NUR-SULTAN – The Otau Fest, the first festival dedicated to young families will be held online Sept. 12-13 in Kazakhstan.
Initiated by the Ministry of Information and Public Development with the support of the Center for Support of Civil Initiatives, the event is dedicated to the Day of Family which is celebrated on this Sunday in the country.
The managers of the Institute for Equal Rights and Equal Opportunities public fund will select applications from the contestants in all regions. Interested families send a presentation about their achievements in sports, science, education and business. The spouses have to prove that they represent a Kazakh family with modern values. As a result of the competition, winners then receive awards from the Institute.
Chairman of Civil Initiatives Support Center Batima Mukina spoke on the topic, saying that family is an integral part of society and that social stability also depends on the well-being of the family.
“Our government pays great attention to social issues related to the family. In his recent address to the people Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev paid special attention to improving the social well-being of citizens, including addressing the issues of healthcare, education, and protection of children’s rights,” Mukina wrote on her Facebook.
The Civil Initiatives Support Center provides grant support for the implementation of the social projects. The center has its mission to improve the mechanism of interaction between government and non-governmental organizations in Kazakhstan and to ensure transparency in the grant implementation activities.
“The festival aims to help strengthen the family and family values among young people. Some families do not have opportunities to take part in the courses, but experts will deliver free seminars and master classes on child and family psychology, proper nutrition, health tips for children, family budget planning and promoting gender factors at the festival,” she added.
The live festival events will be available on Arasha.org.kz website.
The Day of Family was established in 2013 in Kazakhstan. The protection of family, mothers and children is one of the important social tasks of the government. Its key approaches are provided in the Concept of Family and Gender Policy 2030 adopted in 2016.
In May, the Kazakhstan Institute of Social Development released a survey among large families with four children about what family means to them. According to the data, 73.1 percent of the respondents consider family the meaning of life. The list of popular answers included human reproduction (39 percent), happiness and love (29 percent), responsibility and obligations (16.9 percent), the basis of society (7.9 percent) and salvation from loneliness (1.6 percent).
Nur-Sultan resident Zhannur Amanbayeva, who has five children, fully supports the idea that family is the meaning of life. She believes that the lockdown and situation with the pandemic proves this.
“I am grateful that we stayed safe and sound with the children at home during lockdown. At the same time, I really missed my relatives and friends. But then I learnt many stories of doctors who worked day and night at hospitals and stayed away from their families for safety reasons. I’m inspired by how brave they are. We can learn a lot from them,” Amanbayeva said.
She also admitted that she never considered having a large family but now she sees the benefits of raising many children.
“Our parents are the happiest people when they spend time with children. Family ties are essential for the Kazakh people stretching back to ancient times. And I know that my children will remain open and friendly people because they are brought up in a big family. We support and help each other in every situation, we welcome guests at home and respect each other. We want to keep this unique tradition of our nation and I hope my children will inherit this,” she said.
