ASTANA (TCA) — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, the United Nations Development Programme, the Government of Japan and Japan International Cooperation Agency on 19 August launched a pilot project of Kazakhstan’s ODA aimed at expanding economic independence and rights of Afghan women and entitled “Promoting Kazakhstan’s ODA Cooperation with Afghanistan”. The project will mark Kazakhstan’s first international cooperation for Afghanistan in the framework of national system of Official Development Assistance (ODA), while it helps Kazakhstan to strengthen its ability to administer its future ODA. The project is financed by the Government of Japan through the UNDP-Japan Partnership Fund, UNDP Kazakhstan reported.
The goal of this project is to pursue two main tasks. Firstly, to provide Kazakhstan with a unique opportunity to actively participate in the development and implementation of the project of Official Development Assistance (ODA). Secondly, to make a fair contribution to further development of Afghanistan by expanding economic independence and rights of Afghan women.
In October 2014 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan and UNDP launched a project to develop the national institute of ODA in Kazakhstan to systematize assistance provided by Kazakhstan to other countries and to align it with the priorities of the country’s foreign policy. To promote peace and security, to date Kazakhstan has provided humanitarian and development assistance to countries in Central Asia, Latin America and Pacific islands. Last year in cooperation with UNDP, Kazakhstan provided training to African mid-career professionals specializing in areas of healthcare, agriculture and oil and gas.
“Kazakhstan over the last years has been putting in a lot of effort to develop its ODA capacity on the national level, we have promulgated a law on ODA. We have been doing since then efforts to institutionalize the ODA. First of all we have outlined the main priorities of our ODA assistance. We are doing a phased effort to institutionalize ODA in Kazakhstan. Many reform efforts in Kazakhstan are done in the context of our ambition to join the OECD. Official Development Assistance is a very important part of OECD,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Erlan Idrissov.
“As a strong supporter of multilateralism and as a development partner, Kazakhstan can play a big role in delivering the Sustainable Development Agenda, and in putting the world on track to achieve sustainable and inclusive development. By sharing its experiences and technical expertise and by fostering trade and investment through South-South Co-operation and Official Development Assistance, Kazakhstan will support others to develop,” said UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative Mr. Norimasa Shimomura.
“The basis for this project is the Joint Statement signed by the Prime Minister of Japan S. Abe during his visit to Kazakhstan in October last year and the President of Kazakhstan N. Nazarbayev. The project will be financed by the Japan-UNDP Partnership Fund, which is donated by the Government of Japan. I hope that implementation of the project will be a good opportunity for Japan to contribute actively to the measures undertaken by Kazakhstan for stabilizing the situation in the region,” said Ambassador of Japan to Kazakhstan Mr. Ichiro Kawabata.
