Our history

The Młoda Białoruś Foundation supports social engagement and civic initiatives, while also providing informational assistance for Belarusians adapting to life in Poland. We organise and conduct social and educational campaigns, develop training programmes, and expand access to knowledge in the fields of local activism and ecology. We regularly produce and distribute informational materials, offer mentoring for grassroots groups, and support the development of local communities so they can independently address problems in their cities and neighbourhoods.

An important part of our work is sharing and promoting Polish experience in urban development, social initiatives, self-governance, ecology and inclusion. Our aim is to ensure that Belarusian communities can learn from existing models, adapt them to local conditions, and implement similar projects independently.

The Młoda Białoruś Foundation provided support to more than 500 people who found themselves in difficult life circumstances and were affected by the events in the country in 2020. The organisation offered consultation, informational assistance and transport support to those who required it. Through cooperation with Polish partners, over 100 individuals received essential medical treatment in Poland. For people with severe injuries, separate crowdfunding campaigns were organised via online platforms and social media.

In December, the documentary “Life After: 9 Stories” was released, featuring personal testimonies of individuals who experienced significant hardship and were searching for ways to rebuild their lives. The film received over 50,000 views on YouTube, demonstrating high public interest in recovery stories and personal experiences.

Support was given to a number of local initiatives dealing with solving social problems. Educational activities were organized to help people learn to solve local problems on their own, organize work in their local community and build horizontal connections.

In August 2019, the organization’s activists and local residents achieved the closure of the Prudzischa landfill. The social campaign was conducted for 3 consecutive years.

As a result of work in the social direction, several local communities appeared, which were united into a resource center for public initiatives.

The organisation’s team helped residents of the Chyzhouka district in Minsk prevent new residential construction planned on the site of a children’s playground.

A campaign was also initiated to advocate for the closure of the TBA Prudzišča waste site in Minsk, located near the Loshytsa and Chyzhouka neighbourhoods.

“Young Belarus” focused its work on the social direction. This decision was made on the basis of the requests of the beneficiaries. People expressed dissatisfaction with social aspects during various election campaigns. The organization began to help residents of Belarusian cities and towns to solve various problems.

At the same time, “Young Belarus” took part in the independent monitoring of the presidential elections as part of the “For Fair Elections” campaign.

The organization participated in independent monitoring of local elections as part of the “For Fair Elections” campaign. Independent observers recorded more than 50 different violations.

The “Young Belarus” movement took part in the Freedom Day action. In addition to the main topic, the action was aimed at supporting Ukraine after the start of the war in Donbass.

The “Young Belarus” organization registered a foundation called “Młoda Białoruś” in Poland.

About 20 candidates were nominated. Independent monitoring was also organized as part of the “For Fair Elections” campaign.

In the period after the elections, the organization conducted its own activities. On March 25, on the occasion of Freedom Day, activists of “Young Belarus” raised over 20 white-red-white flags in various parts of the country.

The organization took part in the elections to the local Councils of Deputies of Belarus. “Young Belarus” nominated 38 candidates.

The movement joined the presidential election campaign. More than 120 members of “Young Belarus” joined the initiative groups of presidential candidates Ales Mikhalevich and Ryhor Kastusev and collected more than 12,000 signatures in their support, participated in the distribution of materials, pickets in support of the candidates, meetings with voters.

“Young Belarus” organized independent monitoring of the elections as part of the “For Fair Elections” campaign. The organization has allocated more than 100 observers.

Carrying out the nationwide campaign “For independent Belarus!”. The campaign was aimed at popularizing the national symbols (the white-red-white flag and the “Chase” coat of arms) and the concept of the country’s independence. The campaign was conducted for 5 months, starting from November 3, 2009, and took place in 40 cities of Belarus.

The organization took part in general public events and held its own actions.

The movement was officially founded on September 28, 2008, the day of parliamentary elections in Belarus. The idea of ​​creating a youth movement belongs to Artur Finkevich, a former political prisoner and former deputy chairman of the “Young Front” youth movement. The name “Young Belarus” first appeared in 2004. This was the name of the pre-election block created before the parliamentary elections in Belarus. Artur Finkevich was then one of the leaders of the aforementioned pre-election block.