Kazakhstan hosts first Central Asian Volunteer Forum

The first Central Asian Volunteer Forum is taking place in Kazakhstan. It is attended by about 200 delegates from Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. The participants noted that in recent years, the number of volunteer organizations in the host country increased threefold. To date, there are more than 600 of them. In addition, various training events and volunteering campaigns are being held as part of the forum. The participants intend to create new joint projects and establish cooperation at the international level.

“Sometimes initiative groups are formed in some cities, but they are not supported. They don't even have a regular front office, which means they have to find an office space at their own expense. Since it is volunteering, we do it all at our own expense. Renting an office costs money. So, unfortunately, after a while, these groups disband, since they have neither an office nor support. Therefore, of course, support is very much needed in this regard,” said a volunteer Olessya Baimova.

“We have seen from the experience of our state how necessary this volunteer work is. The pandemic and other natural and manmade disasters have shown that volunteer aid plays an important role during such times. Therefore, it is necessary to spread this experience around the world and to adopt other new projects following the example of different organizations. This forum does not end there. Other activities are planned for next year,” added Madiyar Kozhakhmet, Chairperson of the Committee for Civil Society Affairs at Kazakh Ministry of Information and Social Development.