Kazakhstan and UNDP map out collaboration priorities

The parties reviewed the outcomes of their cooperation in 2025 and outlined priorities for future engagement between Kazakhstan and UNDP.

In particular, they highlighted the adoption of the UNDP Country Programme for Kazakhstan for 2026–2030, as well as the successful presentation of Kazakhstan’s third Voluntary National Review on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the UN Headquarters in New York in July. They also noted positive results of joint work in healthcare, gender equality, education, and other areas.

Special attention was given to expanding cooperation through the newly established UN Regional SDG Centre for Central Asia and Afghanistan in Almaty, and opportunities to scale up the UNDP Regional Development Programme to other regions of Kazakhstan.

Climate change, environmental protection, and water resource management were also discussed, including challenges related to the Aral Sea. In this context, UNDP representatives announced plans to hold a High-Level Event on the margins of the Regional Environmental Summit scheduled for April, focusing on the development of a regional portfolio of climate and environmental investments for Central Asia.

The parties further discussed UNDP’s participation in activities planned for 2026, which has been proclaimed by the UN General Assembly as the International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development. The year was officially launched in December at the UN Headquarters in New York.

Concluding the meeting, both parties reaffirmed their commitment to continued cooperation aimed at strengthening the strategic partnership and advancing progress toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

Earlier, Qazinform reported that at the United Nations University in Tokyo, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan gave a lecture titled “Restoring Strategic Trust in an Era of Turbulence: How Kazakhstan Envisions a Fairer and More Stable World.”