Over the last some years much has been written about the status of women in Kazakhstan, to be more precise, about how it has worsened because of economic situation created by the collapse of the Soviet system.

Much has changed since those days. Now I look back and wonder if we really were equal, or we simply were satisfied with our status. I also wonder how much we have lost by giving our status to men without a struggle. Yet, women and men currently face common difficulties dealing with the new market conditions. So, the question is should we strive for equality, or should cry about the losses of social protection? For women, the answer is obvious because they, in fact, very often can deal with the market economy better than the men can.

Now it is necessary to think in completely different terms. When women were deprived of the childcare system for their children and the right to a free education, they stood up staunchly to protect their children from the approach of illiteracy and poverty. They did this by going to work in the new marketplace economy. So, former teachers, scientists, doctors, engineers now go to the markets of cities and villages with cheap goods procured in Poland, China, Turkey, Southern Korea, and India. By selling these imported goods, women can support not only their families but also pay for their children’s education, which has became rather expensive under the present conditions. The statistics speak of the fact that women comprise up to 80 % of the people selling goods in the markets of Kazakhstan. Among this category of businesswomen, 36 % are the women who have the highest educational background [1].

The women assimilated into the new field of entrepreneurship very quickly. However, the activity, while relatively simple, requires huge amounts of time and becomes thus an all-absorbing activity. Thanks to having received a good education, the women know how to battle on two fronts every day – in and out of home. However, not having significant means and access to cheap advantageous credit, women have been limited to acting as small business entrepreneurs. This can ensure a livelihood for their families, but leaves nothing for their professional and cultural development, for leisure, or for hobbies.

All these problems are well described in modern feminist literature of the countries with transition economics, and there is no need to repeat the truisms. Serious investigators have published numerous scientific articles and monographs about this phenomenon giving an evaluation of the impact of the economic reforms on women. Perhaps, in Kazakhstan, the greatest quantity of publications on gender themes is devoted to the problem of female unemployment and the reasons that caused it.

The chairman of the Association of the Sociologists and Politologists of Almaty Dr. Bahytzhamal Bekturganova in her manuscript “Sociology of Women: Kazakhstan 1995-1998” comes to the following conclusions:

Under conditions of recession, gender differences have not been taken into account: it is difficult for all of us to have to face the problem of how to survive. Not only is the life of women similar to the life of men, their civil status has been equalized. “Equality” of genders has become a new, secret form of discrimination against women, which clearly is exhibited in the labor market. The men of Kazakhstan, following the example of their brothers who conquered the Wild West, make haste to occupy the new advantageous positions, and leaving for women less advantageous positions. In the labor market, and in the political realm, women have had to let men get ahead and be content with auxiliary spheres of activity.  This means, that the political equality of men and women receives democratic treatment only on words. In fact, the archaic principles from the times of batyrs and barymty1 actions have been used to legalize “The right of the strong”. The fruits of female emancipation turned out to be beyond the power of women. What they opposed in the past - violence and oppression – they are now subjected to. The difference is only to that if earlier they were compelled to obey to men, now they voluntarily surrender to fate and circumstances.

 And further:

The majority of the Kazakhstan women live in captivity of false stereotypes, determined by such concepts as “the small world”, “small life”, and many women are not even aware of the way their lives are limited. The scale of female interests in most cases is narrowed to the world of a home kitchen, which removes women from the public sphere. Therefore, more often women appear in the role of indirect observers indifferently contemplating the events of the political life from the windows of their kitchens. If the bearers of the problems themselves are indifferent to the policy, then accordingly, the policy is impenetrable for women’s problems. The policy reacts only to those needs that publicly declare themselves. Therefore, not accidentally, of women’s problems in our country are lined up in a long queue of expectations waiting a solution. In order to be heard, however, they must first be given a voice. [2].

Further comment, I would say, is not needed.

In our country, women tentatively began to discuss women’s issues after the Beijing Conference in 1995. Since then, women have become more vocal and more able to present their concerns through various publications. Recently, a strong women’s movement has appeared along with scientific literature on women’s issues. Under the influence of the western feminist movement, which has come to the country with international donor agencies, we now have a new research from scientists who are showing interest in gender research, and they have already defended their first doctoral theses on this theme.

          Very soon it will be possible to speak about the Kazakhstan school of gender studies and its own contributions to the theory of women’s studies and development of solutions for women’s problems. We have all the necessary preconditions for it. Meanwhile, it is possible only again to state the words of above-mentioned Dr.Bekturganova:

Why is it in Kazakhstan, where it is impossible to call the position of women in any way fair and happy, we have no gender research and gender educational programs, while in developed countries, where the position of women is much strong, they have academic base that studies women’s problems? [2].

The status of gender studies

In the developed democratic countries of Northern America, Central, and East Europe the centers of gender studies have existed since the early 1980s. At first they were opened as independent centers, and they then were integrated in universities and colleges, as departments or faculties on women’s studies. The majority of these structures, which started from conducting women’s research gradually, evolved to include many aspects of social sciences. They have given a scientific definition to gender relations as the necessary category in the analysis of social relations, introduced gender in the analysis of problems of development, and worked out of the strategies of sustainable development.

Central Asian countries possess not a smaller scientific potential for reaching the standards of the western gender research. At various periods of development, the essential research was conducted, resulting in various books, magazines, articles devoted to "women’s issues". All of them require sorting and systematization by theme groups. For example, the women’s non-governmental agencies in cooperation with a number of independent researchers and the Gender in Development Bureau have published the first Report on the Status of Women in Kazakhstan, 1997.

The Association of the Sociologists and Politologists of Almaty, the Institute of Kazakhstan Development, and the National Statistical Agency have prepared a number of sociological and statistical reviews on specific gender issues, mainly on the subject of women and the reform. In the summer of 1997, the former Council on Family, Women and the Demographic Policy under the President of the RK conducted the first scientific conference in Kazakhstan on gender studies, which also has highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of the gender science in the country.

According to words of Dr. Alma Abikenova, Professor of the Karaganda State University:

In order to conduct serious scientific research in the area of gender relations, we need to develop practical recommendations for gender sensitivity of the national policy. Also we need to introduce gender perspectives in the legislative acts on elimination of a gender inequality and discrimination, by preparing experts in the area of gender research. Thus, we need a scientific base in the form of the Center on Gender Studies.

The time has come for an actual institutional registration of gender research. And it is necessary to begin with preparation of experts in the area of the gender methodology. Because of the lack of scientists interested in gender issues, adequate integration of gender theory in the intellectual sphere of the Kazakhstan society is impossible [3].

Due to the efforts of the UNDP Regional Gender Program, women’s NGOs, and the Gender in Development Bureau the Center of Gender Studies was created in 1998. But the Center is still powerless and small. However, gradually it is becoming the core of the school that is being organized on gender research in Kazakhstan. At present, its main achievement has become the development of the interdisciplinary curricula on gender theory. The course was successfully introduced in the Almaty State University in 1999.

Based on this successful introduction of gender studies at one of the largest universities in the country, we can anticipate that the other higher educational institutions in the Republic will introduce similar programs. This year we will see how many higher educational institutions in the Republic will create such a program and what the response of the broad public is to this innovation.

The Institute of Philosophy at the National Academy of Sciences is setting up a project, with the financial support of the UNDP, that is developing and publishing an introductory course on the gender theory. This will serve as the manual for the students of the higher educational institutions of the country. A set of brochures on various “gender” themes in Kazakhstan and methods of teaching of this course will supplement the manual.

Thus, all preconditions for the introduction of research on gender issues in Kazakhstan have been created. It is necessary to observe how will this process develop further, how it will take root in our cross-cultural country, and what polemics will it initiate in the scientific circles. Any discussion will be only to the benefit, as it will show that society is not indifferent to the existing problems of gender issues.

The initiation of the women’s movement in Kazakhstan has helped people to understand the necessity of overcoming gender stereotypes and patriarchal relationships in the society in many ways. It is difficult for the older generation to acquire new points of view. Sometimes we even here periodic calls for prohibition of abortion or the re-introduction of the polygamy in accordance with the archaic customs. But the new generation generally is free from conventional dogmas and is capable of accepting more progressive ideas. Now it is important to prove necessity of women’s rights advocacy for a harmonic, sustainable development of the society.

Forms of women’s activism

According to the Report on the Status of Women in Kazakhstan, 1997:

An upsurge in the activity of women’s organizations took place at the end of the 1980s and the beginning 1990s, as a result of the proclamation of the Law on Public Associations. The first wave of women’s NGOs lacked coordination, with leaders who had begun their activity by drawing attention to women’s issues (women’s rights, women’s status in the transition period, involvement of women in enterprise). This was the period in which independent actions were first strengthen by team-building, establishment of contacts with similar organizations in the region, with international foundations, and state structures. In 1995-1996, the situation as a whole in the Republic called for change in the activity of women’s organizations, toward social programs, and joining the women’s organizations were groups with a social aim, working in the realms of the family, disabled children, the lonely elderly, and other social vulnerable groups. There are not enough of them yet, they are not spread across the large territories, and their financial resources are limited. Though today these organizations play a rather modest role, their appearance is an important factor in women’s participation in social and economic life of the state. The majority of the leaders of the women’s NGOs were trained in strengthening their organizations during the training courses organized with the help of the foreign funds. The main sphere of the activity of the women’s NGOs is protection of the socially vulnerable layers of the population, support to the women-entrepreneurs, promotion of women’s problems in the society through mass media, and organization of conferences. Today women’s organizations have become an active part of the civil society. They have begun preparatory activities for forming a coalition of women’s organizations. The Gender in Development Bureau has started its activity [1].

The Gender in Development Bureau

As reflected in the previous opinions, much research has marked the positive role of the Gender in Development Bureau in Kazakhstan. This UNDP project has been developed on the basis of the Copenhagen Declaration (1990), and pursuant to the solutions of the Beijing World Women's Conference (1995). Its purpose is to attract attention of the public and mobilize the political will and resources to change both the status and the living standard of women and their families.

            The UN development programs is guided by the following principles in its activity:

Despite of the wide experience of the UN in the field of dealing with women’s issues, the ready formulaic solutions do not exist. So far the UN reports still have to state that not a single country in the world has actually achieved equal rights in the position of women and men. Though the situation in the Scandinavian countries is more or less close to the ideal that UN has recommended for the world. Therefore, the Gender in Development Bureau in Kazakhstan has established a good partnership with the women’s organizations of Sweden and successfully works on implementation of a number of joint projects.

       We have made great progress in the last four years. When we opened the Bureau in 1996, the situation in the country was as follows. Kazakhstan, after having gained its independence in 1991, proclaimed its adherence to the democratic norms of the state construction. This was as it should have been because it was necessary to develop a civil society.

In 1996 according to the official reports, only around 30 women’s NGOs could be counted. As its national mechanism, it was decided to place the Council on Family, Women and Demographic Policy under the President. The Council had consultative/deliberative functions, without possessing any executive authority. Naturally, its activity was practically imperceptible in the society, except for separate official reports in newspapers about their regular meetings. The Council worked out annual national reports on the position of women in Kazakhstan for the President of the RK to which the public did not have any access. Besides, it developed and ratified by the Decree of the President the Concept of the State Policy on Improving the Position of Women. It conducted some regular meetings, where the circle of the invited participants was practically constant and consisted of the members of the Council and the Republican Women’s Council (successor of soviet “zhensovet”). The National Platform for Actions on implementation of the Beijing Conference Resolution had been drafted but had not been approved by the Government. Till 1998, not a single international convention in the field of women’s rights had been ratified. 

On 29 June 1998, however, Kazakhstan joined the UN Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). In December 1998, in order to implement the Convention, and to strengthen the mechanisms for women, the Council was reformed into the National Commission on Family and Women Affairs under the President. The President defined four main priorities for the National Commission: 1) promotion of women and family health, 2) active participation of women in the public and political life of the country and their advancement into the decision-making level, 3) economic empowerment of women, and 4) eradication of violence against women.  The National Action Plan on Improving the Status of Women in the Republic of Kazakhstan was developed within the framework of the long-term strategy Kazakhstan-2030. The Plan was endorsed by the decree of the Government. So, we now have a comprehensive action program for women of our country that ensures the implementation of the decisions of the Beijing conference. 

Women’s political leadership

Increasing the women’s role in society will lead to solution of women’s problems in all priority areas indicated in the Beijing Platform for Actions. Therefore, one of the basic directions in the activity of the Bureau has become the training of women under the program "Strategy of a women's political leadership in the democratic society". For Kazakhstan this direction is very important because there are a few women occupy management positions. For example, 12% of the members of the Parliament are women,  and only one woman is a minister, the Chairman of the recently formed National Commission on Family and Women Affairs. In local governmental bodies, the percent of women’s participation is a little bit higher, but nowhere does it exceed 20%. Actually, a traditional gender pyramid has developed – the higher the level of authority, the fewer women you can find there.

From the early 1997 to the end of 1999 in various regions of the country, the Bureau worked with the Association of Business Women of Kazakhstan and donor agencies (SIDA, USIA, Konrad Adenayer Foundation, the British Know How Foundation) to conduct a score of training programs on women's political leadership. Teachers from the USA, Great Britain, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan shared their knowledge with women in the field about the political struggle for their rights, for equal participation in the society, for positions in power. About 200 women - representatives of all regions of the country - participated in these seminars and training programs. In summer of 1997, the Summer Women’s Camp was conducted under the title Kazakhstan-97, where simultaneously 50 women from all regions of the country studied. Besides, the Bureau supported a number of women’s meetings in the regions of the Republic where they discussed themes devoted to the role of international organizations in the solution of women’s problems, women’s leadership, legislative measures for protecting women’s rights, the growth and development of the women’s NGOs, and the similar issues.

Is this enough for a country as large as Kazakhstan? There have been many disputes and doubts. The questions were asked about whether these short-term studies were necessary or not, if there would be any results, and how they could be evaluated? Also, people wondered what influence they would have on the ratio of women and men occupying the highest official positions. Now we are sure: they are necessary. Due to these seminars and training programs, women from the remote regions of the country, who are well educated and active by nature, but who lived an informational vacuum, felt their own strength for the first time. Different branches of the Association of the Business Women of Kazakhstan started to be established one after another. Their number grew from 6 in 1997 to 23 in 1999. New women’s NGOs have started to appear. Recently while compiling the list of women’s organizations in the Republic, we were surprised to find that their number has increased to almost a 100. Even more often, we heard the women’s voices about the necessity of creation of a women’s political party.

Especially active were the women’s NGOs in 1998-1999 before the presidential elections and the elections for the members to the local representative bodies of the Government and Parliament. Within a short period of time, the women’s NGOs in Almaty created a coalition Women’s Electoral Initiatives. The Coalition has developed a program that included training for women running for elective offices, working with government, and working with mass media for creation of real equal opportunities for women. In August 1999, the first political women’s party “Political Alliance of Women’s Organizations” was registered and has been struggling for positions in representative bodies at all levels of power.

Women and Violence

Violence against women is the second priority theme which has received broad recognition in society due to the efforts of women’s organizations supported by UNDP/ Bureau Gender and development. In 1997, the Bureau jointly with the World Health Organization (WHO) conducted a seminar on Woman and Violence, where the women’s NGOs and representatives of the state bodies participated. As a result of the seminar, a resolution was adopted which among other measures called for a public action Public Awareness Week on Violence Against Women and Children. This action had a startling effect. The problem of violence, at last, started to be discussed openly. And it was pleasant to realize that the main purpose – attraction of the public attention and the attention of the politicians to this problem - was achieved. In his annual address on September 30, 1998, to the people of Kazakhstan, the President declared a struggle with manifestations of violence against women among the priorities of the State policy. He especially, noted the role of women’s NGOs and the UNDP in bringing this issue to the nation’s attention.

The National Action Plan stipulates establishment of a new, effective system of combating violence against women, which includes a draft Law on Domestic Violence, development and implementation of a state reporting system on issues of violence against women, establishment number of crisis centers throughout the country, and other measures. A special division on combating violence against women was established within the Ministry of Interior. Professional counseling for the population on issues of violence against women will be developed and introduced into the curriculum of universities and colleges of law-enforcement bodies. [6]

Economic advancement of women

As stated in the Report on the Women’s Status in Kazakhstan, 1997:

Out of the total Republic of Kazakhstan population women comprise around 7.8 million (or 51.8 %). In 1999 the percentage ratio of women in the total number of the employed made 46%. Thus, the indexes of women’s employment now remain rather low. The restructuring of the economy has resulted in increases of women’s share in the private sector, in small and medium business, and in non-productive spheres of service. According to the official data for 1995, 30 % of the total number of people involved with small businesses are women. But only 2% of the managers of small and medium businesses are women. The increase of unemployment is the main reason for poverty. According to official data, women make up 63.2% of the unemployed. Thus, we see the "feminization" of unemployment and poverty – a well-known fact. The consequence of such a tendency is a conscious limitation of the birth rate, the worsening of the health of the population, and an increasing the crime rate. [1].

Thus, we need to be render assistance to women to help them develop small and medium sized businesses that will improve women’s situation in the labor market and that will ensure self-employment of women. This will help to solve the problem of the increasing poverty among the population of Kazakhstan.

In 1997 the UNDP together with the International Mercy Corps and the United States’ Agency on International Development (USAID) started a new project called The Status and Economic Advancement of the Women of Kazakhstan, which in two pilot regions began to provide micro-credits to women’s business. And though the provision of micro-credits is a drop in the ocean of the economic problems the population faces, we hope that this will become the way to enlarge credits and big business.

In 1998-1999, the Gender in Development Bureau joined its Swedish partner, Springboard Management Consulting, which has received the financial support from the Swedish Agency on International Development (SIDA) to execute a project on creation of the women’s network. This network will unite all the women’s NGOs working in the field of women’s employment and business. For this purpose, new computers were installed in all branches of the Association of the Business Women of Kazakhstan.

           The National Action Plan envisages improvement of women’s economic, legal, and professional literacy. Unemployed women will continue to train on market economy skills, and training centers on labor skills will be opened. It also envisages simplifying the credit mechanisms and establishing a special division within the Temir-Bank crediting projects of women entrepreneurs.

Conclusion

Because gender studies were poorly developed in Kazakhstan, and because there was an insufficient quantity of literature, both domestic and foreign, the amount of gender research in Kazakhstan has been limited to methods in developed countries. The position of women, and the condition of gender relations in the society are mainly evaluated with statistical data and standard analytical methods used by the state bodies. Scientific sociological societies and research institutes use in their work qualitative and quantitative methods of researches based on sociological inquiries. However, solely using these statistical and sociological methods of analysis is obviously insufficient because of many examples of hidden discrimination against women remain beyond the scope of such methods of research. When working out the annual human development reports executed by the UNDP system, it became clear that gender indicators are not used for the evaluation of a human development index in Kazakhstan

The report prepared by a group of experts by the order of the UNDP states the following conclusion:

The limited resources and the absence of the necessary information about women are obstacles to the development of research on the women’s problems and cause them to have a rather academic, abstract character. Gender research should be the basis for evaluating the influence of reforms on the women’s position and should serve as a source of the proposals on adjusting the carried out reform [4].

The same group of experts made a comparative analysis of the techniques of a statistical analysis recommended by the European Union and the techniques used in Kazakhstan. According to this analysis, recommendations were given for improving the collection of the statistical data and data analysis in Kazakhstan. The UNDP is going to conduct further work in this direction.

To begin to solve women’s problems, an expert of the Kazakhstan Development Institute Dr. Gulnara Ahmedzhanova worked out the following recommendations to the country’s politicians:

·        We should develop scientific understanding of a women’s issues in Kazakhstan.

·        We should implement and encourage gender research investigating the problems of women’s socialization and how they adapt to the changing  conditions of the social – economic development.

·        We should conduct regular events and campaigns for general population on women’s issues

·        We should popularize women’s concerns through the mass media and by making special courses on gender issues an obligatory part of the general education.

·        We should adopt, at the state level, special acts that increase the status of women. These acts providing the economic incentives and privileges, should increase the interest of employers in hiring the citizens who have family responsibilities.

·        We should create a network of psychological and rehabilitation services for the women requiring such a help.

·        We should create the infrastructure that allows for self-realization of women by providing pre-school establishments, a network of consumer services, and other services that give women a chance to work effectively for a full working day.

·        We should create mechanisms that provide soft credits for women’s business.

·        We should establish a women’s movement in Kazakhstan that defends not only the social but the political rights of women. [5].

Thus, the activity of women’s organizations, the UNDP, and other international organizations in Kazakhstan has not gone unnoticed. This confirms the effectiveness of the selected strategies and tactics of the women’s movement activists. The main goal has been achieved: we have attracted the attention of the important statesmen and the public to women’s problems. During a short period of time, the National Action Plan on Increasing the Status of Women was developed and has been approved by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Three UN women’s rights conventions were adopted in 1998-1999 by the Parliament of Kazakhstan: the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Convention on Political Rights of Women, and the Convention on Nationality of Married Women. In compliance with these directives, the next objective is to make these abstract plans work on a practical level for a wide range of the populace.

Galiya Khassanova

       Bibliography:

1.       “The Report on the Women’s Status. The Republic of Kazakhstan, 1997”. Almaty, 1998.

2.       Bahytzhamal Bekturganova “Sociology of Women: Kazakhstan, 1995-1998.”, Almaty, 1998 (manuscript).

3.       Alma Abikenova “Perspectives of Gender Researches Development in Kazakhstan” (manuscript).

4.       Maira Amirhanova, Rosa Dzhalimbetovna “The Report on the Contemporary Status of the Gender Statistics”, UNDP, Almaty, 1998.

5.       Gulnara Ahmedzhanova “The National Report on the Effect of the Process of Restructuring and Gender Relations”, (a survey for the UN Sub-regional Conference on Poverty, Almaty, 1998).

6.       The National Report on Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action on Improving the Status of Women, Astana, 2000.