Women in Kazakhstan Seek Equality at Executive Levels

Men still hold most of the power in Kazakhstan, despite a commitment by the government that women will hold 30 percent of decision-making roles at all levels of government by 2016.

Only 11 percent of parliamentarians are female. And while women make up 58 percent of the civil service — and about 52 percent of the population — less than 9 percent of them hold high-level positions. In local governments, 10 percent of decision-making positions are held by women.

To help the government carry out its gender equality strategy, more than 80 women and men from 15 cities across Kazakhstan came together with government officials, international experts, business leaders, and representatives from civil society and political parties to draft a plan to move the strategy forward. The Sept. 1 forum was sponsored by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, UN Women, the United States Agency for International Development and NDI.

Attendees discussed the widespread prejudice that undercuts opportunities for women aspiring to leadership positions, and what to do about it. Speakers shared experiences from Norway, Germany and the United States as the participants learned about the struggle for women’s political participation in other countries. They also heard about the commitments Kazakhstan has made by signing the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, the Millennium Development Goals, and other international declarations.

The action plan produced by the participants offered recommendations for promoting equal opportunities for women in both government and nongovernmental organizations. They included:

Appointing women to 10 percent of decision-making roles at all levels of government by 2012;
Creating a public education campaign to urge more women to run for office;
Creating a network of training schools for women who want to take a more active role in the political process;
Helping civil society groups already working with women in rural areas to increase their engagement with politics;
Creating a cabinet-level Ministry of Gender Development with the power to conduct programs that would fulfill the international commitments Kazakhstan has made about women’s equality.

Left to right: Amy Schultz of NDI, Erin McKee, USAID regional mission director, and Barbara Fraenkel-Thonet of the Goethe-Institut

Participants created a network on Facebook promoting women’s equality and encouraging more collaboration between government and civil society on issues of women’s empowerment. The draft action plan will be posted to the Facebook network where participants will have two weeks to comment, before the plan is finalized. They will then distribute the final plan to government, civil society, media and international partners.

Since participants came from across Kazakhstan, the Facebook network will also be used to share data they are collecting on women in decision-making positions in their communities. The data will be used as they continue to advocate for equal opportunities, and to track their progress over time. NDI will help organize a series of roundtables, starting in Shymkent, once the action plan has been finalized, to raise awareness and advocate for its full implementation.

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Published Oct. 3, 2011