By Marta Pejda, East European Democratic Centre, Warsaw

(September 2005)

There are around one thousand non-governmental organisations in Belarus. More than half of these NGOs work in the broad field of culture and education: most are unregistered associations, centres, civic initiatives and informal clubs and groups. Organisations established for the prime function of bringing out newspapers and magazines are included among the registered organisations; these tend to be foundations.

As a consequence of difficulties with the authorities and the lack of reliable financial support, the Belarusian third sector is rather unprofessional, unstable and weak in comparison with the third sectors of other countries. On the other hand, the past ten years have seen many NGO activists participate in courses and seminars run by foreign organisations, so that now there is a group of activists that have been professionally trained.

Generally speaking, cultural NGOs have no significant influence on the political or social situation in the country. In the present political environment they cannot become official partners to other sectors. Most people engaged in the third sector are young and at the start of their professional careers: after a few years of voluntary or badly paid employment, they tend to move to a different sector (small business, mainly) or else emigrate. Sometimes, especially in the provinces, NGOs attempt to cooperate with local authorities, but rarely successfully, due to the authorities’ lack of interest, legal restrictions on the activities of unregistered organisations, official ‘ideological instructions’, and so on. As they do not have a legal and material basis for their work, the impact of their activities is limited – more so since they cannot access the mass media or officially organise large-scale events.

The distribution of NGOs in Belarus generally reflects the country’s ‘structure’: the strongest, most active and stable organisations are located in the big cities (the six regional centres), while there are many small, informal and short-term initiatives in the provinces. And just as there is much more social activity in the west of the country, so there is a smaller number of NGOs in the eastern regions.

The main problem facing Belarusian culture – and also the main obstacle to third sector development – is the absence of state support. Moreover, the authorities actively pursue a policy of monopolising culture and information and eliminating independent manifestations of these, blocking access to all alternatives, either non-governmental or foreign. The Belarusian language and Belarusian national culture are discriminated against; the country’s history is being falsified; and 'state ideology' courses (i.e. the regime's propaganda) have been introduced in all high schools and institutes.

This situation has two basic consequences, both pleasing to the authorities. First of all, being deprived of access to free, independent information and culture makes people cowed and disenfranchised, with little sense of national identity, and feeling isolated from the wider European context; suppressed and manipulated, at times they may not even consider this situation to be unusual; unable to safeguard their rights, they focus instead on maintaining their material status and are afraid of any resistance or protest. Secondly, the lack of a market for Belarusian culture – due to people’s ignorance of their national culture and inability to speak Belarusian – means that there is a preference for mass-produced Russian products, cheap, popular and low in quality. There is no original Belarusian mass culture that might influence contemporary society, instilling in young people a respect and love for their native language and country. Instead, the authorities artificially reanimate Soviet sentiments. Hence, Belarusians often express nostalgia for the Soviet Union and identify themselves as 'Soviet men'.

There are several administrative ways of maintaining the status quo. All kinds of social and cultural activity require official registration and licences, thus bringing them substantially under control, not least financially. Individuals and NGOs that cannot become legal entities face many obstacles in pursuing their cultural activity: they cannot officially rent space for events; cannot publish, distribute or sell any printed material; cannot organise gatherings, etc. Even the receipt of foreign material or financial support is strongly controlled – i.e. forbidden – by the State. ‘Inconvenient’ organisations (which means those that are too independent) are closed down.

In this situation, the most active cultural organisations in Belarus are foreign cultural institutes that are affiliated to embassies (e.g. the Goethe Institute, the Polish Institute and the cultural programmes of the embassies of France, Sweden and Italy). Not so strongly dependent on the Belarusian authorities, these do not run the risk of being liquidated. Belarusian organisations (partisans, in effect) must remain underground, their activities unable to be safely promoted to a wider audience.

The following mapping presents fifteen non-governmental, independent Belarusian organisations: associations, societies and the magazines they issue. All have been in existence for at least three years, and have participated in international projects or established professional contacts abroad. They have succeeded in attracting their own audiences, are quite well known, and – most importantly – they have the potential to exert an influence in the sphere of culture and education, becoming an alternative to official institutions and the mass media. Considering their stability and the success of their activities, these NGOs can be recommended as serious, interesting and reliable partners for joint programmes and international projects.

You can read more about the situation facing Belarusian culture in the following texts by Belarusian authors:

Andrej Jekadumau

http://www.eedc.org.pl/eng/www/glosy/jekadumau.htm

Ales Ancipienka

http://baj.ru/belkalehium/analityka/eng/access.htm

Alona Areška

http://www.eedc.org.pl/eng/www/biblioteka/3sektor/05_areshka.htm

Volha Kapionkina

http://www.eedc.org.pl/eng/www/biblioteka/3sektor/04_kopyonkina.htm

Vaclau Areška

http://www.eedc.org.pl/eng/www/biblioteka/3sektor/03_areshka.htm