The EU launches projects to protect rights of vulnerable in Kazakhstan
The two-year projects will be funded within the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) program, which is the EU financing instrument to support civil society initiatives on promoting human rights and freedoms, civil participation and the rule of law, the official website of the EU Delegation to Kazakhstan reads.
The project "Inclusive Kazakhstan", implemented by the Eurasia Foundation of Central Asia (EFCA) in partnership with Tandau and Erekshe Tandau Shelek Foundation, aims to protect and enforce the rights of persons with disabilities to free movement and equal access to facilities and services in Kazakhstan in accordance with international standards. It will cover 17 cities of Kazakhstan for the period of January 2019- March 2021. The project budget is EUR 315,635 with a total EU grant of EUR 299,853.
"This project represents the interests not only people with disabilities, but also people with limited mobility, such as parents with wheelchairs, pregnant women, elderly people and people with temporary disabilities. Thanks to new information technologies, the project will allow all of the above mentioned groups to more effectively protect their rights and interests in resolving the issue of providing access to services and infrastructure", said Rinad Temirbekov, EFCA Executive Director.
The second project entitled "Enhancing Legal Protection of Migrants Rights in Kazakhstan" was launched by the Legal Policy Research Centre in partnership with International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and the International Commission of Jurists Europe (ICJ Europe in January 2019. The project is aimed to enhance the access of migrants to national and international human rights and protection mechanisms on the territory of Kazakhstan and fostering professional mutual learning and cooperation between specialized legal practitioners from Kazakhstan, and their European counterparts. The total budget of the project is EUR 315,789, with EU contribution of EUR 300,000. It will cover Astana, Almaty and Shymkent cities and last until December 2020.
"This project to ultimately improve the protection of the rights various groups of labour migrants, through access to justice, by equipping their main point of entry to the justice system - lawyers affiliated and CSO legal practitioners - with the knowledge, skills and know-how to understand and defend rights, and to promote the implementation of relevant international and national law. In broad terms, the project will contribute to the promotion and protection of human rights and to the strengthening of both the national and international frameworks by supporting national lawyers and CSO legal practitioners to become an effective force for change", said Tatyana Zinovich, LPRC Acting Director.
Despite their geographical and thematic variety, two projects will serve the common goals, such as protection rights of socially vulnerable groups; widening cooperation with local and national authorities and promote civil society's voice in the decision-making and legislation drafting; and increasing public awareness on human rights issues and make more information on these topics available to citizens.
