Feminist movement embraces widely vary­ing organizations, people, and ideas. It is not a political party or organization, it is movement - a series of campaigns for reforms on issues such as reproductive rights, domestic violence, maternity leave, equal pay, voting rights, sexual harassment, and sexual violence. The goals of the movement vary from country to country. Some are moderate; some are radical. All are concerned with changing the role of women in contemporary society.
They want absolute equality with men - in marriage, in the workplace, in politics.

Aims
husbands and wives to share all the work and responsibilities of a home and a family.
women and men to have the same jobs and the same chance to succeed.
women to be paid just as much as men for the same work
Women may keep their maiden names after marriage, to maintain personal identity
Having children must be a free choice for both men and women
The work of raising children must be shared equally by the mother and father

The movement's history has gone through three waves, beginning in the 18th century. The first wave was oriented around the station of middle or upper-class white women, and involved suffrage and political equality. Second-wave feminism attempted to further combat social and cultural inequalities. Third-Wave feminism starting in 1980-to early 1990s includes renewed campaigning for women’s greater influence in politics.

Florence Nightingale whose conviction that women had all the potential of men but none of the opportunities drove her to a career that would make her a national figure as a scientist and administrator even if the popular image of her at the time emphasized her feminine virtues more. The paradox of the gulf between the achievements which we recognize now, and how she was portrayed underline the plight that women of talent and determination faced during the mid-1850s.

Adams, Abigail (1744-1818). Adams was a prolific writer, patriot, abolitionist, and early feminist. In her famous correspondence to her husband, she spoke eloquently against slavery, many years before the abolitionist movement, and on behalf of women.

Bloomer, Amelia Jenks (1818-94). Social reformer. Born in Homer, N.Y. Active as speaker and writer for women's rights. Editor of the Lily, which was believed to be the first newspaper edited entirely by a woman. Involved in dress reform through her defense of pantaloons, which came to be called "bloomers."

Sanger, Margaret (9/14/1883-9/6/1966). Birth control pioneer who first worked as a nurse, where she witnessed first-hand the health hazards of unwanted pregnancy. Her fifty year crusade to educate women about birth control resulted in numerous arrests on charges of obscenity and the founding of what was to become the Planned Parenthood Federation. Sanger also published numerous pamphlets and magazines, among them Woman Rebel, a monthly magazine, Family Limitation, a pamphlet of contraceptive advice, and The Birth Control Review. Additionally, Sanger wrote several books, including Women, Morality and Birth Control; My Fight for Birth Control, and Margaret Sanger: An Autobiography.

Statistics
53% of the Belarusian population are woman. Nevertheless, 87% of the highranking managers in government structures are none of the permanent comissions of the House of the Representatives of the national Assembly are headed by woman. Investments in gender equality policies will increase the influence of women in government. Among people under 45, 24% of working women and 19 % of working men have higher education. Nonetheless, women make up 68 % of officially unemployed. In 1999 20% of the employers were woman and 80 % men. According to official statistics, the average salary of women was 80 % of men's, which is higher than in many developed countries. This can be explained by the high level of the education of women. In 2002 , women made up 4/5 out of working force in secondary schools. At the same time, only 49 % heldpositions of the school directors.

Women in Development/Center Information Centre (1995 - 1997)

Support to Expanding Public Space for Women in Belarus (2002 - 2005)

The strategic goal of the project was to expand women’s access to the decision-making in social, political, legislative, and professional spheres. Gender equality can be attained by providing the corresponding training to women, rendering governmental support to them and overcoming the traditional discriminative stereotypes that exist in the society. The project offered to solve the problem through a complex of measures that fall into three main directions: educational programs, cooperation with the government and work with the mass media.

Moving Gender Equality to the Center of the Development Work (2005 - 2006)
The project was aimed at developing in–house and in–country capacity to mainstream gender concerns in all UNDP practice areas and country programmes through:
- Extending gender training to all UN/UNDP staff and partner organizations;
- Developing a CO gender mainstreaming strategy;
- Establishing a UN interagency gender theme group and facilitating the activities of the National Gender Policy Council;
- Creating a gender mainstreaming knowledge platform and sharing it with other experience with the regional Gender Community of practice.