Last August, the Summer School on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of the Soros Foundation-Kazakhstan ‘Social Inclusive Initiative’ was held in Almaty. School speakers Gunta Ancha and Yanina Arsenyeva told us over a cup of tea how to draw the majority of people to issues of people with disabilities and fight against social stigma.

Two years ago, alumni of the ‘Public Policy’ Initiative of the Soros Foundation-Kazakhstan, Malika Tukmadiyeva and Serik Beisembayev launched a PaperLab discussion platform in Astana to support young researchers. Currently, the PaperLab platform is a successful instance of development of an expert milieu in Kazakhstan.

The inclusive theatre lab ‘Literal Action’, supported by the programme ‘New Civil  Initiatives’ of the Soros Foundation-Kazakhstan, launches a crowdfund campaign on the Kazakhstani platform Start-Time.kz. Thus, the project is aimed at raising extra funding for development; and most importantly – to be able to put on an inclusive play. We talked to the lab actors about what transformation they have been through for the last months, and why it is essential.

With the participation of active citizens and financial support of the Soros Foundation-Kazakhstan, a thematic platform ENPI.kz has been operating successfully in Kazakhstan since 2017, which specializes in effectiveness issues of the pension system. The project is aimed primarily at extending contributors’ knowledge about the work of the UAPF (Unified Accumulative Pension Fund) and taking into account the interests of contributors when reforming the pension system.