Kazakhstan Getting Started Guide

International non-governmental organizations (INGOs)

International non-governmental organizations (INGOs) typically bring a global and comparative perpective to the data and information they collect, often providing standardized reporting across countries. INGOs can be good sources of numeric data at the country-level but may be lacking in local points of view and distinctive local voices and detail (such as provincial or city level data). Other INGOs take a more focused and activist perspective on specific issues.

For example:

• UN Population Fund in Kazakhstan
• World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report
• Spotlight Initiative Regional Programme for Central Asia and Afghanistan

Local non-governmental organizations (Local NGOs)

For information on issues that often go unrecognized in official state media and governmental sources, such as feminist activism and LGBTQ topics, local NGOs can fill in the gaps. These sources are often activist and organized around specific issues and groups.

For example:

• Feminita, a grassroots queer feminist collective
• KazFem, the grassroots feminist organization

Government

Government resources provide many official data series and sources of official government laws and pronouncements, often in great detail, but may lack in coverage of underrepresented groups or controversial issues. Typically the government is the only organization that has the resources and authority to compel widespread participation in data and information collection for efforts such as a National Census and other large-scale initiatives. At the same time, the government’s official role may discourage data collection and respondent participation about a wide range of topics such as views and behavior relating to politics, religion, sexual and gender expression, ethnic identity, and more.

For example:

• Bureau of National Statistics Gender Statistics
• Ak Orda

Media

While state-affiliated media and state-media offer mainstream perspectives, while regional media and local media can provide a closer focus on smaller groups. Independent media can deliver alternative viewpoints, and social media can tap directly into current opinion and provide insight into topics omitted in other sources,

For example:

• Zakon.kz (state-affiliated)
• Batyr Jamal (independent, women-oriented)
• Human Rights KZ (independent, human rights focused)

Local information

For major cities and provinces, local government, regional media, and local media (also mentioned above) may provide additional detail and nuance beyond national sources.

For example:

• Akimat of the city of Astana for information on Astana, the capital city of Kazakhstan.
• Akimat of the city of Almaty for information on Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan.

Created 2023-10-17, updated 2023-12-03