The first day of the X Civil Forum: from the SDGs to security in the world

The 5-day anniversary Civil Forum “30 years of Partnership in the interests of sustainable development of society and the State" has started today.

The first day of panel sessions and discussion platforms was held under the auspices of "Human Centrality - the priority of the State of the future", dedicated to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, national human rights institutions, and the fight against human trafficking. The issues of safety, ecology, health, education were also discussed.

The events of the first day were attended by such prominent figures of Kazakhstan as deputies of the Majilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan D. Mynbai, A.Kuspan, I.Unzhakova, E.Abakanov, L.Ramazanova, OSCE Representative Diana Digol, Director of the KIBHR Zhovtis Evgeniy, Deputy Permanent Representative of UNDP in Kazakhstan Vremish Vitaly, Ambassador-at-Large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Suleyman Usen, Commissioner for Human Rights in the Republic of Kazakhstan Asimova Elvira, leaders of Kazakhstani NGOs and public figures Marat Bashimov, Aigul Solovyova, Didar Smagulov, Murat Abenov, Nadezhda Petukhova, Bakhyt Tumenova, Nurken Halykbergen and others.

During the first discussion, the participants outlined the main strategic guidelines in the context of Kazakhstan's implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

During the expert discussion on the topic “National human rights institutions - the foundation of human rights”, the participants noted that the activities of various existing and emerging specialized human rights organizations should be supported by strengthening them institutionally and functionally in accordance with the Paris Principles.

The participants also drew attention to the fact that in Kazakhstan the topic of combating human trafficking is urgent and requires more systematic participation in solving the problem on the part of the state, civil society and the media.

The OSCE panel session "Women. The World. Security". The speakers noted that in order to achieve the goals, stereotypes should be eliminated, the involvement of women in the decision-making process should be mandatory. In their opinion, gender aspects should be incorporated into the curricula of universities.

According to the participants of the foresight session "Ecology: Challenges. Innovative solutions”, there is a difficult situation regarding the implementation by industrial enterprises of the provisions of the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the field of environmental safety, there is little contact on their part with NGOs to solve existing problems.

Separately, the issues of a new paradigm of healthcare in modern society were considered. During the discussion, the following recommendations were voiced: the study by university and college students of the basics of prevention of noncommunicable diseases, their risk factors and the involvement of students in the volunteer movement during the rise of morbidity; the creation of favorable working conditions and benefits for further training of young professionals working in rural areas; providing opportunities for their training in advanced medical clinics; scientific support and development of recommendations for effective rehabilitation of schoolchildren and adolescents.

A separate topic was the discussion about quality education as the basis of sustainable development of society. According to the speakers, academic freedom in universities requires revision. "Despite the fact that they strive to improve the quality of education, everything is going backwards," the participants of the discussion note. It was also suggested that the names of educational institutions selling diplomas should be made public.

At the end of the first day of the Forum, a panel discussion was held on the role of higher education institutions in strengthening the capacity of civil society.