University Professors welcome Civil Forum held in Astana

 We, Canadians are composed of many nationalities representing different cultures and beliefs, different values and norms but we share a sense of a society in which citizens participate actively in public life. We believe that a healthy balance between the individual and the state, the way in which state delegates some of its non-essential function to the society either in form of self-government or NGOs makes our state stronger and dynamic.

 This is not easy to achieve and your Forum - we believe - will make a very strong contribution to the further development of the civil society in Kazakhstan, deepening mutually trustworthy relations between state and society; will engage even more citizens into contributing to its society; will further advance pluralism of ideas and actions. We truly wish you a success in your work during the Forum and even more successful implementation of its recommendations."

   Janaki Rajan, Professor, Department of Education, Jamia Milia Islamia, New Delhi. India. She was Director, SCERT, Delhi from 2000-2006. She has been associated with teacher training, curriculum development, material development for the government and municipal corporation schools of Delhi. Initiated "Culture Quest" and on-line programme for government schools of Delhi with state schools at NewYork in collaboration with CityCollege of City University of New York. She holds a doctoral degree in Cognitive Development of Children, Masters in Psychology, English and Education and Bachelors, Honours Degree in Chemistry. In her address we can read "We congratulate the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan for its vision and leadership in encouraging and supporting civil society for active involvement in national development, and we wish the country all success in this important endeavor. We welcome Kazakhstan's invitation to NGOs and civil society representatives of other countries to take part in the Civil Forum process and events; this is a notable service to international development dialogue, and provides a most valuable opportunity for the exchange of knowledge and experience. We express our deep appreciation for the inclusion of our own organization in the 2009 Civil Forum, and look forward to learning from the Kazakhstan experience.

Taking part in the Fourth Civil Forum holds positive potential for generating opportunities for mutual learning and cooperation between our two countries. We are glad to offer our own interest and support for continuing interaction and learning on shared concerns in social development. We will welcome contact and interaction on (here mention the fields of interest). We hope to make our contribution to the exchange process by exploring future opportunities for civil society representatives and scholars of Kazakhstan to interact with the Saroijini Naidu Centre for Women's Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia. On this occasion, it is our honor and pleasure to convey our best wishes for the success of the Fourth Civil Forum as a signal expression of Kazakhstan's commitment to participatory development.