What worries Belarusians, and how do they see the future of the country? The unique project “People’s Five-Year Plan” is looking for answers to these questions. The project in a year has turned from an idea into a large-scale platform for dialogue between society and the state. The head of the Center for Analysis of Civil Initiatives, Katsiaryna Rechyts, spoke about the main requests of citizens, sensational ratings and prospects for Belarusian women in an interview with a correspondent of the “Minsk-Novosti” news agency.
— How did the “People’s Five-Year Plan” begin and what kind of project is it?
— It all started with an online platform for collecting citizens’ opinions on the country’s development for the next five years. Over the course of a year, the project has grown into a large-scale ecosystem for working with public opinion. Its goal is to create a universal digital feedback system with the population. The “People’s Five-Year Plan” can become its analytical core: conduct surveys, collect proposals and implement projects. Locally, this work is complemented by “Smart City” platforms.
— What results did the national dialogue “Image of the Belarusian Future 2026–2030” show before the second meeting of the VII All-Belarusian People’s Assembly?
— The project, as a modern format of dialogue between the government and society, helped to shape the agenda of the meeting, especially the project of the Program for Socio-Economic Development. Over 70 thousand people took part in the national dialogue “Image of the Belarusian Future 2026–2030”. The study shows: our citizens are pragmatic. They mostly support such initiatives as government price controls, locating large businesses in small towns, and measures to increase purchasing power. Least of all they are enthusiastic about the privatization of state-owned enterprises. People believe that economic growth must go along with the social policy of the state.
In general, Belarusians support the strategic course. They want a tangible improvement in their quality of life, but are afraid of sudden changes. What is important for society is a concrete result that everyone will feel.
— How to popularize the status of a hard-working woman and a mother?
— It is important to use the potential of the Year of the Belarusian Woman more widely, not limited only to birth rate issues. This is a strategic topic for the whole country, it concerns demography, economics and social sphere.
We hope that the special headquarters will fill it with real things: from the national strategy to the participation of Belarusian women in solving global problems. For example, the task is to expand flexible forms of employment, promote women’s creative industries, and establish the “Choice of Belarusian Women” quality mark.
We are preparing a corresponding project in the “People’s Five-Year Plan”. First, let’s study the status of women, their needs and expectations. We plan to compile ratings of the best enterprises, industries and regions for women, and analyze the positions of Belarusian women in world rankings. Also this year we will create a women’s analytical club.
— What worries Minsk residents most?
— The main request is to increase prosperity and solve everyday problems. People’s biggest concerns are security, economic development and access to healthcare. Fair prices, quality of education and housing construction are important to every third person. For every fifth person the crucial things are support for pensioners, food security, the country’s reputation and the environmental issues.
Minsk residents talk about the overpopulation of the capital, about rental housing for employees of the Central Regional Clinical Hospital and other specialists. They are waiting for the construction of schools in the “Minsk World” residential complex, the residential areas of Kamiennaja Horka, Krasny Bor, and sports complexes in Kurasowshchyna and Sokal. There is an idea to attract students from the capital’s universities to create a single digital portal, similar to Russian “Gosuslugi”.
There are also proposals to limit pediatrician house calls to certain categories of families, and to refer elderly patients to rehabilitation centers. People highlight problems in the work of housing and communal services, they want the improvement of areas in Uruchcha and on Yakubova Street, the development of the area along the Loshytsa River. Among the ideas are a pedestrian bridge in Sierabrianka, the relocation of the “Luch” clock works with the creation of a pan-Slavic center in its place, and the transition of the capital to electric transport.
— How do Belarusians see the future?
— The future is multi-layered: personal one, our country’s, and the future of all humanity. For people, the main indicator of a country’s success is the opportunity to achieve their goals: family, health, prosperity, self-realization.
For the future, citizens see Belarus as an international negotiation platform, a bridge between West and East, and a source of stability in the region. It is important to unlock food and environmental potential and develop domestic industry and science. There are opportunities to create an IT center for industrial robotic assembly and attract crypto investors.
In a global sense, this is a peaceful Belarus on a peaceful planet. That is an ideal image of the future for Belarusians.
Source: Minsk-Novosti