ABA ROLI’s Kazakhstan Rule of Law Program Supported Legislative Changes Toward More Transparent Funding Sources for CSOs in Kazakhstan

The Government of Kazakhstan introduced a financial support framework - a grant mechanism for civil society organizations in the country to provide sustainability toward various innovative projects that have been underway since 2015. However, this mechanism has shortcomings in terms of planning, selecting, and assessing grant applications. The Kazakhstan Rule of Law program (KROL), funded by USAID and implemented by the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI), assessed the current state of civil society in the country. The assessment found that there has been an increase in new independent non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and their experts appearing on public platforms and partaking in Ministry of Information and Social Development (MISD) discussions. Newly established NGOs are actively seeking funding opportunities from various sources to sustain their operations. However, at the national level, the country lacks a systematic approach to support CSOs in achieving financial sustainability and enhancing their organizational capacity.

ABA ROLI’s assessment revealed gaps in the existing mechanisms for public discussion about state grants, such as the issue of funding allocations for grants lots, decisions are formed without proper justification or consideration of existing standards for the provision of services to NGOs. Many NGOs prefer not to implement projects, realizing they will not be able to provide the required quality of services with the provided Terms of Reference and allocated funds.

To address and learn good practices in developing an enhanced legal environment for the CSOs, KROL, in cooperation with the Committee on Civil Society Affairs of the Ministry of Information and Social Development, organized a change workshop in Croatia devoted to the topic: “Legal and Institutional Mechanisms for CSO/Government interaction in Croatia.” The workshop was held from April 2 to 9, 2022.

During the change workshop, the delegation from Kazakhstan included representatives from the Government, the Civil Initiatives Support Center (the Grant Operator), and NGOs. They met with the Croatian Government Office for Cooperation with CSOs; the National Foundation for Civil Society Development; and Croatian CSOs focused on gender equality, public advocacy and anti-corruption. Participants explored examples of the state support of CSOs; and the Croatian legal framework governing public participation in the development, implementation, and monitoring of public policies, with a view to their applicability in Kazakhstan. 

As a result, the delegation from Kazakhstan developed a change plan, which includes specific actions aimed to apply selected best practices of state funding and participatory policymaking in Kazakhstan. The change plan also introduced amendments to Members of Parliament to consider the Law on Amendments and Additions to the Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Volunteering, Charity, State Social Order and Grants for Non-Governmental Organizations and the Rules on the Developing, Providing, Monitoring and Evaluation of the Efficiency of the State Grants. 

Ms. Aigerim Karimova is a young professional and works as the Director of the Department of Development and Cooperation of the Civil Initiatives Support Center (CISC), which is a non-governmental organization and a leading grant operator in Kazakhstan. She said this about her experience during the change workshop, “I had the honor, on behalf of the Center, to get acquainted and learn from the experience of Croatian colleagues in providing state support to CSOs, as well as the mechanism of interaction between the state and civil society.”

The CISC serves as a bridge between the government and civil society and works to solve urgent social problems by providing State and non-state grants for NGOs, as well as monitoring their implementation. Aigerim Karimova explained that she was particularly interested in the experience and mechanism of work of the National Foundation for Civil Society Development, which is the grant operator to support NGO initiatives in Croatia. “Our Сenter does the same functions such as interaction between government and NGOs in Kazakhstan, ensuring greater transparency of grant-making activities as well as monitoring grant implementation,” said Aigerim Karimova. 

To share the results and lessons learned from the study tour, she organized a peer-to-peer meeting with her colleagues, and they developed recommendations on application of Croatian approaches and criteria in the grant mechanism of Kazakhstan’s Law on Volunteering, Charity, State Social Order and Grants for Non-Governmental Organizations. The law was adopted in July 2022 and included new approaches of grant financing to CSOs in Kazakhstan, such as a simplified system for grants, short-term grants (3 months to 1-year), medium-term grants (1 to 2 years), and long-term (2+ years). NGOs who received a grant can use 5 and 10% of the grant’s funds for logistics and institutional development, along with the Croatian National Foundation for Civil Society Development experience.

The CISC participated in a working group with other representatives of CSOs and Ministry of Information and Social Development and together developed recommendations and proposals for consideration into the legal acts of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Volunteering, Charity, State Social Order and Grants for Non-Governmental Organizations.  Suggestions included: to ensure efficient evaluation of grants applications and to improve the selection process, it was suggested to increase the number of the competition Commission Experts from 3 to 5. As a result, the Rules on the Developing, Providing, Monitoring and Evaluation of the Efficiency of the State Grants were approved in September 2022. 

These legislative changes aim to enhance the transparency of funding sources, and to support an enabling legal environment for CSOs in the country. ABA ROLI’s Kazakhstan Rule of Law program has contributed to raising the awareness of CSOs on existing mechanisms for civic participation, the legislative process through both the development of a practical manual on the fundamentals of lawmaking, and the organization of regional seminars in the country. Recently, Jennifer Brunner, Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio, provided video lectures for the KROL program to use for training sessions on international experience in strengthening the leadership and negotiation skills of CSOs. These trainings are available on ABA ROLI’s YouTube channel in both Kazakh and Russian.    

About Kazakhstan Rule of Law program

In 2020, ABA ROLI began implementing the USAID-funded KROL Program, which supports improvements to the investment and business climate, the legal framework for civil society organizations (CSOs), the modernization of the judiciary, and the elimination of real and perceived bias to increase judicial independence and professionalism. The program builds on a nearly three-decade partnership between Kazakhstan and the United States to modernize the judicial system, build public trust in the judiciary, and implement judicial reforms. The program supports judicial transparency and openness by providing opportunities for businesses, CSOs, lawyers, and other interested stakeholders to interact with one another and advocate for change. 

The contents are the responsibility of author and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID, ABA ROLI or the United States Government. 

The materials contained herein represent the opinions of the authors and editors and should not be construed to be those of either the American Bar Association or ABA Rule of Law Initiative unless adopted pursuant to the bylaws of the Association. Nothing contained herein is to be considered as the rendering of legal advice for specific cases, and readers are responsible for obtaining such advice from their own legal counsel. These materials and any forms and agreements herein are intended for educational and informational purposes only.

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