The Belarus Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP) inception workshop was organized in Minsk, Belarus, on 17-18 July within the framework of the Greening Economies in the Eastern Neighbourhood (EaP GREEN) Programme, which is financed by the European Commission and other donors, and implemented by four partner organizations: OECD, UNECE, UNEP and UNIDO. UNEP is leading, among others, the implementation of the component “Promoting public consumption changes through SPP practices”. Under this component, UNEP provides support for the EaP countries to develop and implement SPP policies and by increasing awareness and building the capacities of policy makers and procurement managers of the region.

The overall objective of the workshop was to launch the country-level SPP activities in Belarus and enhance synergies between SPP and eco-labelling. Participants could hear about the benefits of SPP; the challenges of SPP implementation and what it means at country-level. In addition, a training was given on the UNEP SPP approach and on the contribution of eco-labelling to SPP implementation.

Furthermore, a Steering Committee was established. This committee will be led by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Trade of Belarus. It will be the role of the Steering Committee, among others, to monitor the progress of implementation of SPP activities and approve the deliverables of the project. Thirty nine participants from different organizations attended the workshop, including representatives from several ministries of Belarus (Natural Resources, Foreign Affairs, Economy, Commerce, Agriculture and Food Industry, Energy, Architecture and Construction), UNDP, the delegation of the EU in Belarus, businesses and other relevant stakeholders.

More information: rie.tsutsumi@unep.org