Belarusian Public Association of Veterans

Public organizations in Belarus play an important role in the formation of the modern civil society. The Belarusian Public Association of Veterans (BPAV) takes an active part in the social and political life of the country.

The political and public activities of participants of the Great Patriotic War date back to the 1950-1960s when the committees of war veterans began to be formed. But the process of merging them into a single organization was completed only in December 1986.

The Belarusian Public Association of Veterans was established on 27 March 1987 when the first conference adopted its charter and Anatoly Andreyev was elected head of the organization.

After Belarus declared its independence in 1991, the veterans' organization continued its activities to advocate the legal rights of veterans (pensioners) and to ensure their decent position in the society.

At present the BPAV unites about 2.5 million veterans and has its own organizational units in all cities of Belarus. The Association consists of the most active part of veterans, whose experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities benefit the Republic of Belarus. Many members of the organization have been awarded state awards.

Main activities of the BPAV:

protection of the rights and freedoms of veterans, active participation in the social and political life of the republic;
participation in the development of state legal acts and programs for social protection of veterans, improvement of their financial conditions, housing conditions, medical, cultural, and other types of services;
active participation in patriotic education of young people.

Members of the organization carry out significant work to preserve the historical memory about the Great Patriotic War, perpetuate the memory of the fallen and missing soldiers and officers. The BPAV members actively participate in the exploratory work conducted in the country. Moreover, the Association is one of the organizers of the annual requiem rallies held at the memorial complexes Brest Fortress and Buinichi Field or devoted to the Day of National Memory of Victims of the Great Patriotic War, events commemorating the fight of the partisans of Belarus, Russia, and Latvia against the Nazi at the memorial Mound of Friendship in Verkhnedvinsk District and Sebezh District, Russia.

Since 1995 the BPAV has been one of the organizers of the national festival of veteran folk art "Veterans` souls are young forever", and the national singing competition among veterans "Victory songs" since 2010.

International cooperation represents an important part of the Association’s work. Within the framework of the international union Commonwealth of Public Organizations of Veterans of Independent States the BPAV organizes and carries out a number of events with veterans from other countries for the sake of preserving the historical truth about the war, strengthening peace and security, and preventing international conflicts and wars.

The activities of the Association are highly valued by the state. The Association received the President’s For Spiritual Revival Award in 2020 in line with the relevant presidential decree in recognition of vigorous humanitarian activities meant to help veterans and perpetuate the memory of the Great Patriotic War.