ASTANA – Kazakhstan is on the way to gender equality. As of Jan. 1, women make up 55.8% of the country’s civil service, and 39.1% of them hold senior positions, the Ministry of Culture and Information reported.
Photo credit: Chief Learning Officer
At President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s initiative, special quotas have increased women’s representation in government bodies. Women now hold 18.9% of parliamentary seats (28 deputies) and 22.7% of maslikhat (local representative bodies) positions.
Women’s entrepreneurship is also growing. The share of small and medium-sized businesses owned by women has reached 48%. The Damu Entrepreneurship Development Fund has supported over 105,000 women-led projects, allocating 4.1 billion tenge (US$8.2 million).
In housing, the Umai mortgage program, launched with the Asian Development Bank, has helped 3,660 women purchase homes in the past three years. The total loan amount was 41.2 billion tenge (US$82.8 million). Additionally, widows will be added to a separate category for state housing support.
A new law on domestic violence led to the creation of a specialized department under the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Now 280 female investigators handle violent sexual crimes against women and minors, while 16,000 women have received protection from violence inspectors.
The number of Family Support Centers has grown from 33 to 104 since June 2024, with mobile teams identifying at-risk families.
The IT-Aiel project, in partnership with TechnoWomen and Astana Hub, has trained 18,000 women in digital sciences, cybersecurity, and e-commerce, increasing graduates’ incomes by 45%.
This year will be marked by two important dates on the gender agenda – the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and the 25th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 “Women. Peace. Security”. These are key international documents aimed at expanding women’s rights and ensuring gender equality.
