Call for Applications: Strengthening Civic Engagement in Kazakhstan

Deadline: 07-Jun-24
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is seeking applications for a Cooperative Agreement from qualified entities to implement the Strengthening Civic Engagement in Kazakhstan.

While the strong collaboration between the government and civil society is positive from a public service delivery perspective, CSOs dependent on public funding are unlikely to be objective in their assessment of the government. This can also limit their ability to address people’s needs and to achieve better development outcomes. Conversely, civil society actors that are not reliant on government funding can act more independently and more effectively mediate between citizens and the state.  Therefore, this activity prioritizes support for independent civil society.

USAID has identified several approaches to strengthening the civil society sector: building coalitions of actors to collaborate on shared development challenges; supporting innovative solutions to help citizens achieve a broad set of rights; and strengthening the enabling environment so that civil society can maximize their full potential to contribute to societal welfare—all while fostering a new generation of civically oriented citizens.

Goal and Objectives

• Goal – Cultivate independent and effective civil society to achieve more expansive rights for the citizens of Kazakhstan.
  • Objective 1: Strengthen public engagement through collective action to advance Kazakhstan’s reform priorities
    • Expected Results:
      • Civil society coalitions gain skills to identify reform priorities, to conduct strategic planning, to mobilize broad support, and to deploy more effective strategies to increase accountability in the government.
      • Civil society coalitions strengthen vertical and horizontal alliance building to advance reform priorities.
      • The Parliament adopts recommendations advocated by civil society coalitions which advance reform priorities that have broad public support.
  • Objective 2: Support civil society to apply innovative solutions to help people claim their fundamental rights
    • Expected Results:
      • CSOs and other non-government entities have improved skills and resources in order to respond in an effective and timely manner to emerging opportunities to advance a range of human rights.
      • Multi-stakeholder platforms have greater trust and shared vision towards improving human rights conditions for Kazakhstan’s people.
  • Objective 3: Enhance the regulatory environment to allow civil society to maximize their contributions to society
    • Expected Results:
      • CSOs acquire knowledge and skills to effectively operate under Kazakhstan’s regulations.
      • CSOs receive legal advice when faced with unwarranted charges of law-breaking.
      • The GOK amends regulations that overtly hamper CSO operations.

Problem Statements

• Statement 1: While civil society has high democratizing potential, it remains fragmented across Kazakhstan and unable to benefit from its collective strengths. 
  • Civil society is most effective when it is united, clearly signals a commitment to democratic values, works through state-sanctioned channels and legal frameworks where possible, and focuses on shared priorities within society while minimizing polarization.
• Statement 2: Although the GOK is attempting to strengthen governance of areas that directly impact on people’s welfare, including through increased funding of NGOs to provide social services, many people are still not able to benefit from fundamental rights. 
  • Under President Tokayev, the government has embraced important reforms to gradually improve governance of areas such as corruption, environmental degradation, and the welfare of many vulnerable groups. In addition, the GOK has been increasing funding to CSOs to deliver much-needed social services to needy populations throughout the country.
  • Furthermore, the country does not have the practice of incorporating civic education into its education system. This makes it challenging to mobilize broad-based interest in various social issues, unless these issues directly impact on people’s lives.
• Statement 3: Youth born after independence make up a third of Kazakhstan’s population, but still face limited opportunities to substantively engage with shaping the future of the country
  • Around the world, youth tend to play a key role in driving societal change.  In Kazakhstan, this includes the exuberant youth who pushed the country to democratize after the fall of the Soviet Union and the post-Soviet generation now working for further change.  In Kazakhstan, youth is defined as people from 14 to 35 years old and made up 31% of the population in 2023.
  • Young civil society leaders want to see the state respect and enforce their rights but tend to avoid working on topics that challenge the state. No matter their vision, most young civil society actors face funding gaps and are still developing their skills in areas of strategic planning, advocacy and project management.  Young civic actors have received relatively modest financial and other support from the international community. There is a need to continue building on the gains made in youth civic activism and extend this support to communities outside of Almaty and Astana, and that tend to primarily speak Kazakh.
• Statement 4: Although there are opportunities for civil society to engage with the government, the operating environment remains restrictive for civil society. 
  • The government’s 2020-2025 Concept on Civil Society Development supports regulatory streamlining for CSOs, as well as opportunities and mechanisms for enhanced CSO-government cooperation. Under President Tokayev’s government, CSOs report improved cooperation on less controversial issues with national-level authorities and increased opportunities to input into policy making. Likewise, CSOs operating at local levels also report that authorities are more willing to collaborate.
  • If the enabling environment becomes less restrictive, civil society can achieve its potential to contribute to strengthening the human rights of Kazakhstan’s citizens.

Funding Information

• USAID intends to award one Cooperative Agreement pursuant to this notice of funding opportunity. Subject to funding availability and at the discretion of the Agency, USAID intends to provide up to $10,000,000.00 (ten million) in total USAID funding for the period of performance of (5) five years.
• Award Ceiling: $10,000,000
• Award Floor: $1,000,000

Eligible Activities

• Objective 1: Strengthen public engagement through collective action to advance Kazakhstan’s reform priorities. 
  • Activities:
    • Conduct a PEA of the state’s reform agenda and its main institutions, particularly the Parliament, to understand where opportunities for engagement lie.
    • Train civic leaders, including youth leaders, on collective action, including strategic planning for effectively engaging when there are openings presented by the government’s reforms.
    • Facilitate strategic planning for network development and provide support to CSOs to strengthen vertical and horizontal alliance building around target issues.
    • Train CSOs to effectively identify and message issues to appeal to the interests and values of a greater base of support, including effective use of social media.
    • Provide capacity building and support to increase the effectiveness of coalitions to advocate reforms through official channels, particularly the Parliament.
    • Pending additional funding for legislative strengthening, the following activities should be considered:
      • Support legislative committees, in partnership with civil society, to engage local communities through consultations around the country that address key development needs.
      • Conduct training on legislative debate, negotiation, and drafting for civil society and parliamentary working groups set up to advance reforms, with the aim of professionalizing the legislative development process.
      • Develop fellowship and professional training for key legislative staff that will expose them to methods for enhanced engagement between legislators and their representatives.
• Objective 2: Support civil society to apply innovative solutions to help people claim their fundamental rights
  • Activities:
    • Develop a small grants program for CSOs and other non-government entities to respond to emerging opportunities to advance a broad range of human rights.
    • Offer more flexible types of support such as in-kind support and simplify the application and reporting requirements where possible to support different types of CSOs.
    • Provide capacity building to CSOs to strengthen their skills in different areas, including project/grants management, to secure more sustainable funding streams, to mainstream gender into programming, and to manage burnout.
    • Facilitate exchanges between grantees for greater learning, potentially with other
    • stakeholders (including government bodies, international donors, private sector actors, the media, and others) to address threats to human rights.
    • Train on effective use of social media for public awareness-raising and engagement.
• Objective 3: Enhance the regulatory environment to allow civil society to maximize their contributions to society.
  • Activities:
    • Monitor, analyze and disseminate simplified explanations of regulations that impact on the operation of CSOs.
    • Provide legal counsel (but not representation) to CSOs to help them comply with the laws and regulations, or when they are faced with unwarranted charges of law-breaking.
    • Support exchanges between civil society and the government on regulations.

Geographic Focus 

• The activity will cover Kazakhstan, country‐wide. The activity will seek to balance coverage of civil society operating out of Almaty and Astana with those operating in regions where presence is emerging, but not well supported, and seek to increase resources to those areas. These regions are likely to be determined by the key themes this project will seek to address in Objectives 1 and 2. Geographic focus will be determined in consultation with USAID.

Targeted Stakeholders

• The program’s target audiences include, but are not limited to, people and institutions who influence public opinion, including but not limited to: civil society organizations, youth, community-based organizations, research groups, governmental and quasi-governmental institutions and their representatives, media outlets and journalists, opinion leaders, academia, and the private sector.

Eligibility Criteria

• USAID welcomes applications from organizations that have not previously received financial assistance from USAID.
• Faith-based organizations are eligible to apply for federal financial assistance on the same basis as any other organization and are subject to the protections and requirements of Federal law.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.