On 30 October – 1 November 2013 UNHCR Belarus held the seminar «Decision-making process in refugee status determination procedure». The event was carried out within the framework of the project “Asylum Systems Quality Initiative in Eastern Europe and South Caucasus”. The representatives of the Department on Citizenship and Migration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus and its regional sub-detachments took part in the event. The main purpose of the seminar was to improve the quality of individual asylum claims’ assessment conducted by state asylum authorities, ensure fair and balanced decision-making within the framework of state refugee determination (RSD) procedure as well as the fact that asylum-seekers and refugees enjoy in reality all rights provided according to the 1951 Convention and national legislation.
During the seminar Ms. 
, International RSD Specialist, went through all the elements of decision-making process and especially focused on the common challenges during review of asylum claims. The participants practiced in decision-making on the study cases prepared on the basis of real asylum claims. During the seminar particular attention was paid to the latest updates on the situation in Afghanistan and Syria as these countries are currently the main countries of origin for the majority of asylum-seekers coming to Belarus.
The project “Asylum Systems Quality Initiative in Eastern Europe and South Caucasus” is the two year project, funded by the European Union and co-funded and implemented by UNHCR. It focuses on improvement of asylum procedures and refugee protection in six countries. In addition to Belarus, the project covers Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. The initiative builds on the successes of previous projects in which UNHCR worked with asylum authorities in Europe to improve the quality of refugee status determination.