“Bridge of Friendship and Creation”: International Women’s Forum of Belarus and Russia started in Gomel

The Gomel pearl, the Rumyantsev-Paskevich Palace, became a large-scale discussion platform that brought together about 100 active residents of Belarus and Russia. The participants of the meeting discussed new formats of bilateral cooperation: from supporting motherhood, childhood and small business to preserving historical memory and patriotic education of young people.

The meeting took place in a significant period for both organizations and became a vivid symbol of the continuity of traditions. The large-scale forum was timed to significant historical milestones: the 35th anniversary of the Belarusian Union of Women and the 85th anniversary of the founding of the Union of Women of Russia.

The International Forum was opened by Yulia Yasinskaya, Deputy Chair of the BCJ, who stressed that the foundation of this large-scale event was the agreement signed two years ago with the Moscow region in Krasnogorsk. During this time, the agreements have developed into wonderful international cooperation and turned into real deeds, and the current meeting allows us to sum up the results of two years of work and outline plans for the future.

The high status of the event was set by the official greeting of the head of the region Ivan Krupko, which was read out by the Chairman of the Gomel regional organization of the BCJ, member of the Council of the Republic Lyudmila Sapego. In his address, the Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee noted that in the context of modern challenges, it is women who become the main unifying force capable of uniting society around the values of creative work, peace, mercy and family. The head of the region expressed confidence that the Gomel site will open new horizons for interregional ties and strengthen the indestructible friendship of the two peoples.

Continuing the solemn part, Lyudmila Sapego called the meeting one of the most beautiful and significant events in the symbolic Year of the Belarusian woman for the republic. Addressing the Russian delegation, the senator recalled the inextricable bond of generations:

- We are still a young organization compared to the Union of Women of Russia, but we remember that each of us today has its own homeland. But we have a common homeland, we have common roots and we have a common history. We have something to be proud of, we have something to be proud of, we have something to remember and pass on to the younger generations.

- As our distinguished President Alexander Lukashenko says, women are the most effective diplomatic weapon in the world. And where a woman touches a draft agreement, it means that the project will live on, it will have a long term and there will be many different good deeds.

The topic of women’s leadership at the state and public levels was developed by the Chairman of the Council of Deputies of Solnechnogorsk city district Marina Veremenko. In her speech, she highlighted the key role of women parliamentarians in supporting civic initiatives and strengthening the bridge of friendship between countries. Today, women’s initiatives are a powerful driver of positive changes, from preserving traditional family values to introducing innovative approaches to the economy and the environment.

The opening program was continued by speeches by representatives of the Russian Federation. Chairman of the Council of Deputies of Solnechnogorsk City District, leader of the Coordinating Council of Women Parliamentarians of the Moscow Region Marina Veremenko, on behalf of the Russian delegation, revealed the deep essence of the built creative partnership:

- Our delegation is going to Belarus not for business, but for a visit, because here we are all our own. Each of our meetings is a working formula: learn, pool resources, get results. Here, an idea can find a partner, a project can find an expert, an entrepreneur can find new connections, and initiatives can find resources. It is important for us to create such mechanisms of interaction so that each meeting becomes the beginning of a specific business, so that Russian and Belarusian women together launch cultural, educational, social and entrepreneurial projects.

The economic foundation of the partnership was outlined by representatives of business circles – General Director of the Gomel Branch of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Boris Gushchin and President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Moscow Region Lina Orlova. In the joint report “Creation and Partnership: Uniting Experience”, they explained how authoritative business associations of the two countries can substantively promote women’s entrepreneurship, help in finding reliable partners and strengthen direct cooperation ties between enterprises of the Moscow region and Gomel region.

The practical discussion of these vectors continued at the plenary session, which took place in the framework of two thematic sections.

The first part of the meeting, dedicated to the preservation of cultural code, traditions and historical memory, was opened by the Director of the Museum and Art Center of Gomel, delegate of the All-Belarusian People's Assembly Lyudmila Shimbaleva . She reminded the participants of the famous expression of President Alexander Lukashenko that culture makes Belarusian:

- I would add that culture is something we cannot take away. It is the memory of generations through which economics and politics can be explained. Exhibitions and expositions are not our only format in the name of preserving spirituality.

Lyudmila Shimbaleva shared her experience of large-scale cooperation with the Russian Federation, mentioning recent joint projects Baltic Gold with Kaliningrad, exhibitions from Magadan and Rostov-on-Don. Of particular interest was the story about the search for new ways to the heart of young people – from bright photo projects “Mythical Extremes” according to Slavic legends to acclaimed family art-picnics that gathered thousands of Gomel residents, and specialized art-therapy courses that the center conducts together with the BCJ for women in the region.

Valentina Ustimenko, Chairwoman of the Sergiev-Posad Branch of the Union of Women of Russia, shared her experience with the younger generation, and proposed to create a permanent bilateral platform “Women for the Future” to exchange best educational practices. As an example of live work with young people, the speaker cited the project “Banner of Memory”: schoolchildren near Moscow transferred the names of dead countrymen from archival books to scarlet canvases, reviving the history of their small homeland. By the way, this unique experience of the Lyubertsky branch of the UJR and its chairman Elena Verkhovs was actively picked up by other regions.

In turn, Oksana Demyanenko, the head of the Polotsk primary organization of the BSJ, emphasized the protection of traditional family values in conditions of external information pressure. She recalled that it was the students of Polotsk State University who initiated the constitutional consolidation of the norm on marriage as a union of a man and a woman at the 2022 referendum. A practical example of the connection of generations in the banking sector, the speaker called the program “Academy of Care” of Belagroprombank, aimed at financial literacy of older people.

Art also helps to convey these age-old spiritual meanings in a language that young people understand. Chairman of the Dolgoprudnen branch of the UJR, director of the professional theater "City" Jeanette Harutyunyan presented the performance "Life as a feat" created jointly with the union. The production tells about the fate of the female navigator of the dive bomber Galina Pavlovna Rubets, whose regiment was named Borisovsky for the liberation of Belarus in 1944. The speaker officially invited the Belarusian Women’s Union to show this performance in the cities of the republic on a free basis to strengthen cultural exchange.

The second section of the meeting, titled Creation, focused on applied economic and social initiatives. The experience of implementing the programs was shared here by Deputy Chairman of the United Organization of the BSJ Belagroprombank Lyudmila Violenty, who revealed the mission of women in strengthening social stability, and Head of the Ecosystem Development Department of the Bank Victoria Barisevich, who presented new joint tourist routes of the Union State. Interest was also caused by the initiative of the financial director of OJSC “Metrovagonmash” Hopes of the Reds, who proposed to launch a joint women's "Bank of ideas" - a single platform for the integration and scaling of entrepreneurial projects of the two countries.

The main result of the first day of the forum was the official signing of new cooperation agreements between women's organizations, the Gomel branch of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Moscow Region Chamber of Commerce and Industry. This made it possible to consolidate the agreements reached, outline specific plans for next year and give impetus to the development of interaction of the Gomel region with urban districts of the Moscow region. The program of the second day of the meeting will be fully devoted to legislative initiatives of the women’s movement.

The solemn conclusion of the program was a ceremony at which the United Organization of the BCJ of OJSC “Belagroprombank” presented letters of gratitude and commemorative coins for their contribution to the formation and strengthening of the institution of women’s diplomacy. Merited awards from the Belarusian side were received by key representatives of the leadership and coordination council of the Moscow regional branch of the Union of Women of Russia.

Separately, at the ceremony, the assets of the United Organization of OJSC “Belagroprombank” of OJSC “BSJ” were noted, whose representatives made a significant contribution to the development of the Union and the strengthening of interregional ties.