One of the areas of foreign policy of the Republic of Belarus is the participation in the work of universal and specialized, global and regional international organisations and integration groups. Belarus is a founder of the United Nations and a member of such international organisations as the UNESCO, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the World Health Organisation, and many others.
Many Belarusian famous people are related to the international organizations. For example world-famous Belarusian tennis player, Olympic champion Max Mirnyi was appointed a United Nations Children’s Fund Belarus Ambassador. Three-time Olympic champion biathlete Darya Domracheva has been appointed UNDP Goodwill Ambassador in Belarus.
The Republic of Belarus hosts a lot of international events. The International Arts Festival Slavyanski Bazaar is an annual festival held in Vitebsk. It was designed to introduce city residents and guests to Slavonic song folklore. The International
Song Contest in Vitebsk has been the highlight of the festival since 1992. Also such festivals and events as The Minsk International Film Festival “Listapad”, Minsk Book Fair and The International IT Forum “TIBO EXPO” should be mentioned.
Heritage is our gift from the past, what we live with today, and what we pass on to future generations. Our cultural and natural heritage are both irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration. Many Belarusian architectural monuments and cultural figures are acknowledged global treasures. Sixty years ago, Belarus joined UNESCO. At the moment, UNESCO’s prestigious World Heritage List includes the Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park, the Mir Castle Complex, an architectural-cultural complex of the Radziwills’ former residence in Nesvizh, and the Struve Arc. In 2009, the unique Belarusian rite of the Kolyady Tsars, which is performed only in the village of Semezhevo (Kopyl District, Minsk Oblast), was added to the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
UNESCO Associated Schools (ASPnet) was initiated by UNESCO in 1953. There are about 8500 UNESCO Associated Schools in 180 countries in the world today.Our gymnasium has been a UNESCO Associated School since 1984. Students have the opportunity to learn different foreign languages: English, Chinese, Polish and others. The gymnasium enables international cooperation with many countries. The gymnasium fruitfully cooperates with schools and gymnasiums in Poland, Lithuania and Russia. Every year students of our gymnasium take part in various international contests, Olympiads and sport competitions.
In the vast universe, we were born on this planet called Earth, where various cultures and ethnicities, all living things, and all of nature exist together. However, in our world today, we face numerous problems – environmental destruction, resource depletion, wars and conflicts, poverty, and many more – that make our future uncertain. That’s why international contacts and cooperation should work for peace, security and sustainable development of our planet.
