Kazakh diplomats donate laptops to schoolchildren

ALMATY, August 14, 2020 - A ceremony of handover of 150 personal computers by Kazakh diplomats to children from low-income families took place today. During the ceremony, representatives of the Kazakhstan Diplomats Association RPA signed a special memorandum of cooperation with the Public Fund "Mercy Voluntary Society", which is headed by the Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Republic of Kazakhstan, Aruzhan Sain.

During the ceremony, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Yerzhan Ashikbayev noted that Kazakh diplomats supported the call of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to unite the nation in the fight against coronavirus and decided to collect funds from salaries of the employees on a voluntary basis to help those who need state protection.

“In view of the transition to distance learning in the coming academic year, the Kazakhstan Diplomats Association decided to purchase personal computers for children from low-income families. Our initiative was supported by the employees of the Central Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and diplomats working abroad, as well as foreign citizens who interact with our embassies,”Ashikbayev said.

In this regard, the Kazakh diplomat expressed gratitude to the Mercy Voluntary Society for its willingness to assist in the distribution of these laptops.

The pandemic has created serious risks in the global education systems and threatens to cause a loss of skills and knowledge that could affect generations of students. Never before have so many children been deprived of the opportunity to attend school, which disrupts the learning process and fundamentally changes lives, especially in the most vulnerable groups of the population.

In the face of the unprecedented global crisis, this charitable action by the diplomats aims to promote continuous learning, reduce digital inequality and ensure full access to quality education for every Kazakh child, especially among the most vulnerable. Therefore, the diplomats are making a feasible contribution to the local implementation of the global Sustainable Development Goals, based on the principle “Leave no one behind”.

In turn, Aruzhan Sain sincerely thanked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the assistance provided and noted that this is not the first action with the participation of Kazakh diplomats.

The total cost of this campaign amounted to almost 26 million tenge. Laptops will be conveyed to low-income families who were selected on the recommendation of the Education Department of the Akimat of Almaty.

Charitable actions carried out by the Kazakhstan Diplomats Association are of a systemic nature. Thus, on April 26 and July 20 this year, veterans of the diplomatic service were provided with personal medical protective equipment and necessary medicines.

In 2015, Kazakhstan adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Sustainable Development Goal for education aims to “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”.