«This is not just a meeting. It is a dialogue about the future, about preserving the heart of our country — rural territories,» the speaker noted, welcoming representatives of 118 districts of the country.

Igor Sergeyenko pointed out that every woman at the forum has her own interesting life, family history, and unique experience. Some have traded the city’s pace for life in the countryside. There are also mothers of large families among the participants, many of whom have received state and ministerial awards.

«Despite your various backgrounds, you are united by one thing — love for our country and your homeland, and the desire to make life in the village brighter, more interesting, and more comfortable,» Igor Sergeyenko stated.

The speaker noted that in rural areas, it is women who keep the agricultural sector, education, healthcare, culture, trade, and village executive committees running. The committees also handle administrative and organizational matters in villages.

«Working in various fields, you are deeply immersed in the local issues, you see the problems and perfectly understand that the sustainable development of our country depends on every person. The pace for the years ahead is set: it is a time for concrete action. From each of you in your workplace,» Igor Sergeyenko added.

Addressing the forum participants, the speaker emphasized that they have much to offer the state and society. «You are active people capable of uniting society, finding a balance between traditions and innovations, developing initiatives born from the land itself, and, most importantly, implementing them for the benefit of the country,» he said.

The chairman of the House of Representatives also noted the role of rural women in history, pointing out that it changed dramatically after the October Revolution. The role of women expanded beyond the household; she became an active participant in social and political life, collectivization, and production.

During the Great Patriotic War, women replaced men who had gone to the front: they ploughed the land, sowed, harvested crops, and worked on tractors and farms. Hundreds of thousands of women showed heroism by participating in the partisan movement and underground resistance, fighting the enemy at the front alongside men. Women played a crucial role in the post-war reconstruction of the countryside.

«Today, no professional goal is beyond your reach. Belarusian women make up more than half of the employed population. Our compatriots are proving their leadership potential every day. In the House of Representatives alone, women hold more than 35% of the seats, which is higher than the global average,» the chairman of the House of Representatives noted.

Overall, the share of women in leadership positions in Belarus holds steady at a parity level of 50%, the speaker added.

The chairman of the House of Representatives then referred to the words of the head of state. He emphasized that Aleksandr Lukashenko has repeatedly noted that rural development is not a matter of convenience or fashion, but the foundation of the state’s stability. «Our roots — both spiritual and material — are in the village,» the president stressed. «A Belarusian’s sense of stability and confidence in themselves and their future stems from an unbreakable bond with their native place. The village is more than a piece of land — it is a civilization in its own right. Our own Belarusian civilization.»

«Hence the task for the entire vertical of power and civil society is to create conditions where living and working in agrotowns and other small settlements will be comfortable, promising, and worthwhile,» Igor Sergeyenko noted. «The social and economic development program for the current five-year period places special emphasis on equalizing the economic potential of regions and eliminating demographic, personnel, and infrastructure imbalances. Put simply, the key goal is to make the very idea of a ‘remote rural backwater’ vanish from the Belarusian vocabulary within the foreseeable future.»

The speaker stressed that professional career opportunities and living conditions in all corners of the country should be no worse — and perhaps even better — than in large cities. That is why the theme of the village was raised at the Belarusian People’s Congress, around which the understanding of the nation’s future is now being built — from the economy and food security to the development of human potential and the preservation of national identity.

The forum is organized in accordance with the national action plan for the Year of the Belarusian Woman 2026. The event organizer is the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus with the support of the regional executive committees and the Ministry of Culture.

In the foyer of the Oval Hall, an exhibition titled as Tenderness of the Belarusian Land is in Women’s Hands is on display. The exposition aims to highlight the role of women living in rural areas who, by their example, contribute to the development of the village.