group members noted that it’s necessary to spread information about the situation with human rights in Belarus among the international community representatives, including foreign partners, politicians, the media and all international tourists who will visit Minsk during the IHC 2014.
It was also suggested to call upon the foreign sports delegations to boycott the Championship until all Belarusan political prisoners are released.
Plans and opportunities
The Working Group members were informed about the opportunities to hold round tables in the frames of the Assembly in 2014, as well as to participate in the survey of the Belarusan civil society (it is planned to poll over 200 NGOs in the frames of the survey).
Yury Chavusau, the Assembly’s lawyer, informed the WG participants that legal advice and help with registration will be still provided to NGOs in 2014. Mr. Chavusau also revealed the Assembly’s plan to hold, together with the partners from the Legal Transformation Center, several trainings for non-commercial lawyers and leaders of NGOs, which is especially important in the light of the new edition of the Law on public associations coming into force on 20th February.
The Assembly will also maintain its cooperation with the Belarusan and international partners, promoting positive changes in legislation on freedom of association and legal conditions for NGOs.
