ASTANA. KAZINFORM At a regular meeting of the Consultative and Advisory Body «Human Dimension Dialogue Platform» under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan the issues of implementation of recommendations of the UN Special Procedures and key problems of economic, social and cultural rights in Kazakhstan were discussed.The event was chaired by Ambassador-at-Large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Usen Suleimen. Addressing the participants of the meeting, he emphasized the importance of dialogue on the topic of discussion in the context of Kazakhstan s interaction with the UN and the fulfillment of the relevant political obligations of our country, the Kazakh MFA’s press service reports. The representative of the Department of Multilateral Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan made a presentation on the UN Special Procedures on the part of the state bodies, which highlighted the mechanism of the Special Procedures system and the algorithm of actions of the state bodies in preparing responses and analysis of problems identified by international experts.
    On behalf of civil society, representatives of the public association «Dignity» and the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law reported on the current state of affairs and remaining gaps in the activities of government agencies to address the issues and recommendations of the UN.
    The second issue on the agenda was a discussion of the main problems of economic, social and cultural rights in Kazakhstan.
    A representative of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Kazakhstan in his report informed about the measures taken and further steps to improve the actual activities of the Ministry to solve the problems of citizens rights in the economic, social and cultural spheres. Also, the joint work with NGOs to realize these rights was noted.
    The head of the «Kazakhstan parliamentary development fund» was a representative of civil society on this topic, reflecting in her presentation the urgent problems observed in society.
    Representatives of civil society, government agencies and parliamentarians took an active part in the subsequent discussion, which was open and constructive. Member of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of Kazakhstan Aidos Sarym informed the participants about the draft laws in the social sphere, which are under consideration by the Parliament, as well as commented on a number of measures taken to improve the social situation of citizens.
    The meeting was attended by Members of Parliament, the Secretary of the Human Rights Commission under the President of Kazakhstan, representatives of the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Council, the Office of the Human Rights Commissioner of Kazakhstan, relevant ministries, Kazakhstani human rights NGOs, as well as guests of the platform - representatives of international partners, including UNDP, OSCE, the European Union, USAID, as well as the embassies of the USA and Canada in Astana.
    Photo: press office of the MFA