The Brussels-based Office for a Democratic Belarus is a non-profit organization run by Belarusians living abroad. The Office’s task is to strengthen ties between the Belarusian pro-democratic groups, including NGOs, political parties and the Belarusian independent media, and the EU institutions, the Council of Europe, NATO, the United Nations, international human rights groups and international press.
Structure of the Organization
The Office’s work is coordinated by the Executive Board. The International Consortium of the organization supports Belarus-related activities and events, develops communication and networking capacity, as well as provides technical and information assistance.
Members of the International Consortium and Partner Organizations based outside Belarus
Current Activities and Plans for 2008
The Office for a Democratic Belarus is actively engaged into activities related to information exchange, consultations and coordination of efforts on Belarus. Members of the organization carry out frequent meetings with representatives of the European Commission, the European Parliament and the EU Council, as well as main international organizations. ODB regularly organizes visits of the Belarusian civil society and political party members to Brussels, Strasbourg and other key European cities with the aim of raising awareness about Belarus and provide opportunity for both sides to exchange information and ideas through personal meetings.
ODB frequently initiates and co-organizes round tables, conferences and open forums on Belarus-related issues. As part of its information campaign, the Office issues an electronic bi-weekly English-language newsletter, the Belarus Headlines. Another bulletin, developed for the Belarusian audience, is called “Naviny dlya Belarusi” and includes information from the EU countries that is connected to events in Belarus.
With the active support of the German Robert Bosch Stiftung and in cooperation with some other partner groups, ODB is able to promote Belarusian culture through organization of exhibitions and concerts, Belarusian movie evening and literature readings. In addition, web-site of the Office contains a Cultural Review section. Information about cultural projects of 2007 can be found under the link Current Activities. In 2008, ODB will continue organizing cultural events in Brussels and other European cities.
One of the important directions for ODB work in 2008 will be organization of educational seminars for activists from the civil society groups and political parties in Belarus with the aim of providing detailed information about the EU, its structures and decision-making process, and the current Belarus-EU cooperation in various spheres.
When realizing its projects, the Office for a Democratic Belarus pays a lot of attention to participation of youth and women in its programs understanding the importance of strengthening their influence on the political processes in Belarus. Apart from being in close contact with Belarus-based groups, ODB engages young Belarusians living in the EU countries into its activities and encourages them to form new initiatives abroad.
