Speeches Shim
Kazakhstan enjoys the largest economy in Central Asia while serving as a link between fast-growing markets in Asia and those of Russia and Western Europe by road, rail, and a port. At the same time, Kazakhstan continues to have below-average rates of employment, tax revenue and an underdeveloped private sector. Despite institutional and legal reforms, concerns remain about the protection of law enforcement and investors rights in court. Investors have repeatedly cited the need for improved regulations since almost all disputes previously resolved were in favor of the state.
The Central Asian region includes Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, but the region is inextricably linked to neighboring Afghanistan by a vital resource: water. More than a third of Afghanistan falls in the Aral Sea basin, which it shares with Central Asian nations. Transboundary rivers like the mighty Amu Darya, Syr Darya, the Pyanj, the Murgab, Kunduz, Kokcha, and others are integral to all countries whose borders they cross.
To address the emerging needs for psychological support during the COVID-19 outbreak, USAID’s partner, UNICEF Kazakhstan joined Kazakhstan’s National Centre for Mental Health at the Ministry of Healthcare to launch a website that provides information and serves as a platform for individual online counselling services, meeting the needs of the population for psychological assistance, especially during the pandemic.
East Kazakhstan is one of the largest regions in the country. It is rich with pristine natural beauty, mineral resources and thriving industries. It is also home to the highest number of prisons and people who inject drugs; both associated with increased HIV risk as well as decreased treatment retention. As of July 31, 2020 nearly 3,200 people living with HIV were registered and only 70 percent of those had received treatment. In March 2020, the local Narcology Center reported that there are around 3,500 injecting drug users. In reality, there are even more, since people avoid registering at the medical facilities due to the stigma associated with it.
Didar Zhanibekuly points to the camping bed propped against his office wall, squeezed in-between bundles of maps. “It’s for spring,” he says, when they often work throughout the night. In Kazakhstan, spring time is flood season. “Floods have a huge impact on Kazakhstan,” says Didar, Director of the Department of Hydrology at Kazhydromet.
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