A bi-weekly online publication of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan www.mfa.kz Issue # 58 Friday,7 May 2010 [PDF]

Kazakh ‘Civil Alliance’ Launches “We Are One Team!” Campaign  

(Second World War veterans enjoy support and attention across the nation)

Kazakh Diplomats Consult with NGOs, Experts on OSCE Human Dimension

(Foreign Ministry’s Advisory Council on Human Dimension holds first meeting)

Kazakhstan Promotes Gender Equality within the OSCE

(The Human Dimension meeting on gender balance takes place in Vienna)

OSCE and Organization of Islamic Conference to Battle Islamophobia

(OIC Secretary General Ihsanoglu addresses OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna)

Tbilisi Seeks Wider Economic Cooperation with Astana

(Georgia’s Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze visits Kazakhstan)

Kazakh ‘Civil Alliance’ Launches “We Are One Team!” Campaign  

As part of a growing nationwide movement “We are one team!” aimed at raising civic participation of people of all walks of life, the Civil Alliance of Kazakhstan, an non-governmental organization, has held a number of mass campaigns during the May Day and the Victory Day celebrations. The events, such as planting trees, visiting veterans and attending their needs, cleaning up or creating children’s playgrounds took place throughout the country, and were united by a common idea and good feelings of the participants.

In Kostanay, a social campaign “I remember! I am proud!” was organized at the central stadium during the football match between the Kazakh Superleague’s Tobol and Locomotive teams. Volunteers from the Green social foundation handed out thousands of Saint George’s Ribbons and post cards with appeals to provide charity support for the veterans of the city. The post cards included contact details, which might be of use for the people willing to make their own contribution to the efforts to improve the living conditions of the Great Patriotic War veterans.

The ribbons were brought from Moscow and are identical to those worn by the participants of the Moscow’s Red Square Parade. The St. George’s Ribbon constitutes one of the most recognised and respected symbols of military valour in modern Russia. It is widely associated with the commemoration of World War II and especially with the units who were awarded the collective Guard battle honours during the conflict. The ribbon consists of a black and orange bicolour pattern, with three black and two orange stripes.

The Kostanay Veterans Fund has already received almost 50 million tenge, which is twice as much as the fund’s benefits at the 60^th anniversary of the end of the Second World War five years ago.

Youngsters from the Zhassyl Yel (Green Country), a nationwide NGO working together with the Civil Alliance, supported the nationwide movement with a three-day campaign called “Cherish the Past for the Future!”, which swept across Kazakhstan. In Almaty, it was held in a 28 heroes-Panfilovtsev Park, where schoolchildren, students, state officials and businessmen, assisted by the veterans and participants of war’s labour front, planted flower gardens, painted trees white, restored the monuments and obelisks, and cleaned up the squares.

According to the head of the Almaty municipal branch of the national Zhassyl Yel youth organization Saulet Alimbetov, volunteers continuously hold the activities of the kind, but this particular event let them get involved in the “We are one team!” movement.

“These projects unite representatives of different generations who have a lot to share. Under this campaign our teams are going to visit the lonesome veterans and help them with their household activities,” Saulet Alimbetov noted.

In Shymkent, a similar campaign started near the Memorial to the victims of political repressions – Kassiret, - and continued in the Victory Park and at the Monument of Glory in the city park. Nearly one and a half thousand undergraduate and high school students, along with representatives of various public organizations, NGOs and commercial companies volunteered for the campaign and gladly joined the activities on cleaning up the city.

As for the industrial town of Temirtau in Qaraghandy oblast, the campaign got another interesting way of realization there. The Temirtau Youth Club, a project of the Nur Otan’s People’s Democratic Party youth wing, organized the event and congratulated all veterans of the region with the upcoming great celebrations. Before that, the activists repaired a football ground in one of the residential districts of their hometown.

During several days the leaders of youth organizations communicated with veterans, absorbing every word of their stories the hard-won victory. These very conversations became the inspiring impulse, encouraging the youngsters to establish a “Patriot” headquartes. The official opening ceremony gathered activists of other clubs and organizations, deputies of the municipal Maslikhat (local assembly) and the veterans of the Great War. The office, located in the regional Youth Theatre, is destined to be a dialogue platform for a wide range of projects and meetings, and a great number of other social initiatives held under the auspices of the organization.

Kazakh Diplomats Consult with NGOs, Experts on OSCE Human Dimension

Kazakhstan pays serious attention to meeting its commitments within the human dimension of the OSCE, an organization that it leads in 2010. Another confirmation of this came as a special body designed to engage with the Foreign Ministry on issues of tolerance, human rights and civic liberties convened for its meetings in Astana on May 4.

The Foreign Ministry’s Advisory Council comprises representatives of the Kazakh government, nongovernmental organizations, mass media, as well as international experts representing the UK, US, Netherlands, Estonia, and Germany, specializing in humanitarian issues.  Foreign Ministry’s Ambassador-at-large Madina Jarbussynova chairs the Council.

Opening the meeting in Astana Director of the Foreign Ministry’s OSCE Department Serzhan Abdykarimov emphasized the importance of the human dimension for the organization’s role in the modern world. Kazakhstan pays special attention to the human “basket”, including issues of social development, democratization, human rights, education, elections, gender equality, and combating human trafficking, he said.

The agenda of the Council’s first meeting concentrated on Kazakhstan’s contribution and response to the international commitments to be reviewed at a number of upcoming human dimension events within the Kazakh OSCE chairmanship, including:

-                      the first Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting: “Promotion of gender balance and participation of women in political and public life”;

-                      the second Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting: “Education of persons belonging to national minorities: integration and equal opportunities”;

-                      the third second Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting: “Freedom of religion and conscience”;

-                      a seminar on “Strengthening the independence of the judiciary system and public access to justice”,

-                      a conference on implementation of the commitments in the human dimension.

The Council also discussed preparations for two major events held within the OSCE human dimension under the Kazakh chairmanship, namely the Conference on the 20th anniversary of the Copenhagen Document in Copenhagen and the High-level Conference on tolerance and non-discrimination in Astana.

The Advisory Council also examined the National Report of Kazakhstan in the framework of the Universal Periodic Review of Human Rights. Its new edition is to be prepared with account of recommendations from the UN Human Rights Council following the previous report.

Abdykarimov reminded the motto of Kazakh OSCE chairmanship, which is formulated on the basis of four Ts: Trust, Tradition, Transparency and Tolerance. Taking into account the specifics of dialogue platform he focused on such priorities of the humanitarian dimension as tolerance and nondiscrimination, gender equality and combating human trafficking.

“In selecting the topics Kazakhstan was guided by its own experience as well as the interest of all OSCE member states in addressing these issues,” the diplomat said.

The participants noted the significance of such meetings for the success of Kazakhstan’s chairmanship and encouragement of the process of further liberalization of the country’s legislation. Members of the Advisory Council used the opportunity to discuss issues of both the agenda of  chairmanship and of the Organization’s work as a whole.

Within the human dimension, Kazakhstan cooperates with the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) the Office of the Representative on Freedom of the Media and the High Commissioner on National Minorities.

Kazakhstan Promotes Gender Equality within the OSCE

Taking into account the importance of gender equality in building a developed democratic state, Kazakhstan’s OSCE chairmanship spares no effort in highlighting the importance of promotion of gender equality. It co-organized a special meeting titled “Promotion of Gender Balance and Participation of Women in Political and Public Life” on May 6-7 in Vienna. Key speakers at the forum included a representative of OSCE Chairperson-on-Office, Kazakhstan’s Minister of Labour and Social Protection Gulshara Abdykalikova and Director of the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Janez Lenarcic.

Focusing on implementation of OSCE participating states’ commitments to promote gender equality, this Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting assesses achievements, gaps and challenges, while outlining actions for moving forward. The meeting consists of three sessions and addresses issues pertaining to gender balance and participation of women in political and public life by means of consistent actions in the following three areas:

- Promoting gender equality in the OSCE region – progress achieved and challenges ahead;

- Empowering women as political party members and as elected officials;

- Ensuring gender balance and women’s effective participation in public life.

At the opening of the meeting speakers pointed out that progress on ensuring equality between women and men remained patchy and uneven since the increase of the OSCE-wide rate of women’ representation in political and public life over the last decade is largely due to significant gains in a limited number of participating states. Thus, progress remains uneven across the region.

In her remarks at the meeting Minister Abdykalikova stressed the importance of implementing the OSCE's 2004 Action Plan on Gender Equality and made some concrete proposals on how to achieve this: “To effectively promote gender balance, it is useful to conduct joint training sessions for state officials and representatives of non-governmental organizations, introduce gender aspects into budgeting processes at all levels and develop mechanisms enabling men and women to balance work and family life.” She also suggested considering the creation of a Eurasian OSCE Institute of Gender Equality in Astana as a catalyst for the active promotion of gender mainstreaming in the region.

Ambassador Lenarcic said gender balance is a question fundamental to any democracy: “If the high degree of legitimacy that democracy enjoys is to be sustained, achieving de facto equality needs to top the agenda of policy-makers.”

As for OSCE commitments related to gender equality and women’s participation in political and public life, they have evolved greatly since the adoption of the Helsinki Final Act and have been supplemented with such important international legal instrument as the 2004 OSCE Action Plan for the Promotion of Gender Equality which prioritized the objective of ensuring equal opportunity for participation of women in political and public life.

In parallel, key international legal instruments and policy documents on nondiscrimination based on sex, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights the United Nations Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and the Beijing Platform for Action, have been adopted.

The Meeting provides an important forum for dialogue and exchange of views and good practices among all key stakeholders involved in the work to promote gender balance and participation of women in political and public life.

The conference gathers representatives of the OSCE participating States, OSCE Institutions, and OSCE field operations, representatives of international governmental organizations and non-governmental organizations and other civil society actors, and is therefore seen as an important forum for discussing cross-cutting issues.

During the years of its independence, Kazakhstan has made significant progress in enhancing gender equality, especially through protecting the rights and lawful interests of women. The latest Gender Gap Report (2009) prepared by the World Economy Forum positions Kazakhstan 47^th amongst 134 countries of the world and ranks the Central Asian nation higher than a number of developed nations of the West, e.g. Italy and Luxembourg.

All this would have been impossible without comprehensive approach to developing and implementing systematic gender policy. This is based on Kazakhstan’s national development strategy up to the year 2030, the first long-term policy paper in the post-Soviet era, and ‘Strategy for Gender Equality in the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2006-2016’, a document which lays foundations for further improvement of women’s status in the country.

It is in this context that the protection of the rights of women and the general policy of gender equality are defined as one of the priorities of Kazakhstan's OSCE Chairmanship.

OSCE and Organization of Islamic Conference to Battle Islamophobia

Co-ordinated efforts are needed to battle the rise of Islamophobia, intolerance and discrimination against Muslims, Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu told the OSCE Permanent Council on May 6.

“The goals and objectives of the OIC are not much different from those of the OSCE, as both our organizations are devoted to the cause of international peace and security,” he said.

Strengthening the two organizations’ already existing co-operation would be beneficial, Ihsanoglu said, adding that Kazakhstan, which holds the 2010 OSCE Chairmanship and will chair the OIC in 2011, could help promote such co-operation.

A rise of hatred and intolerance was “among the gravest threats to stability and peace and a serious challenge to security”, he said.

He also drew attention to the rise of Islamophobia.

“We cannot ignore the fact that religion has been drawn into the agenda of international relations by the extremist elements who are active in creating tensions and who threaten stability, harmony and even peace through provocation and incitement on religious grounds,” he said.

He urged the OSCE to prioritize the “looming threat to stability, harmony and security” posed by intolerance and extremism and welcomed plans to address intolerance and discrimination against Muslims during an OSCE High-Level Conference on Tolerance and Non-discrimination, to be held in June in Astana.

“It is high time for the OSCE and OIC to put together tangible and result-oriented efforts to motivate the people, starting with those at the grassroots, to reject the extremists,” Ihsanoglu said, adding that this work should aim to develop “a culture of respect and tolerance for the whole range of civil and political, as well as economic, social and cultural rights of people of all beliefs and backgrounds.”

The Permanent Council is one of the OSCE’s main decision-making bodies. It meets weekly in Vienna to discuss developments in the OSCE area and to make appropriate decisions.

The Republic of Kazakhstan chairs the OSCE is 2010, as well as the Organization of Islamic Conference’s Foreign Ministers Council in 2011, the first time one nation will chair the two largest regional organizations in the world.

Tbilisi Seeks Wider Economic Cooperation with Astana

On May 6, Georgia’s Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze visited Kazakhstan at the invitation of the Central Asian country’s State Secretary - Minister of Foreign Affairs Kanat Saudabayev. Apart from holding talks with his Kazakh colleague, the Georgian diplomat also met with Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Karim Massimov to discuss economic cooperation between the two countries.

The two foreign ministers discussed a number of timely issues regarding trade, conomy, transport, tourist and agricultural areas of cooperation. They also focused on interaction within international organizations, including the United Nations and OSCE.

Kanat Saudabayev noted the reciprocal visit by Grigol Vashadze to Astana proves the relations between Kazakhstan and Georgia have entered a new phase of development. Today, bilateral cooperation between Astana and Tbilisi is characterized by a stable growth, he noted.

Saudabayev said all previous arrangements, including in transportation and energy projects, as well as the Black Sea terminal, are successfully implemented and will be further enhanced. Speaking about trade and economic aspects of cooperation, the diplomats stressed that despite the global financial crisis the trade turnover remains at a decent level, which gives hope for the favourable evolvement in future.

As OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Saudabayev thanked the Georgian delegation for support of Kazakhstan’s initiatives during the country’s chairmanship of this international organization.

The Kazakh Foreign Minister particularly highlighted the relevance of Georgia’s backing in the process of preparation for an informal OSCE Ministerial Summit in Almaty and an OSCE Summit in Astana.

Vashadze marked a consistently developing pace of cooperation between the two states, which is especially important for Georgia, as “Astana is one of the main strategic partners of Tbilisi”.

He said the successes of Kazakhstan automatically provide an impetus for the Georgian economy and thanked the Kazakh OSCE chairmanship for the constructive position regarding security and stability in the South Caucasus.

“I should note the activity, ideas and efforts of Minister Saudabayev and Ambassador Nurgaliyev, an OSCE representative at Geneva discussions and a Special Representative of the  OSCE Chairman-in-Office, provide  a significant contribution to these discussions,” Vashadze said.

He also said he is planning to make at least three more visits to Kazakhstan in 2010, referring to OSCE-related events this year.

After the meeting, Saudabayev and Vashadze signed a protocol on cooperation between the two foreign ministries.

Later in the day, Vashadze held talks with Prime Minister Karim Massimov concerning the energy and transport cooperation between Kazakhstan and Georgia. The sides discussed prospects of expanding bilateral trade and economic contacts, with emphasis on the state of Kazakh investments in Georgian economy’s various sectors, problems of Kazakh grain export and development of mutually advantageous infrastructure projects.

Diplomatic relations between Kazakhstan and Georgia began in 1992. The countries have been involved into a continuous political dialogue both within bilateral and multilateral cooperation. The two states interact in the spheres of energy, transport and communication, along with agriculture and finance. Kazakhstan is one of the largest trade partners for Georgia, as the Kazakh investments has gone into the Georgian gas services, telecommunications and tourism projects.

Also in the News:

• Kazakhstan’s State Secretary and Foreign Minister Kanat Saudabayev and Foreign Minister Zalmay Rasul of Afghanistan discussed issues of bilateral cooperation in a telephone conversation on May 5, as they noted that there was great potential for expanding this cooperation in bilateral and multilateral formats. Saudabayev’s upcoming visit to Kabul as OSCE Chairperson-in-Office is slated to give further impetus to this cooperation.
• Also this week, Saudabayev spoke with Minister of Foreign Affairs Yang Jiechi of China as they exchanged opinions on the two countries’ interaction within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia. The parties confirmed their intention to make every effort to fully implement agreements reached between the two heads of state, Nursultan Nazarbayev and Hu Jintao, last December in Astana.
• Kyrgyzstan received the first 2,700 tons of diesel from Kazakhstan for the current sowing season, the Interim government of Kyrgyzstan reported. This will be distributed among the peasants of Kyrgyzstan’s northern and central regions. In total, Kazakhstan will transport 3,700 tones of fuel. The next consignment will be directed to the needs of rural workers in Kyrgyzstan’s South.
• A new cutter built at the request of the nation’s Border Service by shipbuilders in Uralsk, West Kazakhstan, was put on water this week. The ship with the displacement of 270 tons has been called Zhenis (meaning Victory, named so in honor of the V-Day). It is able to withstand a storm of 6-7 points, the maximum level recorded for the Caspian Sea. In the next few days Zhenis will reach the Caspian Sea, where it will start its service for the Marine Border Guard. Currently, two similar vessels, “Sardar” and “Sakshi” are protecting marine borders of Kazakhstan.
• On April 4, Prime Minister Karim Massimov held a regular meeting of the Government’s Council of Economic Advisers. Council members discussed a report, “Analysis and evaluation of government’s anti-crisis measures - implications for economic policy”, prepared by the Center for Public Policy Research. Director of the Centre Meruert Makhmutova stressed that the stability and duration of the world economic recovery is characterized by uncertainty while a threat of recurrence of the crisis persists. In this regard, the experts made recommendations for adjustments to short-and medium-term economic policy.
• International reserves of Kazakhstan, including the National Fund assets, in April 2010 increased by 5.2 percent and reached US$ 55.2 billion, the press service of the National Bank reported. Current account surplus of balance of payments, according to preliminary estimates, in January-March 2010 amounted to US$ 3 billion, compared with a deficit of US$ 1.2 billion in the same period last year. The trade balance has a surplus of US$ 8.1 billion, which is a fourfold increase compared to the same period of 2009. Exports for Q1 of 2010 totaled US$ 13.6 billion, an increase of 66.7 percent compared to the same period in 2009. Imports amounted to US$ 5.3 billion (in the first quarter of 2009 this number was US$ 6 billion). According to preliminary data, the positive balance of direct investment transactions is valued at US$ 2.7 billion
• Kazakhstan plans to start producing up to two billion litres of bioethanol per year, Minister of Agriculture Akylbek Kurishbaev of Kazakhstan said. Last year, the country produced about 45,000 litres. Now Kazakhstan has only one plant, which annually provides advanced processing of 220,000 tons of grains, in order to produce gluten, starch and bioethanol. Previously, Vice-Prime Minister of Agriculture Arman Evniev declared Kazakhstan plans to use low grade wheat in bioethanol production.
• Kazakhstan will adopt a legislative act limited the share of external borrowing commitments of Kazakh banks at 30 percent of total commitments, Chairman of the National Bank of Kazakhstan Grigory Marchenko informed. He also noted that in July 2007 in Kazakhstan, this figure reached 53 percent. After the restructuring of debts of several Kazakh banks will be complete, this figure will be slightly more than 20 percent. “We believe some of our banks will be able to enter the external borrowing market this fall. In general, this rule will be introduced for all, and banks with a share of over 30 percent will not be able to borrow [internationally],” the head of the National Bank said.
• Turkey plans to raise its trade with Kazakhstan to US$5 billion, Сhairman of the Turkish Exportersэ Assembly Mehmet Buyukeksi said at a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Industry and New Technologies Aset Isekeshev in Istanbul this week. The Kazakh minister visited Turkey to reach new trade agreements and discuss investment opportunities. He reminded there were no less than 80 new projects in Kazakhstan where Turkish businessmen could invest profitably.
• The Delegation of Pavlodar officials and businessmen visited the Turkish province of Kayseri. The purpose of the visit was the strengthening of cooperation between the two countries and regions in economic and cultural spheres. As part of his business trip Akim (governor) of Pavlodar oblast Bakytzhan Sagintayev discussed long-term plans for cooperation with his colleague from the province of Kayseri Mevlut Bilidzhi and Kayseri Mayor Mehmet Ozhasekinom. The talks concluded with signing an agreement on establishing sister-cities relations between the towns of Pavlodar and Kayseri.
• Last week in Baku, Azerbaijan, the Kazakh students won an unofficial team competition at the 44^th International Mendeleyev Contest in Chemistry, claiming three gold, three silver and two bronze medals. Winners of the competition will participate in the World Chemistry Olympiad which will be held this summer in Tokyo.

Things to Watch:

• On May 7-9, Team Kazakhstan plays their Chinese opponents in Beijing at the second round games of Asia/Oceania group of Davis Cup, the most prestigious international team tournament in world tennis. Kazakhstan’s Andrey Golubev (World’s #76) won the first match, so the Kazakhs lead 1:0 in a series that last until one team picks three points.
• On May 9, President Nursultan Nazarbayev will attend the grand parade on Moscow’s Red Square dedicated to the 65^th anniversary of Victory in the Second World War. For the first time veterans from almost all the CIS countries will march in the parade, as will combat troops from the Allied nations of the UK and the United States.
• The specialized 12^th Kazakhstan International Exhibition on Construction AstanaBuild-2010 will be held in Astana on 19-21 of May. More than 100 companies from 15 countries including Belarus, Germany, India, Spain, Kazakhstan, China, Lithuania, the UAE, Poland, Russia, Slovenia, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Finland and Sweden will take part in this exhibition.
• On May 25-26, President Abdullah Gul of Turkey will pay an official visit to Astana. He will be accompanied be a large group of leading Turkish businessmen. Apart from high level negotiations on bilateral collaboration, Gul, along with Nursultan Nazarbayev, will open an Academy of Turkic World in Astana.
• On June 7, Almaty will host an international conference titled “Theoretical and practical aspects of state regulation on a single customs territory of the Customs Union.” The main objective of the conference to help companies prepare for new regulations of economic processes within the Customs Union of Kazakhstan, Belarus and Russia.