Year theme in Belarus

History of the tradition to choose a theme for each year in Belarus.

The tradition of dedicating a year to a specific theme emerged in independent Belarus in 2002. In support of the initiative of public associations, the government named 2002 the Year of Taras Shevchenko. President of the Republic of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko declared the year 2003 the Year of Order and Improvement. After that, the joint board of ministries of Belarus and Russia named 2004 the Year of Culture of the Republic of Belarus in the Russian Federation, and 2005 the Year of Culture of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Belarus.

This tradition began to gain traction and increase its scale. Since 2006, the themes of the year have been declared exclusively by presidential decrees. They are meant to highlight important areas of social and public life, to underscore key issues and aspirations, consolidate the population, and to help address problems that are relevant at each stage of Belarus’ development.

2006 – Year of Mother
2007 – Year of Child
2008 – Year of Health
2009 – Year of Native Land
2010 – Year of Quality
2011 – Year of Entrepreneurship
2012 – Year of Book
2013 – Year of Thrift
2014 – Year of Hospitality
2015 – Year of Youth
2016 – Year of Culture
2017 – Year of Science
2018, 2019, 2020 – Year of Hometown (Trilogy of Hometown)
2021 – Year of People’s Unity
2022 – Year of Historical Memory
2023 – Year of Peace and Creation
2024 – Year of Quality

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