KAZAKHSTAN COUNTRY GENDER ASSESSMENT DECEMBER 2018 ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK KAZAKHSTAN COUNTRY GENDER ASSESSMENT december 2018 ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO license (CC BY 3.0 IGO) © 2018 Asian Development Bank 6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City, 1550 Metro Manila, Philippines Tel +63 2 632 4444; Fax +63 2 636 2444 www.adb.org Some rights reserved. Published in 2018. ISBN 978-92-9261-306-8 (print), 978-92-9261-307-5 (electronic) Publication Stock No. TCS179181 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22617/TCS179181 The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) or its Board of Governors or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this publication and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. 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Printed on recycled paper CONTENTS Tables and Figures v Acknowledgments vi Abbreviations vii Executive Summary viii I. Introduction 1 A. Purpose of the Country Gender Assessment 1 B. Assessment Methodology 2 II. Background and Context 4 A. Country Situation 4 B. Indicators on Gender and Development 5 C. National Policies and International Commitments on Gender Equality 8 1. Legal Foundations for Gender Equality 8 2. Policies on Gender Equality 9 D. Institutions and Mandates 12 E. Collection of Gender Statistics 13 III. Cross-Cutting Gender Issues 15 A. Voice and Decision-Making 15 1. Women's Representation in Public Life 15 2. Claiming Rights and Having Voice in the Legal System 16 3. Gender Roles and Norms 17 B. Economic Empowerment 19 1. Labor Force Participation 19 2. Wages 21 iii iv Contents 3. Employment Status 21 4. Migrant Workers 23 C. Reduced Time Poverty 24 D. Human Development 26 1. Education 27 2. Health 30 3. Persons with Disabilities 32 4. Gender-based Violence 33 E. Reduced Vulnerability to Risks and Shocks 38 1. Economic Shocks 38 2. Disaster Risks 39 IV. Mainstreaming Gender in ADB Operational Priorities 41 A. Strategic Pillar 1: Economic Diversification 42 1. Micro, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprise Development 42 2. Countercyclical Support 50 B. Strategic Pillar 2: Inclusive Development 56 1. Agriculture 56 2. Transport 61 3. Health 69 C. Strategic Pillar 3: Sustainable Growth 73 1. Green Growth and Sustainable Energy 73 2. Urban Infrastructure and Services 76 D. Cross-Cutting Themes: Knowledge Building 79 1. Context 79 2. Key Gender Issues 79 3. ADB's Knowledge Portfolio 80 4. Recommended Strategies for Mainstreaming Gender Equality 80 in Knowledge Building V. Conclusion 82 References 83 Appendix 1: Summary of Recommendations 89 Appendix 2: Agencies Participating in Key Informant Interviews 94 TABLES AND FIGURES Tables 1. Gender Gap Rankings by Region, 2016 6 2. ADB’s Portfolio in Micro, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprise Development 45 3. ADB Countercyclical Support Project Description 50 4. ADB’s Transport Portfolio 64 5. ADB’s Energy Portfolio 75 Figures 1. Percentage of Women and Men by Sector of Employment 20 2. Percentage of Economically Active and Non-Active Population by Sex, 2015 22 3. Reasons to Migrate by Sex 24 4. Women and Men by Age Groups 26 5. Education Indicators by Sex, 2015 28 6. Technical and Vocational Education Specialties of Female and Male Students 29 7. University Specializations by Female and Male Students 30 8. Reported Incidence of Violence against Women in Kazakhstan, 2015 34 v Acknowledgments This Country Gender Assessment (CGA) was researched and written by Kathleen McLaughlin with assistance from Raushan Nauryzbayeva. The CGA was prepared under an Asian Development Bank (ADB) regional technical assistance for Strengthening Gender-Inclusive Growth in Central and West Asia. The overall CGA process was supervised and managed by a team in the Central and West Asia Department (CWRD) comprising Mary Alice Rosero (social development specialist on gender and development); Ketevan Chkheidze (international implementation consultant/gender specialist based in the region); and Leavides G. Domingo-Cabarrubias (technical assistance gender coordinator). Maria Ava Golda Destura and Fritz Tadeo Tuliao helped the team navigate ADB’s financial and logistical systems. We also acknowledge the important contributions of staff from ADB’s Kazakhstan Resident Mission in Astana, particularly Aliya Ibadildina, external relations officer and resident mission gender focal point, who provided guidance on Kazakh issues, and organized informant and stakeholder meetings. The Kazakhstan CGA could not have been produced without the full support of the CWRD management team: Giovanni Capannelli (Kazakhstan Resident Mission country director); Nianshan Zhang (advisor and head of the Portfolio, Results, Safeguards and Gender Unit); Hong Wei (deputy director general); Sean O’Sullivan (former director general); and Werner Liepach (director general). The report benefited from valuable inputs of sector specialist peer reviewers from the different divisions: Meenakshi Ajmera (former senior social development specialist for safeguards, CWOD-PSG; currently principal safeguards specialist, SEOD); Gia Heeyoung Hong (principal urban development specialist for finance, CWRD); and Kristian Rosbach (economist for Regional Cooperation, CWRC). The SDTC–Gender team and Gender Equity Thematic Group (GETG), led by technical advisor on gender equity, Sonomi Tanaka, and GETG member Francesco Tornieri, principal social development specialist for gender and development, provided insightful comments. The CGA team would like to convey appreciation and gratitude to the Government of Kazakhstan and the staff and representatives from the various ministries and government agencies—DAMU Entrepreneurship Development Fund, the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Healthcare, Ministry for Investments and Development – Committee of Roads, Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, Ministry of National Economy, and the National Commission for Women’s Affairs and Family and Demographic Policy—for participating in the interviews and shedding light on the policies and programs contributing to gender equality and women’s empowerment in Kazakhstan. We are also grateful to our development partners, and civil society organizations, who provided fresh perspectives on the issues. Finally, we express our gratitude to the individual women in the communities, who shared their stories and insights on how ADB projects and other social interventions improved their lives. vi Abbreviations ADB Asian Development Bank CAREC Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women CGA country gender assessment COR Committee of Roads CPS country partnership strategy CSO civil society organization DRR disaster risk reduction EBRD European Bank for Reconstruction and Development ECE early childhood education ECEC early childhood education and care GAP gender action plan GBV gender-based violence GDP gross domestic product GGGI Global Gender Gap Index GII Gender Inequality Index KEEP Knowledge and Experience Exchange Program MDG Millennium Development Goal MSMEs micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises NGO nongovernment organization OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development PPP public–private partnership SDG Sustainable Development Goal SMEs small and medium-sized enterprises UN Women United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund vii Executive Summary he purpose of the Kazakhstan Country Gender Assessment (CGA) is to develop a strategic focus for integrating gender concerns into programs