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Europe and Central Asia Dept,
DFID, 1 Palace Street, London, SW1E 5HE
Tel:020 7023 0463| Fax:020 7023 1024
Map courtesy of the FCO
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Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan is a middle-income country rich in natural resources, in
particular oil and gas. The key challenge facing the country is ensuring that
the wealth generated through oil and gas revenues translates into sustainable
and equitable development for all.
Current information on poverty levels indicates that Kazakhstan will fail to
reach at least three of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) (child mortality,
maternal mortality and HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis (TB) incidence). Rural poverty and poverty
among ethnic Kazakhs is deeply entrenched, and the slow pace of reforms have
been major problems to date.
Poverty has nonetheless fallen significantly in recent years, largely due to
rapid growth. The share of the population living below the poverty line
(US$35/month) was approximately 19% in 2003, compared to 24% in 2002, and 34% in
1998.
For more information about the political and economic situation in Kazakhstan
please see the Foreign
and Commonwealth Office (FCO)
Kazakhstan site.
DFID in Kazakhstan
The UK has been supporting sustainable development in Kazakhstan since 1992,
shortly after the country gained independence following the break-up of the
Soviet Union. Over the last thirteen years our work has covered areas such as
primary health care reform, the development of civil society and planning for
sustainable land use in the Semipalatinsk area. During this time we have spent
over £17 million on development work.
DFID's key achievements in Kazakhstan include:
- Established a participatory land use planning process for the former
nuclear testing site, which will help environmentally sound and
sustainable land use;
- Assisted in improving the quality and accessibility of primary health
care;
- Improved capacity for management of water resources, including a new
Water Code;
- Enhanced civil society's understanding of its role in poverty reduction.
Given Kazakhstan's middle-income status, DFID will be phasing out its country
programme in July 2005. Existing work in the water and environmental sectors
will come to an end in the summer. DFID will continue to provide support to
regional work on HIV/AIDS prevention (which also covers Uzbekistan and the Kyrgyz
Republic), and to work on The
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) to which the Kazakh
Republic has signed up. For more information on The Extractive Industries
Transparency Initiative please see theEITI
site.
Other Donors
Kazakhstan has received €153.6 million throughTACIS
national allocations since 1991. The UK, through DFID, contributes a significant
amount of theEuropean
Union's (EU's) aid resources overall, approximately 18%. The EU's TACIS
programme has reached very positive results in projects implemented in the
following sectors:
- public administration reform;
- support for the development of
local governance;
- Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) development, and
- support for Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO)
development.
Since July 1992,The
World Bank has financed 25 operations worth a total of almost US$2 billion.
This assistance in Kazakhstan, has generally focused on infrastructure,
Environment and Agriculture. A Poverty Reduction Programme will run from
2003-2005, with the Ministry of Economy and Budget Planning as the lead
authority, andThe
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) playing a supportive role.
The
Global Conflict Prevention Pool (GCPP), which was established in March 2001,
funds high impact initiatives in Central Asia to support peace building and
conflict prevention activities.
Priorities include working with others to tackle
'frozen' or potential conflict in Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Moldova,
reducing tensions in Central Asia and helping the Russian government develop a
foreign policy of constructive engagement on matters of common concern.
Useful Links
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
Last updated: 12 August 2005
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