Mother's Week starts today in Belarus. Various events, campaigns, and celebrations will run until October 15, as reported to BELTA correspondent by the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection.
Mother's Week starts today in Belarus. Various events, campaigns, and celebrations will run until October 15, as reported to BELTA correspondent by the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection.
The Mother's Week initiative is aimed at supporting the tradition of respectful attitude towards women and strengthening family values. The Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Information, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Internal Affairs, and Ministry of Defence are involved in organising events for this thematic week. The public association "Belarusian Women's Union" makes a significant contribution.
The National Program for Demographic Security of the Republic of Belarus for 2010-2015, along with other state programs, focuses on providing socio-economic support to families and protecting motherhood and childhood. In the ranking of countries favourable for motherhood and childbirth, Belarus holds the 25th position out of 179 countries worldwide, and it is in a leading position among CIS countries. Despite a decrease in the number of women of reproductive age, over 118,000 children were born in Belarus in 2014, which is the highest figure in the last 20 years.
According to specialists, the thematic program of Mother's Week includes both traditional events (ceremonial receptions, concerts) and new format events (meetings for adoptive parents, exhibition forums).
Women who are mothers will be honoured in work collectives and at their places of service. Ceremonial receptions will be held at city, district, and regional executive committees, along with award ceremonies for the Order of Mother (this award has been presented to 8,094 women in Belarus who have given birth to and raised five or more children with dignity, including 339 mothers of large families from various regions of the country this year). The Ministry of Agriculture and Food will honour mothers who have made a significant contribution to the development of the agricultural sector. The Ministry of Sport and Tourism will congratulate women working in the sports industry.
As in previous years, meetings will be organised with women veterans of the Great Patriotic War, widows, mothers and wives of soldiers who participated in local conflicts, with spouses and mothers of internal affairs officers, as well as visits to families of internal affairs officers and servicemen of internal troops who died in the line of duty. A ceremonial reception for members of public associations "Republican Association of Families of Soldiers Who Died in Afghanistan 'Memory and Duty'", "Fund for Social Protection of Widows and Children of Servicemen Who Died in Local Military Conflicts 'Duty'", and the Belarusian Public Organisation of Soldiers' Mothers will be held at the Central House of Officers.
Women who give birth on Mother's Day will be congratulated in maternity hospitals.
Mothers from large, foster, and guardian families, and mothers raising children with disabilities will be honoured, and charity events will be organised for them. A festive meeting for adoptive parents will take place at the National Adoption Centre as part of the "Psychological Living Room" project.
Honouring of golden and silver wedding anniversaries is planned. Together with cultural institutions, "Visiting Grandma" festivals will be held. Visits to veterans' homes and nursing homes, hospital wards for nursing care, day care departments of territorial social service centres for the population, and residential care homes for the elderly and disabled are envisaged.
Particular attention will be paid during the Mother's Week events to enhancing the prestige of the family and conscious parenthood.
Round tables and press conferences on reproductive health protection and healthy lifestyle formation will be held. Consultations for adolescents, women, and children on health preservation and strengthening issues will be conducted in healthcare organisations. Lawyers will provide free legal consultations for mothers with many children. Free consultations on family and marital relations, child-rearing, healthy lifestyles, social benefits and guarantees, and psycho-pedagogical, medical, and legal aspects will be organised.
Throughout the week, themed festive events, concerts, matinees, children's art exhibitions "About the Most Precious Person in the World", recreation evenings, book exhibitions, sports competitions, mass family and charity events will be held. A literary and musical evening "Mother Sang Over the Cradle" will take place at the Yanka Kupala State Literary Museum, and the "Museum as a Gift to Mother" event will be held.
From October 14-17, the "Motherhood and Childhood" exhibition-forum will be held at the Educational Institution "Minsk State Palace of Children and Youth".