The best NGOs of the republic were awarded in Karaganda

In Karaganda, the Kazakh Drama Theater named after S. Seifullin honored the best representatives of the civil sector of the country.

This year, 54 NGOs from different regions of the country became laureates of the award for their contribution to solving social problems. The winners of the contest were congratulated by the Minister of Information and Public Development Darkhan Kydyrali, Acting Akim of the Karaganda region Zhenis Kasymbek.

– Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in his Message to the People of Kazakhstan announced a new direction of socio-political reforms in the country. This includes strengthening the role of civil society institutions. Non-governmental organizations strengthen the connection between the people and the authorities, contribute to the formation of public dialogue. One of our goals is to support social initiatives," Darkhan Kydyrali said. – Thanks to the transformation of project cooperation, the number of NGOs has increased 5 times – up to 23 thousand. The volume of social order has increased in all regions.

Zhenis Kasymbek addressed the laureates of the prize with words of greeting.

– You participate in solving the problems of youth, children, large and low-income families, people with disabilities, help to consider issues of education, healthy lifestyle. This is a clear evidence of high civic consciousness in our society," the head of the region stressed.

It was noted that NGOs have become more active in providing support to socially vulnerable citizens. This year, a record number of applications were received in this nomination, 12 organizations received the award.

The non-governmental sector contributes to the strengthening of social harmony and national unity. Among the awardees in this nomination is the Karaganda Conflict Resolution Center "Dialogue".

– We have been working on the development of the mediation institute for many years. We have accumulated a lot of experience in this direction. We have launched a school of young mediators, where children learn to solve emerging conflicts in the school environment. This year, we additionally engaged in the preservation of historical and cultural heritage. At the request of the citizens, they studied the history of the unique building of the Kazakh drama theater in the old part of the city and released a documentary. We will continue this work. Now we are doing an examination to identify the cultural value of the oldest building. We have prepared a project to create an open–air museum, for this we need to preserve the building, and build a creative space around it," said Ivan Savitsky, coordinator and project manager of the Dialog Conflict Resolution Center.

The award ceremony ended with a concert with the participation of Karaganda artists.

Photo by Yerkebulan Khadylbek