Kazakhstan

Our Partner

Shymkent Women's Resource Center (SWRC) is a non-profit organization whose programs aim to combat trafficking and violence against women and to promote women’s rights through the active participation of women and youth in society. SWRC engages in civic and legal education, organizes campaigns to combat trafficking, creates self help support groups for women, provides psychological and legal counseling, and manages a shelter for victims of trafficking.

Women's Status at a Glance

Country Overview

Government type: Republic; authoritarian presidential rule, with little power outside the executive branch
Total population: 15.3 million (July 2008 est.)
Population under age 15: 22.1%
GDP per capita: $11,000 (purchasing power parity)
Life expectancy: 67.6 years
Ethnic groups: Kazakh (Qazaq) 53.4%, Russian 30%, Ukrainian 3.7%, Uzbek 2.5%, German 2.4%, Tatar 1.7%, Uygur 1.4%, other 4.9% (1999 census)
Religions: Muslim 47%, Russian Orthodox 44%, Protestant 2%, other 7%
Internet users: 123.4 per 1,000 people

Education and Health

Adult literacy rate
Female rate: 99.3% (1999 est.)
Male rate: 99.8%
Maternal mortality rate: 140 per 100,000 live births
Total fertility rate: 1.88 children born/woman (2008 est.)

Political Participation

Year women received
right to:
Vote: 1924
Stand for election: 1924
Seats in parliament held by women
Lower house: 15.9%
Upper house: --
Women in govt. at ministerial level: 18%
Quotas: None

Stories and Reports

Second WLP Central Asia Regional Institute Brings Activists to Leadership and Advocacy Training

Leadership Skills as a Pathway to Employment in Kazakhstan

May 2008: WLP Kazakhstan/Shymkent Women’s Resource Center (SWRC) held two leadership workshops in April and May for twenty-nine women involved in SWRC’s vocational training programs. Workshop participants ranged in age from 19-57 years old.

Most of SWRC’s vocational students, enrolled in three-month courses in sewing, bookkeeping, or computers, are unemployed and seeking opportunities to reenter the workplace. Although Kazakhstan has begun to achieve gender equality in education at the primary and secondary levels, women’s unemployment rates remain higher than those of men. The workforce itself reveals ongoing divisions based on gender stereotypes, giving women fewer opportunities.*

( categories: Kazakhstan | Leading to Choices: A Leadership Training Handbook for Women (Russian Edition) | Workshops )

Regional Learning Institute for Women's Leadership in Central Asia

Women's Learning Partnership (WLP) together with its regional partner convened a Central Asia Regional Learning Institute for Women's Leadership from August 24-27, 2005 in Shymkent, Kazakhstan. NGO leaders, journalists, and human rights activists from five countries - Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan - participated in the Institute, which consisted of a week-long intensive skills development program in participatory leadership, interactive facilitation, persuasive communication, and effective advocacy campaign development.

The Institute took place amidst an atmosphere of heightened security and political tensions in the region. In the face of increasing restrictions on civil society and NGOs, human rights, and press freedom in the region, WLP brought participants together to create a regional network of women's rights advocates working to advance women in leadership and decision-making positions.

afghanistan	bahrain	brazil	cameroon	egypt	india	indonesia	iran	jordan	kazakhstan	kyrgyzstan
lebanon	malaysia	mauritania	morocco	nicaragua	nigeria	pakistan	palestine	turkey	uzbekistan	zimbabwe

English