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UNDP and Kazakhstan MFA intend to carry out joint project

Kazakhstan Materials 31 October 2014 21:50 (UTC +04:00)
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan intend to carry out a joint project.
UNDP and Kazakhstan MFA intend to carry out joint project

Astana, Kazakhstan, Oct.31

By Daniyar Mukhtarov - Trend:

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan intend to carry out a joint project, according to UNDP press release.

31 October 2014 Kazakh Foreign Affairs Minister Erlan Idrissov and Resident Representative of the UNDP in Kazakhstan Stephen Tull signed a project document entitled Expert Support with an Aim of Creating in Kazakhstan National System of Official Development Assistance (KazAID).

The project has a goal of supporting Kazakhstan's Foreign Affairs Ministry in forming the system of Official Development Assistance (ODA). By providing expert support the project will produce analysis of the best international practice and ODA situation from other beginning donors and will identify common challenges and problems. It will also explore efficient solutions to them.

Resident Representative of UNDP in Kazakhstan Stephen Tull noted that Kazakhstan is capable of providing consistent assistance to other countries, thus strengthening its position of a strategically important country in Central Asia.

"One key aspect of this movement is the transition from being an aid-recipient in the past to being a donor. And that's why I think this KazAID launch, if you will, today is so important symbolically. Kazakhstan actually has been a donor significantly, especially in the past six to eight years, with a lot of assistance to Afghanistan in particular, including the education of 1,000 Afghan students in Kazakhstan. But also significant assistance was made by Kazakhstan during the humanitarian crisis in Kyrgyzstan."

Stephen Tull said that the idea of KazAID emerged several years ago. In October 2011 consultations were being made among the Kazakh government, UN bodies, national partners and donors.

"The political decision and a legal basis of KazAID is complete so there has been a lot of progress since 2011 and the concept on ODA was signed by president N. Nazarbayev in April 2013 after quite a lot of careful thought and consideration. I consider it a very good expression of a vision," - Stephen Tull said.

Kazakhstan's Minister of Foreign Affairs said that the initiative completely coincided with the strategy 2050.

"Kazakhstan over the years of independence has been involved into ODA related or ODA similar activities. We have provided different forms of assistance to different countries amounting to more than 100, million dollars."

The Minister also said it was essential to take well-planned steps in efforts promoting this project, considering that this area remains new to Kazakhstan.

The diplomatic corps, UN agencies and other distinguished guests attended the event.

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