ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s ITeachMe Competence Development Center has received the Intercultural Achievement Award from Austria’s Foreign Ministry on Nov. 24 for its OrleTech project. The initiative expands IT training for youth from vulnerable families, including young people whose parents have disabilities and households raising children with special needs.
The Kazakh project won in the technology category. Other award areas include current affairs, religious freedom, health and empowerment, integration, sustainability and media. Photo credit: BMEIA/Auer-Grumbach
State Secretary Sepp Schellhorn presented the twelfth Intercultural Achievement Award, which recognizes leading civil society initiatives that promote intercultural and interfaith dialogue and foster connections across cultures and communities.
“We live in a time of profound global upheaval. In such a world, dialogue is not a luxury. It is a necessity. It builds trust where distrust grows, and understanding where fear of the other divides,” said Schellhorn at the ceremony in Vienna.
Director of ITeachMe Zahira Begaliyeva in the center. Photo credit: BMEIA/Auer-Grumbach
The OrleTech project offers a four-month intensive program designed to give participants the core skills needed to begin a career in IT. The initiative provides training in Kazakh, Russian and sign language, making digital education accessible to youth from vulnerable families.
Students can choose from three tracks. They include UX/UI design with web fundamentals, artificial intelligence tools, and no-code web development.
The UX/UI track teaches students how to design user-friendly, visually clear websites and digital products. The AI track focuses on practical applications of artificial intelligence, including generating text, images, animation and video without specialized technical training. The no-code option enables participants to build websites and applications quickly using modern visual platforms.
Commenting on the award, Andrea Bacher, the Austrian Ambassador to Kazakhstan, said it is the first time a Kazakhstan-based organization has won it.
“I am thrilled that for the first time ever, an organization from Kazakhstan won this prestigious award. It is a well-deserved recognition for their invaluable contribution to the inclusion of youth with disabilities into society and the job market,” Ambassador Andrea Bacher said in a comment for this story.
The project is run by the ITeachMe center, a public fund that promotes the inclusion of people with disabilities in social life and the labor market, with a particular focus on digital skills. It is also supported by Samruk Kazyna Sovereign Wealth Fund and Shell.
The Kazakh project won in the technology category. Other award areas include current affairs, religious freedom, health and empowerment, integration, sustainability and media.
