International partnership: results of the fourth day of the X Civil Forum

On November 25, the fourth day of the X Civil Forum “30 years of Partnership in the interests of sustainable development of society and the State” was held in Almaty. This time it took place in an offline format with the participation of about 150 delegates, but it was also broadcast on social networks.

 

 The fourth day of the Forum "Evolution, Innovation, Creativity" was opened by the international conference "Evolution of Interaction: from donor assistance to full-fledged international partnership". The issues of integration of the interests of civil society, business and the quasi-public sector were discussed on the platform of social partners. In conclusion, the invited speakers spoke about the points of growth of civil initiatives.

 

In her welcoming speech, the President of the Civil Alliance of Kazakhstan , Banu Nurgaziyeva , noted: "Civil society is not just an NGO, it is also political parties, religious associations, mass media, trade unions. However, the basis and core of Civil Society is an NGO, since it is a self-regulating public organization, those who are able to find, create, conquer, protect the interests and rights of those people who entrusted them with the opportunity to express and show themselves”.

 

 

 

 The first session was held under the auspices of "The evolution of interaction: from donor assistance to a full-fledged international partnership”, which was attended by Vice-Minister of Information and Social Development of Kazakhstan Bolat TLEPOV, President of the Civil Alliance of Kazakhstan Banu NURGAZIYEVA, UN Permanent Coordinator in Kazakhstan Michaela FRIBERG-STOREY, Secretary of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation Lidia Mikheeva, Deputy Head of the OSCE Program Office in Nur Sultan Diana DIGOL, Head of the ESCAP Sub-Regional Office for North and Central Asia Nikolay POMOSCHNIKOV, Deputy EU Ambassador to the Republic of Kazakhstan Machei Adam MADALINSKY, representative of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation Alexey VLASSOV, Director of Programs and Projects of the Islamic Organization for Food Security Ismail ABDELHAMID.

 

During the first discussion on the topic "Sustainable development of Society", Regional Director of the Department for Democracy and Health Christian FANG, representative of the Soros-Kazakhstan Foundation Aida AIDARKULOVA, Head of the Representative Office of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation Marlis LINKE, representative of the Eurasia Foundation Azalia DAYIRBEKOVA, representative of the American Bar Association Aigul KAPTAYEVA spoke.

 

 At the beginning of the discussion, the experts noted that interaction with civil society is not mentoring, not imposing their views and principles of their own understanding of how democratic transformation should take place, but understanding reality and focusing on the future in partnership initiatives.

 

 

 

Michaela Friberg Storey continued the topic, emphasizing the role of Kazakhstan in the UN: "Kazakhstan is a very important member of the UN. He participated in a number of important initiatives. It is very important to understand that Kazakhstan has established a council for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, which indicates the country's strong commitment to the implementation of these goals."

 

 

The speakers of the discussion note civil society as a key partner for the implementation of joint projects, initiatives of the UN development programs and the Government of Kazakhstan. Christian Fang also spoke positively about cooperation with Kazakhstan for 30 years. "For more than 30 years, USAID has been treating the Government of Kazakhstan with great respect for the fact that it has become more active and has truly become the regional leader it is, and has served as a reference point for all Central Asian countries in many sectors”" he added, expressing support and hope for further cooperation.

 

 The issue of environmental protection, reduction of environmental and climate risks was discussed by the representative of the Wildlife Fund Grigory MAZMANYANTS, the representative of the Regional Environmental Center of Central Asia Zafar Makhmudov and the representative of the Association of Environmental Organizations of Kazakhstan Aigul SOLOVYOVA in the second session. During the discussion, problems in the field of wildlife conservation, projects for solving environmental issues and countering disasters were touched upon. The participants of the session noted that at the moment more than 10 environmental protection projects have been invested in our country. In addition, there are also various platforms, platforms and organizations for solving environmental problems. This year, our country joined the board of governors of the regional center of Central Asia. This is a firm indicator that Kazakhstan is ready to lead in certain issues on the transition to green technologies and is ready to assist in issues of sustainable development, management of natural resources, ensuring environmental and climate security in Central Asia.

 

    The topic of the development of cooperation in the regions was touched upon by the speakers at the next session on the topic "Development of regional cooperation", Chairman of the Commission of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation on Territorial Development and Local Self-Government Andrey MAKSIMOV, Director of the North-South Political Science Center Angelika TRAPEZNIKOVA, Head of the Department of Central Asia and the Caucasus of the Institute of Asian and African Countries of the Lomonosov Moscow State University, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, member of the Council of Nationalities under the Government of Moscow, Honorary Professor of the Gumilyov  Eurasian University Zhibek SYZDYKOVA, Executive Director of the Expert Club "Ural-Eurasia" Konstantin POGORELSKY.

 

In addition, Memorandums of cooperation and mutual understanding were signed within the framework of the X Civil Forum. The Civil Alliance of Kazakhstan and the Representation of the World Wide Fund for Nature in Kazakhstan signed Memorandum of intent development between the Parties in the field of promoting information about the programs and projects of the Representation. These programs and projects contribute to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the target group of which are members of the Alliance. The Memorandum also provides for cooperation with non-governmental organizations aimed at localizing the SDGs in the regions, as well as holding joint events.

 

Memorandum of intent development in the field of promoting information about the Center's programs was signed by the Civil Alliance of Kazakhstan and the Non-profit Partnership "North-South Political Science Center for the Development of Information and Scientific relations with the countries of the Caucasus region." The document provides for the exchange of information on the ongoing work, the organization and holding of joint webinars, round tables, forums, seminars and conferences for representatives of non-governmental organizations that are members of the Alliance, as well as for other representatives of civil society, public associations, the business community and government agencies on issues of mutual interest.

 

The Civil Alliance of Kostanay region "GrIn" and the Non-profit Partnership Expert Club "Ural-Eurasia" have signed an agreement on the intention to implement such joint projects as the open-air museum of Shokan Ualikhanov in the village of Kuntimes of Kostanay region and the project to support people " Online Grandma ". The joint competence of the Parties is to conduct competitions and facilitation organizations at online meetings within the framework of the project, as well as to promote the development of partnerships with NGOs and other sectors in areas of mutual interest.

 

The Civil Alliance of the East Kazakhstan region signed an agreement with the autonomous non-profit organization "Center for Strategic Consulting". The document will allow the implementation of the project - "Living Heritage. Kazakhstan".

 

The Memorandum on strategic partnership was signed by the Civil Alliance of Kazakhstan and the Association of Entrepreneurs of Creative Industries of Almaty "Almaty creative". The purpose of the Memorandum is to create a favorable environment for the development of creative industries through in-depth partnership with NGOs and social entrepreneurship of the creative direction. The parties expect that the Memorandum will become an important mechanism for improving the competitiveness of business in the Republic of Kazakhstan. In addition, it will create a basis for attracting direct investments and implementing projects in the city of Almaty with scaling to the national and international level.

 

One of the final topics of the fourth day of the X Civil Forum was “Integration of interests: civil society - business - quasi-public sector”. The platform of social partners was moderated by the Deputy chairman of the Board of the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs ”Atameken" Olzhas ORDABAYEV.  During the discussion, it was proposed to recognize the strengthening of constructive and mutually beneficial cooperation of society with business and the quasi-public sector as a key factor in the effective development of the civil sector– as well as to include representatives of the civil sector in the work of public councils established under the category of economic entities.

 

As the participants of the discussion noted, in order to develop a competitive economy of the country, the Government needs to determine one of the criteria for economic entities - participation in state support of enterprises that carry out social partnership with the civil sector on a permanent basis, pursuing a socially oriented business policy. Сivil society, in turn, should assist the business sector in creating a favorable investment climate in Kazakhstan, which in the future will become a condition for effective cooperation in the interests of citizens.

 

The topic of social investment strategy, the implementation of social projects at various levels was touched upon during an expert discussion on the topic "How to find and be found: points of growth of civic initiatives".  The speakers were Yuri SKASKEVICH, Program Manager of the European Union Representative Office in Kazakhstan, Andrey PYSSIN, Director of the Center for Strategic Management and Internal Audit of the Corporate Office of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives for the Promotion of New Projects of the Russian Federation, Leila AITMUKHANOVA, adviser on social investments of Chevrolet companies in Kazakhstan, an independent expert in the field of social entrepreneurship and social Zhanar ZHAKSYLYKOVA, Chairman of the Foundation for Socially Significant Initiatives Yermek MAZHITOV, political commentator and journalist Nikita SHATALOV, technical manager for Civil society Aigul KAPTAYEVA. The session was moderated by the Chairman of the Board of the NGO "Center for Support of Civil Initiatives" (CSCI) Lima DIAZ. As a result of the session, the speakers came to the following conclusions: it is important to create a regional pool of experts based on regional civil alliances, it is necessary to conduct online and offline training of NGOs and civil activists on the basis of the CSCI on a regular basis on the basics of fundraising, as well as CSCI is necessary to fund financial resources from various sources (state, non-state, resources of international donors) on the basis of available analytical materials on socially significant projects and the needs of regions in such projects, ensuring their effective placement.