Kazakhstan

While university scholarships provided to Kazakhstan’s disadvantaged youth will certainly help them towards brighter futures, there is still an important component necessary for becoming empowered and successful individuals.

Some of the American, oil-company-based engineers with whom I play basketball in Atyrau, Kazakhstan understand what “Peace Corps” service means—thanks in part to its exceptional reputation and marketing—but have a tougher time understanding IREX’s international development work. “So do you get paid now?” is a question I’ve heard. But really, how much should Peace Corps service and international development differ in the perceptions of others or even me?

While recently visiting sub-grantees of the BOTA Foundation in Almaty, Kazakhstan, I met a group of young adults who are developing their professional talents, despite never having had attended school and rarely having had the opportunities to leave their homes.  It is not that Almaty lacks schools; there are many schools of high quality that are developing a skilled workforce that is supporting their country’s economic growth.  Nor are they excluded from the education system based on their ethnic or linguistic aff

Last week, I attended a discussion on sectoral approaches to encouraging civil society in countries that may not be amenable to civic participation or criticism. The idea was that civic participation could be encouraged by NGOs and CSOs that focus on the provision of services that governments cannot provide, rather than focus on advocacy or watchdog activities often associated with, but only part of, civil society.