VITEBSK, 21 July (BelTA) - Authorities must participate in local initiatives put forward by citizen action groups for development of their territories rather than being just a source of support or funding, Irena Dzmitrewska, an international expert of the EU/UNDP project “Support to Local Development in the Republic of Belarus”, said in an interview with BelTA.
“Area-Based Development (ABD) is a special tool created in the course of the work of agencies, particularly the UNDP and the European Commission. This cross-sectoral approach (involves several different areas) was applied in several countries. The point is to make people living there direct players in the development of their territories. In the places where ABD was implemented, partnerships were built between government agencies, non-governmental organizations, representatives of the business community. The core of the ADB is citizen action groups which bring together representatives of the above-mentioned segments of society. Local authorities are not a third-party. They should be part of these action teams,” Irena Dzmitrewska said.
Today ABD is applied in the Western Balkan countries. “I see huge potential for this approach in the districts of Belarus. Citizen action groups must choose which areas are a priority for them. It can be anything: tourism, agriculture and industry. Social agencies and educational institutions should also be part of the groups. All of these must be linked to the economic sector,” added the expert. However, she admitted that it is difficult to say what challenges action teams might face on the way of promoting ABD. Much depends on the mentality of people and the operation of the system of government. “But having held two training workshops in Mogilev and Gomel, I can say that people are interested to work together,” Irena Dzmitrewska said.
On 21 July the Vitebsk Oblast Executive Committee hosted a training workshop on the EU/UNDP project “Support to Local Development in the Republic of Belarus” which was launched in December 2015.
