Almaty, 10 July 2021 – Ambassador-at-Large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Chairman of the Consultative and Advisory Body “Platform for Dialogue on Human Rights” (CAB) under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Usen Suleimen participated in the Forum of non-governmental organizations of Central Asia “STEP UP Forum”, on the sidelines of which there were discussed the ways of civil society development in the countries of the region.
The Forum, which was held on 7-10 July 2021 in Almaty, was organized by the Civil Society Development Association (ARGO) and the Innovation for Change Global Initiative for Civil Society Development. It brought together 8 countries, gathering 50 participants in-person on a traditional platform and more than 300 participants online.
Participants of the STEP UP Forum – “Solidarity for Transparency, Enabling environment and Partnership” – shared their experiences, received recommendations of best experts, analyzed the trends and challenges, and determined the future development of civil society in their countries.
Usen Suleimen delivered a welcoming speech at the opening ceremony. He spoke about the CAB creation in Kazakhstan and results of its work: “Its main goal is to eliminate gaps in the legislation through a dialogue between the Government, Parliament and NGOs”.
The CAB consists of working groups divided into four categories: democracy development, the rule of law, fundamental freedoms and human rights, legislative activity. Meetings of working groups and subgroups are held on a regular basis, at least once every two months. Now 49 NGOs are included into the CAB.
Usen Suleimen stated that Central Asian states should unite efforts in developing civil societies and similar meetings and fora are meant to determine their common goals through active dialogue.
Also, the welcoming speeches were delivered by other important speakers. These were Bobur Bekmurodov (Uzbekistan), member of the Parliament of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan and Chairman of the Nationwide Movement “Yuksalish”, Anselmo Lee (South Korea), professor of the Kyung Hee University, regional coordinator of APSD, Batsugar Tsedendamba (Mongolia), IRIM consultant, representative of Central Asia in the Board of the Innovation for Change Global Initiative for Civil Society Development, and Kaisha Atakhanova (Kazakhstan), Director of ARGO Regional Programs.