OUR FOCUS
Making gender equality a reality is a core commitment of UNDP. UNDP recognizes that women empowerment and gender equality is vital to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which envisions a world of universal respect for human rights and human dignity in which every woman and girl enjoys full gender equality and all legal, social and economic barriers to their empowerment have been removed. UNDP in Kazakhstan integrates gender equality principles across its all areas of work: sustainable development, democratic governance and peacebuilding, climate and disaster resilience. To success UNDP works with the government, civil society and local communities.
Kazakhstan is located at the crossroads between Europe and Asia. Kazakhstan is an upper-middle-income country with quite a high ranking in the Human Development Index - 58th out of 157 countries. Kazakhstan also ranks high overall in key gender and development indicators, with women Gender Development Index (GDI) of 0,795 compared with 0,790 for men. This cumulative GDI of 1.006 indicates high equality between women and men. In addition, over the past years, Kazakhstan steadily reduced its Gender Inequality Index value from 0.405 in 2000 to 0.197 in 2017 bringing it lower than the average for Europe and Central Asia Countries-0.279.
Despite its higher ranking, Kazakhstan is not continuing to narrow its gender gap. In particular, low ranking in the World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Index (GGGI) for political representation of women, women’s labor force participation and gender wage differences indicate that persistent difference in opportunities for women and men.
In Kazakhstan, UNDP works to support the country in meeting the gender equality commitments. A particular emphasis is placed on promoting measures that offer more opportunities for women to participate in decision-making, to be more competitive on the labour market, to take leadership positions in the private sector and to stand jointly against the gender-based violence. For that, UNDP envisages a more inclusive, sustainable and resilient world.
