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UN set to boost funding for Belarus projects

The United Nations plans to increase donor funding for Belarus, Antonius Bernardus Broek, UN resident coordinator/UNDP resident representative in Belarus, told reporters in Minsk on July 31.

The UN provided $20 million to Belarus in technical aid in 2007, Mr. Broek said.

According to him, the assistance program for the period between 2011 and 2015 will be discussed later this year.

Belarus is to receive up to $85 million in grants under the 2006-10 program, Mr. Broek said.

He expressed hope that the World Bank would continue investing in Belarus and providing it with loans.

Belarus is a rather developed country and it is increasingly difficult to convince donors that it still needs funding while there are poorer nations, Mr. Broek said.

The projects that the UN plans to carry out in Belarus will be aimed at, among other things, fighting HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, increasing energy efficiency, developing renewable energy sources, improving migration control, fighting human trafficking, and dealing with the aftermath of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident.

The UN Office will continue helping Belarus in cooperation with UN agencies that do not have a presence in Belarus, such as the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Food and Agriculture Organization, and the UN Conference on Trade and Development, Mr. Broek said. Belarus is welcome to make its own contribution to the development of other nations, he said. //BelaPAN