Ahead of the International Day of Disabled Persons (3 December) Lyazzat Kaltayeva, a leader of the NGO supporting the rights of people with disabilities, was awarded at the Asia Pacific Award of fighters for the rights of people with disabilities.

The joint UNDP project introduced the drip irrigation system in the farmlands of more than 1,400 residents of Akmola region. More than 2,000 school children and students of the district's orphanages receive fortified food from products cultivated with usage of new technology.

A joint UNDP-GEF programme has installed new heating equipment in several schools and 13 old apartment buildings in Kazakhstan to regulate heat in an energy-efficient way.

While a number of complex public-administration reforms have been implemented, regional and local governments still have difficulty delivering on their commitments. With the support of a presidential decree, in 2011 the President’s Administration, together with the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, developed a national system for public-administration assessment. It covers national and regional – or oblast -- executive bodies, capital cities, and cities of republican status.

How much do we know or want to know about our fellow citizens with disabilities? At the moment, over 600,000 people suffering from Down syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy and other diseases live side by side with us. If one adds their family members, the number of people exposed to disabilities, directly or indirectly, on a daily basis, grows dramatically. These people often have no chance to attend schools, get a job, have a family or realize their creative potential, since most of them are stigmatized as unteachable since childhood.

Ahead of the International Day of Disabled Persons (3 December) Lyazzat Kaltayeva, a leader of the NGO supporting the rights of people with disabilities, was awarded at the Asia Pacific Award of fighters for the rights of people with disabilities.

The grant programme under the UNDP and RK Ministry of Labor and Social Protection Project provided funding to NGOs based in Kostanay, Karaganda and Almaty to develop effective approaches to social services for people with special needs