Participants in ODIHR event in Astana call for continued capacity-building efforts, dialogue to advance freedom of religion or belief in Kazakhstan

The importance of promoting the right to freedom of religion or belief as a core component of ensuring sustainable security in Kazakhstan was highlighted by participants in a meeting organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Astana on 13 February 2018.

Thirty-eight people (20 women and 18 men), including project stakeholders and beneficiaries, and national decision-makers in the area of freedom of religion or belief and related areas took part in the event. They stressed the importance of building capacity in all sections of society to promote this human right.

The event marked the conclusion of the ODIHR project on promoting security and social cohesion through advancing freedom of religion or belief for all in Central Asia. It provided an opportunity for a discussion of project achievements and lessons learned, as well as the development of recommendations to all relevant stakeholders for future action.

"The project is significant in the sense that it is the first of its kind in Kazakhstan to utilize a capacity-building process, involving multiple state and non-state actors, to strengthen security and social cohesion based on respect for everyone’s freedom of religion or belief," said Jennifer Croft, Deputy Head of ODIHR’s Human Rights Department. "The challenge now is to ensure the sustainability of the gains made, and ODIHR will be giving careful consideration to the recommendations from this final project meeting."

The participants shared concrete examples of how a pool of active and committed professionals, including state officials and representatives of civil society, was able to take forward the capacity-building efforts.

"It is important to recognize the positive impact the capacity-building process has had on the participants," said Kamila Amirzhan, a senior researcher in Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Justice and graduate of the train-the-trainer course on freedom of religion or belief and security for state officials held in Astana in September 2017. "I personally gained greatly from my experience of serving as a trainer in the national training for state officials that followed the train-the-trainer course."

Participants also discussed policy implications of the learning experience generated by the ODIHR project.  

"The events organized by ODIHR created valuable opportunities for discussion of urgent questions facing Kazakhstan regarding religion or belief and their expression in society," said Lyazzat Yangaliyeva, a representative of the Baha'i community. "It is important that state authorities and civil society continue this dialogue beyond the lifetime of the project."