Brief information on the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals in Kazakhstan Printable version

In September 2015, within the framework of the 70th UN General Assembly at the UN summit on the adoption of the Development Agenda for the period after 2015, the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, N.A. Nazarbayev, along with other leaders of the UN member states, signed a new document for further global development, stressing that the goals and targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (the SDGs) fully coincide with the priorities and tasks of Kazakhstan.

the SDGs are a comprehensive universal set of goals and indicators until 2030 aimed at improving the quality of life of citizens, socio-economic development and environmental sustainability of states.

the SDGs consist of 17 objectives to be achieved by 2030, as well as related 169 tasks and 242 indicators.

the SDGs are called upon to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development through the integration of three components: economic, social and environmental. The existence of a close relationship between the three components of sustainable development is becoming particularly relevant in modern conditions, when the serious consequences of climate change and the need to conserve scarce natural resources and move to a green economy are becoming apparent.

The holding of the international exhibition EXPO-2017 and the creation, with the assistance of the United Nations, of the Green Technologies Center and investment projects "Energy of the Future" on the basis of the exhibition are a substantive contribution of Kazakhstan to the international efforts to implement the SDGs. 

For Kazakhstan, the implementation of the SDGs methodology and indicators provides an opportunity for systemic adaptation of the system of strategic planning and monitoring of the RK to the world standards, taking into account the consonance of the program documents of Kazakhstan, first of all, "Strategy-2050" and the resulting programs, global development goals.

In general, the SDGs or the so-called Agenda until 2030 in many aspects is consistent with Kazakhstan's development efforts and can serve as a useful and convincing political basis for their achievement, as well as for monitoring and evaluating progress in achieving the SDGs.

The mission of the international experts of UNDP with the aim of rapid integrated assessment of Kazakhstan's readiness for the SDGs implementation and monitoring, held in November 2016, revealed a sufficiently high degree of inclusion of the SDGs targets in national and sectoral plans - 61% of the SDGs objectives are already covered by national strategic documents.

In November 2016 deputies of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan adopted a Statement, which notes the need to promote the application of the principles of sustainable development and to facilitate the integration of the SDGs in the current legislation in order to create favorable conditions for their implementation.

The Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan is currently considering the issue of defining a coordinating structure to ensure effective implementation of the SDGs at the national level, the synergy of the program documents of the RK and the SDGs, the involvement of the private sector, NGOs and academia.

Along with the implementation of the SDGs, monitoring their achievements is an important task, both at the global and national levels. Countries have the primary responsibility for undertaking follow-up activities and reviewing progress in the implementation of the goals, and for this, it is necessary to collect quality, accessible and relevant data, as noted in Sustainable Development Goal 17.

Kazakhstan is a member of the High-Level Group for Partnership, Coordination and Capacity-building for Statistical Data for the Agenda for Sustainable Development (HLG) until 2030, consisting of Member States, including regional and international UN agencies as observers.

In September, the first national technical meeting on the SDGs statistics was held with the participation of representatives of all government bodies, NGOs, research organizations, various trade unions and associations, national companies, UN agencies and international experts in various sectors.

The main purpose of the meeting was to assess the readiness of the national statistical system to produce global indicators for the SDGs monitoring, as well as to identify additional national indicators that would be relevant for Kazakhstan.

A specially created interdepartmental working group on the implementation of indicators for monitoring the SDGs is developing a system of indicators, including both global and national indicators, taking into account Kazakhstan's priorities.

In general, the system implementation of the SDGs in Kazakhstan will undoubtedly yield a positive multiplier effect, in particular:

- facilitating the process of becoming one of the 30 most competitive countries in the world by achieving the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) indicators through the SDGs implementation.

- giving additional impetus to such processes as increase of human potential, attraction of foreign technologies and experience, advanced training in the field of processing of big data sets (Big Data).

- the SDGs implementation becomes one of the factors of investment attractiveness for large international corporations, for which the model of socially responsible business and its the SDGs compliance is an important component of their image.

The goals of sustainable development until 2030:

Goal 1. The universal elimination of poverty in all its forms.

Goal 2. Eliminate hunger, ensure food security and improve nutrition and promote sustainable agricultural development.

Goal 3. Providing a healthy lifestyle and promoting well-being for all at any age.

Goal 4. Ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all.

Goal 5. Ensuring gender equality and empowering all women and girls.

Goal 6. Ensure availability and rational use of water resources and sanitation for all.

Goal 7. Providing access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy sources for all.

Goal 8. Promoting sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.

Goal 9. Creating a stable infrastructure, promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialization and innovation.

Goal 10. Reducing inequalities within and between countries

Goal 11. Ensuring the openness, security, vitality and environmental sustainability of cities and settlements.

Goal 12. Ensuring transition to rational consumption and production patterns.

Goal 13. Take urgent measures to combat climate change and its consequences.

Goal 14. Conservation and rational use of oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.

Goal 15. Protecting and restoring terrestrial ecosystems and promoting their rational use, rational forest management, combating desertification, cessation and reversal of land degradation and cessation of the loss of biological diversity.

Goal 16. Promoting the building of a peaceful and open society for sustainable development, ensuring access to justice for all and creating effective, accountable and participatory institutions at all levels.

Goal 17. Strengthening the means of implementation and revitalizing the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development.