OREANDA-NEWS. June 09, 2010. The winners of the Contest of Project Ideas were 35 organizations from the Vetka, Zhitkovichi, Khoiniki and Buda-Koshelevo Regions, Gomel Oblast. The total funding will exceed USD 0.5 million.

The contest was held as part of the EU/UNDP action “Combat the Negative Effects of Chernobyl Disaster in Belarus”.

The most interesting and economically viable project initiatives have been selected out of 80 project ideas by a commission made up of representatives of the UNDP, EU, Emergencies Ministry, oblast and regional authorities.

The project ideas are aimed at tackling social, economic and environmental problems, addressing the issues related to employment, economic development and safe living in the project districts.

“We are happy that the number of applications has surpassed our expectations. This shows that local residents are willing to take part in the work on addressing the problems of their regions,” Andrei Pinigin, EU/UNDP project manager said.

The first seminar for the winners of the contest was held in early June. Implementing project initiatives will be the first-time experience for many of its participants. Therefore the need in educational seminars is obvious. The winners of the contest will attend seminars in small and medium-sized business and in raising the financial assistance of international donors.

The EU/UNDP action “Combat the Negative Effects of Chernobyl Disaster in Belarus” was launched in July 2009. It is aimed to encourage local residents to take part in the work on addressing the social and economic problems facing the Chernobyl-affected regions and to provide support to most vulnerable sections of the society.