July 3 at a briefing in the press center of the Government, Vice Minister of Information and Social Development Zhuldyz Omarbekova spoke about the implementation of the Road Map for the Year of Youth.

According to the Ministry of Information and Social Development, today there are 3.8 million young people in the country, of whom 2.2 million live in urban areas, 1.6 million — in rural areas. Of them, 586,661 study in higher education institutions, and 488,712 young people are in colleges.

Omarbekova noted that one of the main priorities of the work is the implementation of ideas and projects of young people, the development of science and education, as well as the construction of a new Kazakhstani competitive society. All this work is coordinated by the Committee on Youth and Family Affairs. At the regional level, there are youth policy departments and youth resource centers.

At the initiative of the First President – Elbasy, 2019 was declared the Year of Youth. The Government has adopted a roadmap to implement it. The Roadmap includes activities for the provision of affordable housing, education, employment, entrepreneurship development, grant funding for non-governmental organizations, etc. to young people.

The roadmap consists of 89 points, 4 blocks and 5 directions. At the same time, according to the vice minister, the events do not consist solely in holding large-scale forums.

“Often people ask us what exactly will be done for the youth in the Year of Youth? Of these 89 points, only 5 are dedicated to holding forums,” the vice minister noted.

For example, in education within the framework of the Five Social Initiatives of Elbasy, 20 thousand additional grants were allocated and hostels for students were provided. In addition, the program “Zhas Maman” has been developed, within which it is envisaged that 20 universities and 180 colleges will be provided with modern equipment, 210 thousand qualified specialists will be trained, and students will learn the basics of business. At the same time, an increase in scholarships is planned for 30% of student volunteers.

Omarbekova said that in 2019 a large number of grants were allocated to representatives of young people both in education — research grants for young scientists, and in entrepreneurship.

“Within the framework of our Center for Supporting Civil Initiatives, we have allocated about 2 billion tenge to active youth in order to support their initiatives to organize leisure, culture, place, space. Therefore, I call on young people to participate in all the programs that the state creates,” the vice minister said.

Omarbekova informed that July 4, 2019, the republican educational youth summer camp “Zeren-2019” opens its doors for future young entrepreneurs, where they will be able to undergo intensive training with the best business coaches.

All information about the camp is available on the website zhascamp.kz.

Speaking about the work of youth resource centers, the vice minister noted that in total 209 youth resource centers operate in the country. This year, a reform of these centers has been carried out.

“Now, instead of resource centers, we have youth service centers. Earlier, resource centers worked only in three areas related to support for youth initiatives, this year we increased the number of areas to 10,” said Omarbekova.

Now young people who apply to these centers can get free legal advice, assistance in creating a family, in matters of vocational guidance, information support on grants and programs.

Kazakhstan launched the project Human Rights Defender for youth. Every young person who is faced with injustice while studying, working and in another situation can apply for professional legal assistance free of charge.