Kazakhstan Civil Society Strengthening

Situation

Of the five Central Asian countries, Kazakhstan has the strongest market economy, the most visible civil society and a long list of recorded commitments toward democratic reform. While Kazakhstan’s economic success has been well documented, the country’s democratic evolution has not kept pace. Despite holding the chairmanship of the OSCE in 2010, Kazakhstan still must makes strides to become an open, modern and democratic state.

The status of civil society organizations in Kazakhstan is stable but not flourishing. While social service civil society organizations (CSOs) enjoy a reasonable degree of freedom, and often have funding for their work from the Government of Kazakhstan, CSOs that promote democratic reform, human rights, or good governance do not have strong domestic support or adequate local resources for their work and are heavily reliant on international donors.

What We Do

The Kazakhstan Civil Society Strengthening (KCSS) is a three year program funded by USAID with the goal of increasing Kazakhstan’s leading national-level civil society organizations’ (CSOs) capacity to conduct their operations and be better equipped to represent the interests of their constituencies to government.

The program is framed by four main objectives:

1. Increase the financial and organizational capacity of selected CSOs
2. Increase constructive dialogue between the selected CSOs and the Government of Kazakhstan
3. Increase CSO participation in reforming the social contract process in Kazakhstan
4. Strengthen the capacity of selected CSOs to mobilize social capital and leverage mass media resources

To meet the goal and objectives, KCSS is focusing on 12 local partner organizations with a commitment to organizational strengthening and stability. KCSS partner organizations are mature, national-level CSOs, and KCSS provides technical training to them in the areas of management, reporting, monitoring and evaluation, finance, public dialogue, advocacy, and public outreach. This training and technical assistance is also supplemented by grants that will allow selected CSOs to conduct activities using their acquired skills and knowledge.

KCSS also works with CSOs to improve government-citizen dialogue in Kazakhstan, with a particular focus on the Social Contracting Law and its impact on CSOs. In particular, KCSS plans to produce technical guides on the application of the law and how CSOs can procure social contract funds. In addition, focus groups, government dialogues, and working conferences have been held to address issues with the New Social Contracting Law.

A final component of the KCSS program is strengthening the ability of CSOs to mobilize social capital and leverage mass media resources. This includes the introduction of new technology for improved CSO capacity and working with CSOs, to enhance their knowledge and information management. It also means developing strategies to promote CSO activities and for CSOs to attract and retain high-quality volunteers.