Prevention of Trafficking in Persons in Belarus
Implementer: International Organization for Migration (IOM)
Project Period: 04/29/2005-03/27/2008

The primary purpose of this project is to reduce trafficking in persons from Belarus particularly women aged 16-25 living in border areas, through: 1) increasing awareness among risk groups and the general public about the problem of trafficking in persons through a mass information campaign, lectures and seminars to be conducted by NGOs, and a visual arts contest and exhibition; 2) providing job-skills and job-search skills training to about 1,000 "at risk" women as well as victims of trafficking followed by an internship program for all trainees; and 3) assisting reintegration of the victims of trafficking by means of psychological assistance to be provided to 100 victims by NGO partners.

Community Services to Vulnerable Groups
Implementer: Christian Children's Fund (CCF)
Project Period: 09/12/2005-09/11/2008 

The program consists of two components: Supporting Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Belarus and HIV/AIDS NGOCapacity Building in Belarus. The Supporting Orphans and Vulnerable Children component has been made possible by the contribution of the USAID Displaced Children’s’ and Orphans Fund. It is aimed at reducing the number of children in state-administered orphanages and boarding schools and increasing the number of children brought up with their natural families or in a family-like environment. The project targets orphans and ‘social orphans,’ i.e., the children of living parents, those unable to provide proper care or those who have been denied parental rights, as well as their families. The activities focus on working with families and social service professionals in selected communities of Belarus to maintain children in families and to move children from institutions into less restrictive environments, primarily a return tonatural family.

The HIV/AIDS NGO Capacity Building component is aimed at reducing the transmission of HIV within the country by strengthening the capacity of local NGOs and community groups to deliver effective HIV/AIDS program services that target high-risk populations, as well as educate the general public. The project targets a combination of 30 Belarusian NGOs and interest groups from the territories affected by the HIV epidemic. This activity will compliment the Global Fund grant to Belarus to combat the spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic by strengthening the technical, organizational, and networking capacity of Belarusian NGOs to deliver sustainable and effective HIV/AIDS programs.  

Eurasia Foundation Program
Implementer: Eurasia Foundation
Project Period: 12/01/2001-12/01/2008

The Eurasia Foundation promotes the development of effective mechanisms for citizen participation in political and economic decision-making by engaging and strengthening civil society. The Eurasia Foundation's civil society program emphasizes projects that advance financial sustainability and create a more nurturing legal and regulatory environment for the civil society sector as a whole. Within its private enterprise development program, the Eurasia Foundation supports projects that further one or more of the following objectives: improve business practices, increase access to capital for small businesses, and improve legal and regulatory mechanisms to facilitate business development.

Agribusiness Volunteer Program in West NIS (AVP)
Implementer: Citizens Network for Foreign Affairs (CNFA)
Project Period: 10/01/2003 - 09/30/2008

AVP is a centrally-funded program providing volunteer assistance to farmers and agricultural enterprises with a goal of increasing incomes of project beneficiaries by improving agricultural productivity and access to markets. In Belarus, the CNFA AVP program is currently focusing its efforts on improving the performance of privatized collective farms with the overall goal of increasing the incomes of their owners and employees and establishing models of successful private enterprise activity throughout the country.

Community Connections
Implementer: American Center for Education and Research, Inc. (ACER)
Project period: 09/28/2005 - 09/27/2010

Community Connections (CC) is an E&E Bureau program supporting U.S. public diplomacy goals. Community Connections activities provide U.S. homestay-based business and professional exchange opportunities linked to about 50 local community host organizations in the U.S. for entrepreneurs, local government officials, other professionals and NGO leaders. The Community Connections Program has two components: Community Connections Business Program and Community Connections Professional Program. Individualized internship experiences are arranged by U.S. host organizations with different U.S. companies for business participants. Exchanges arranged by community-based U.S. hosting organizations for professionals are more group-focused.  

Family Health Project
Implementer: UNDP
Project period: 09/30/06 - 9/29/08

USAID has launched a joint two-year program with UNDP called the "Family Health Project" to change the behavior of people living in radiation-contaminated areas of Belarus to a more radiation-safe lifestyle (with a special focus on the reproductive health of women and children). This project has three main objectives: 1) improving the knowledge, skills and capacity of healthcare professionals dealing with reproductive health issues in the contaminated areas; 2) developing a system of radio-ecological education for the target population living in the radiation contaminated areas, i.e., pregnant women; nursing mothers; women of reproductive age (18-40); future fathers; and 3) establishing a sustainable framework and mechanisms for radio-ecological education in secondary education and pre- and post graduate medical educational institutions.

The primary beneficiaries of the project will be healthcare professionals, pregnant women and nursing mothers, women of child-bearing age, secondary school teachers and schoolchildren in the Chernobyl-affected regions of Belarus.

Combating TB in Belarus
Implementer: World Health Organization (WHO)
Project period: 09/30/08-09/30/10

The project is implemented by the World Health Organization (WHO) and will determine priorities for intervention and technical assistance to the national TB program in revising policies and guidelines, establishing collaboration at the primary health care level, revising the TB laboratory system, preparing training curricula and material, managing drugs and other supplies, and revising the TB recording and reporting system. The project will conduct relevant training of trainers among health care professionals, and will also provide technical assistance in establishing drug-resistant TB interventions, launching TB drug resistance surveillance, and introducing TB/HIV collaborative activities. Procurement of essential laboratory equipment to strengthen sputum smear microscopy will be considered.