ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s Constitutional Court presented the Constitution in Braille for the first time on June 6, reported the court’s press service.
The Braille edition of the Constitution. Photo credit: gov.kz
This project, supported by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Program Office in Astana and the Ministry of Culture and Information, aims to make the text of the Basic Law accessible to citizens with visual impairments or blindness.
The translation includes both Kazakh and Russian languages using a relief-dot tactile font. The Braille editions will be distributed to 56 institutions, including national and regional libraries, training centers, and specialized schools.
According to Constitutional Court Chairwoman Elvira Azimova, creating an accessible environment is fundamental to constitutional guarantees of equality before the law and access to justice. She stated that the Just Kazakhstan policy affirms the state’s dedication to safeguarding human rights, freedoms, and non-discrimination.
“The Constitutional Court will continue to uphold the principles of equality, dignity, and justice for all in accordance with Kazakhstan’s Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Publishing the Constitution in Braille is our collective effort in advancing this policy,” she said.
Volker Frobart, head of the OSCE Program Office in Astana, highlighted that publishing Kazakhstan’s Constitution in Braille demonstrates the Kazakh constitutional control body’s dedication to human rights values and its inclusive approach to ensuring equal access to information.
Kazakhstan is a signatory of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which urges participating states to implement measures that ensure the full participation of individuals with disabilities in all aspects of life by providing access to information, education, equality before the law, legal protection, and justice.
The World Health Organization reports 160,000 visually impaired people living in Kazakhstan. The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population states that there are 85,000 blind individuals in Kazakhstan, alongside over 4,000 visually impaired children, approximately 350 of whom are blind.
