Kochanova: the state provides every citizen with social guarantees and opportunities for self-realisation

The Belarusian state provides every citizen with social guarantees and opportunities for self-realisation – as noted by Chairperson of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly Natalya Kochanova during the thematic meeting – Conversation about Important Issues: A Happy Family is a Strong State – which has taken place today at Polotsk’s St. Sophia Cathedral

She spoke about the peculiarities of this event, “This is a joint initiative of the Council of the Republic and the Belarusian Orthodox Church, which is being implemented for the first time and is dedicated to strengthening the status of the family and popularising traditional values as an integral condition for maintaining sovereignty, ensuring further sustainable development and prosperity of the Republic of Belarus. Our Conversation about Important Issues is not a festive event. With such a broad representation, we need to thoroughly discuss the challenges of our time and develop effective proposals to overcome them. Moreover, the main thing is to formulate a roadmap for further joint actions to implement the family policy of our country.”

Natalya Kochanova recalled that on January 28th, 2022, in his Annual Address to the Belarusian People and the National Assembly, the President of Belarus outlined the principles of the social policy of our state: justice, responsibility and care. The Speaker of the Council of the Republic added, “The priority of Belarus’ state family policy was clearly defined by our national leader during the 6th Belarusian People’s Congress: ‘a fully-fledged classical family with two or more children should be the lifestyle of Belarusians’. The Belarusian state provides every citizen with social guarantees and opportunities for self-realisation. However, being in the very heart of Europe, Belarus cannot help but feel the trends inherent in many countries around the world: later marriage and later birth of the first child, indecision in having a second child, growing demographic imbalance, aging population, migration... Obviously, the reason for this lies not at all in living conditions and the opportunities provided by the state, but in changes in worldviews and the psychology of people.”