Yuliya Mitskevich Takes Charge as Belarus Social Policy Representative

Yuliya Mitskevich has been appointed Acting Representative of the United Transitional Cabinet for Social Policy, taking on a role focused on several critical issues affecting Belarusian citizens, families, women, and communities. She succeeds Volha Zazulinskaya, who has moved on to lead the Democratic Mission of Belarus in Ukraine.

In her new position, Yuliya will focus on a broad social policy agenda covering healthcare, support for Belarusian volunteers and their families in Ukraine, political prisoners, migration, and gender equality. Her portfolio brings together several areas that directly influence social welfare, human rights, family support, and the participation of women in society.

Among the priorities she has outlined, healthcare reform and access to medical support stand out as key areas of focus. Yuliya pointed to two projects that are being developed by her team: “Rayonka,” an online clinic, and an application to allow for the linkage of medical specialists who have left Belarus with those still in the country.

The initiative aims to provide an opportunity for citizens of Belarus to receive medical advice from medical personnel from other countries. The project aims to enhance the current access to healthcare through the involvement of medical experts from Belarus who are now working abroad and to connect medical experts and communities.

Yuliya also highlighted ongoing research and development of a concept for healthcare reform. The work is being undertaken jointly with the Solidarity trade union and is intended to contribute to broader discussions around the future of healthcare services and reform.

Key Highlights

• Yuliya Mitskevich has been appointed Acting Social Policy Representative
• She will focus on healthcare, migration, gender equality
• She will advance online healthcare and reform projects

Yuliya’s responsibilities extend beyond healthcare, encompassing social and humanitarian concerns that remain significant for Belarusian communities both within the country and abroad. Her stated priorities include assistance for Belarusian volunteers and their families in Ukraine, an area that connects social protection with family welfare and community support.

The release of political prisoners is another issue within her portfolio, placing human rights and social justice alongside healthcare and migration on the policy agenda. Migration, meanwhile, reflects the evolving needs of Belarusians living across borders and the importance of maintaining access to support and services.

Gender equality is also explicitly included among Yuliya’s areas of responsibility. This sets the context for women's rights and equality of women's participation in a broader social policy agenda, addressing gender concerns alongside health, migration, family care and social welfare more generally.

Yuliya's appointment is a welcome addition to the growing need to pay attention to both urgent human needs and institutional reform in social policy. Her portfolio brings together healthcare accessibility, family assistance, migration, gender equality, and human rights, giving her role a broad social impact.

Yuliya is involved in several projects, including “Rayonka” and the healthcare reform project, which seek to help increase access to basic services, and to share knowledge with professionals from outside Belarus. Her work also demonstrates the interrelationships of social policies, as health, family welfare, migration, gender equality and human rights are all becoming more linked.

As her priorities are at the core of her mandate, Yuliya Mitskevich will be instrumental in the development of social policy agendas to meet the needs of communities in Belarus and to further debates on healthcare, equality and social protection.