About us

The mandate of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Kazakhstan is determined by the Memorandum of Understanding (2010-2014) on cooperation in the new stage of national development as of 25 November 2009, which requires UNDP “to support and supplement the national efforts undertaken to decide essential issues of economic development and to promote social progress and improvement of the living standards”. UNDP office in Kazakhstan was opened in 1993, soon after the country's accession to the UN. Since then, UNDP has supported implementation of more than 100 projects with a total worth of USD 48 million.

UNDP's office in Kazakhstan is part of the system of UN agencies, funds and programmes in Kazakhstan. All UN agencies providing support to Kazakhstan work under the umbrella of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) for the period 2010-2015. The UNDAF represents a set of commonly agreed priorities, to which the UN system in Kazakhstan direct their resources. The UNDAF was developed jointly with national institutions and is signed by all UN agencies and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on behalf of the Government of Kazakhstan. UNDP draws its programme priorities entirely from the UNDAF, and contributes actively to UNDAF implementation through joint activities together with other UN agencies.

Our Accomplishments

The 2005-2009 the country programme supported national priorities in three areas: (a) Poverty reduction and monitoring; (b) Governance and participatory development; and (c) Environmental management and human security.

In the area of poverty reduction and monitoring, UNDP supported the Agency of Statistics and the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection to put in place a revised definition of the national poverty line and to develop new legal and regulatory content for standards of social services. UNDP worked with local authorities and private-sector companies to support entrepreneurship development (in Atyrau) and employment (in Almaty and Shymkent). A number of private-sector companies and associations of entrepreneurs partnered with UNDP to advance the Global Compact initiative and promote corporate social responsibility.The academic community took an interest in the development of curricula on human development for post-graduate studies.

In the area of governance and participatory development, UNDP engaged with Parliament, local representative bodies (maslikhats) and civil society organizations to support the development of parliamentary institutions and national human rights and gender machineries and to advance civic engagement. The dialogue between UNDP and Parliament helped shape the concept of the Institute for Parliamentary Development, established in September 2007.The Central Elections Commission has benefitted from international expertise and assistance provided through UNDP to carry out awareness-raising and trainings.

In environmental management and human security, UNDP provided extensive support to the Ministry of Environment, the Committee for Water Resources, the Committee for Forestry and Hunting, and other government bodies, to develop strategic documents (such as a concept paper for transition to sustainable development, promoted by an active National Council), and legislation (such as the environmental code, adopted by presidential decree). UNDP assisted in international treaty ratification (such as the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants) and reporting (the third national report on implementation of the biodiversity convention, first national report on Ramsar convention on wetlands). The integrated water resource management approach was implemented through a national plan and eight river-basin councils. Over 30 small-scale projects in nature and energy conservation were implemented by non-government organizations and community-based organizations.The legal and regulatory framework for development of renewables was prepared, along with recommendations to promote investment in wind energy. Also UNDP supported a natural disaster risk assessment in the disaster-prone Almaty region and helped develop disaster-preparedness curricula and train target groups.

New Priorities

Currently the work of UNDP in Kazakhstan is regulated by the Country Programme Document (CPD) and the Country Programme Action Plan for the period 2010-2015, which is in line with the national priorities and in support of the long-term strategy for the development of the country (Kazakhstan-2030). All UNDP programmes and projects are nationally owned and entail the commitment of national human and financial resources. The programme is fosuced on three areas: (a) Economic and social well-being for all, with particular attention to vulnerable groups; (b) Environmental sustainability, focused on the sustainable management of natural resources; mitigation and adaptation to climate change; and preparedness for natural and man-made disasters; and (c) Effective governance, focused on promoting and protecting human rights and strengthening democratic institutions. The detailed information can be found in the section on Areas of work.

How we work

The basic modality of UNDP's assistance to Kazakhstan is the project. The project is a sequence of activities to achieve a set of immediate objectives formulated to contribute to the achievement of a broader national development objective. The project is implemented on the basis of the project document – legally binding agreement between UNDP and other partners, delineating the plan for achieving the objectives and the means to evaluate their achievement. The project document also specifies the indicators by which progress or setbacks are to be assessed, the resources that are needed and the management arrangements. The project document is to be signed by the UNDP Resident Representative, and the Head of the implementing agency (it can be either a governmental entity or an NGO).

As soon as project document is approved and funds are allocated, UNDP contracts (on the competitive basis) the project manager – a person in charge of project implementation. The project manager acts in accordance with UNDP rules and procedures under the supervision of the national coordinator – designated senior representative of the implementing agency. As soon as the project is completed, UNDP reports to the government and donors on its results.