On December 12, 2011 the event devoted to the 60th anniversary of the UNHCR and the 50th anniversary of the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness took place. The conference included the presentation of the books, published in the framework of the EU — UNHCR joint projects “Local integration of refugees in Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine (Phase I)” and “Strengthening Protection Capacity in the Republic of Belarus”. The representatives of UNHCR Office in the Republic of Belarus, the State Border Committee, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and other governmental bodies took part in the event. Journalists observing this issue in mass media were also invited.
The event was opened by the chairman of the Observation Board of the IPA “Evolutio”, Dean of the Faculty of International Relations of BSU, Viktor Shadurski. He stressed the importance of the event, told about the series of publications, edited by IPA “Evolutio”, and expressed his gratitude to all the participants for their help. Then Sholeh Safavi, the representative of UNHCR Office in the Republic of Belarus, made her speech. She touched the aspects of legal protection of refugees and stateless persons. Also the Head of the Department of International Cooperation of the State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus Juri Fedorov and Deputy Chief of the Department on Citizenship and Migration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus Sergey Matus introduced their speech on the topics of the event.
Then Andrey Selivanov, the head of the IPA “Evolutio”, showed the presentation of publications published in 2007—2011. Also the film “Refugees in Belarus” (prepared in the framework of the project “Local integration of refugees in Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine”) was demonstrated on the event.
The next part was devoted to the speech made by T. Solodkov, Protection Officer of UNHCR Office in the Republic of Belarus. He presented information, where he touched the main tendencies in the development of statelessness and ways of improving the situation.
Awarding of the journalists — winners of the contest on the best material in mass media in 2011 devoted to “Integration of Refugees in Belarus: Problems and Prospects” — also was the part of the event. Elena Prus, the journalist in the electronic resource BelTA, Veronika Filipovich, the journalist of the “Joint Editorial of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus” and Marina Kasianova and Olga Mazepa from TV and Radio Company “Mogilev” were seen among the winners. The other journalists were awarded with consolation prizes and commemorative diplomas.