Over the last few months, Belarus has faced many political and economic problems. Rooted in the election campaign held in December 2010 and considerably worsened by the global economic crisis, Belarus has recently entered a serious financial crisis. Indeed, many have a considerably pessimistic prognosis of the crisis in Belarus and have commented that the current situation presents a real challenge to the stability of the country.
The Pontis Foundation has been active in Belarus since 2000. Firstly, we focused on providing support to civil society and to youth organizations during the presidential election campaigns held in 2001. Since 2003 the Pontis Foundation has assisted in revitalizing the Belarusian expert community under the conditions of the authoritarian regime. Our fundamental goal is to stimulate and to foster public debate as well as to reinforce public policy in the country. Consequently, our core strategy is to increase the analytical community’s research capacity and to develop the ability of Belarusian experts to communicate policy recommendations and alternatives to the Belarusian public and all major stakeholders.
- Public policy
Since 2006 our implemented projects have focused directly on reinforcing the development of public policy and encouraging public debate in the country. We initiated the Belarus Public Policy Fund in 2006 which, by means of small grant schemes, offers assistance to local initiatives within the field of public policy that are driven by Belarusian expertise. Thanks to the establishment of the fund we have succeeded in increasing the direct help provided to Belarusian experts that focus on strategic questions within the field of public policy. We manage the fund together with the Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies, BISS. After over a year’s effort on behalf of the Pontis Foundation, BISS was created in 2007 out of the development of communication between representatives of seven leading analytical centres, think tanks and independent media organizations.
- Corporate Social Responsibility
Since 2010 we have dedicated part of our program work to the theme of corporate social responsibility and cross-sector cooperation in Belarus. Subsequently, one of our current goals is to contribute to the long-term sustainability of Belarusian NGOs by the means of helping them to establish partnerships with the business sector in Belarus. The Pontis Foundation therefore offers progressive and innovative methods for the strategic empowerment of the NGO sector in Belarus. To achieve this goal, we are drawing upon over ten years of practical experience in developing corporate social responsibility and forging cross-sector partnerships, not only in Slovakia, but also in Serbia and Macedonia.
As a supplement, we are also supporting the integration of the principles of corporate social responsibility into the Belarusian university education system. Furthermore, through the offer of our grant schemes, several studies on various sectors of corporate social responsibility are being introduced into the Belarusian expert community. Through all of these endeavours we hope to consolidate and strengthen the role played by corporate social responsibility and cross-sector cooperation in the third sector. In 2010 we have conducted a study that describes the motivations behind and barriers to cross-sector cooperation in Belarus.
NEWS:
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Corporate responsibility will be a part of business education in Belarus (November 30, 2011)
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Firms to help belarusian ngos to make their ideas happen (July 21, 2011)
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Iryna vidanava: In Belarus you need a permission for everything (July 14, 2011)
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We organized the first of a series of trainings for belarusian ngos (October 14, 2010)
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We picked 8 Belarusian ngos for the cross-sectoral partnerships project (August 10, 2011)
In 2010 we started with project for Belarus, dealing with development of cross-sectoral cooperation between profit and non-profit sectors.
Current projects:
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