Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan has a long history of development co-operation with other countries in its region. Kazakhstan’s Agency of International Development (KazAID) was established in December 2020, marking a new phase in the country’s development co-operation. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the designated authority to implement the main lines of Kazakhstan’s official development assistance (ODA) policy. Kazakhstan provided the majority of its ODA bilaterally through multilateral channels, and its commitments focused on social infrastructure.
Development co-operation is an integral and increasingly important part of Kazakhstan’s foreign policy. The 2014 ODA Law (263-V) defines the main objectives, principles, competencies and sectoral priorities of Kazakhstan’s development co-operation while also providing the legal foundation for the establishment of an agency under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The key strategic document that outlines the priorities in Kazakhstan’s ODA policy is the Main Guidelines of State Policy of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Official Development Assistance for 2021-2025, approved by Presidential Decree No. 625 from 19 July 2021. In addition, the Foreign Policy Concept of Kazakhstan 2020-2030 guides Kazakhstan’s contribution to the international community’s development co-operation efforts. Guided by this overarching policy framework, the majority of Kazakhstan’s aid in recent years has gone to Central Asian countries and Afghanistan, where KazAID focuses on technical assistance in areas such as gender equality, education, healthcare, entrepreneurship and other spheres.
Kazakhstan is an Adherent to the OECD Recommendation of the Council on Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas. Learn more about DAC recommendations.
Kazakhstan provided USD 44 million of ODA in 2021 in the form of grants. Total ODA on a grant-equivalent basis has the same value as net ODA under the cash-flow methodology used in the past, as Kazakhstan provides only grants.1
Kazakhstan provided most of its ODA bilaterally in 2021. Gross bilateral ODA was 84.7% of total ODA. Seventy-two per cent of gross bilateral ODA was channelled through multilateral organisations (earmarked contributions). Kazakhstan allocated 15.3% of total ODA as core contributions to multilateral organisations.
In 2021, Kazakhstan provided USD 33.2 million of gross ODA to the multilateral system, an increase of 12.9% in real terms from 2020. Of this, USD 6.7 million was core multilateral ODA, while non-core contributions were earmarked for a specific country, region, theme or purpose. Project-type funding earmarked for a specific theme and/or country accounted for 0.0% of Kazakhstan’s non-core contributions, and 100.0% was programmatic funding (to pooled funds and specific-purpose programmes and funds).
Ninety-five per cent of Kazakhstan’s total contributions to multilateral organisations in 2021 was allocated to the UN system, UN funds and programmes, and other multilateral institutions (in descending order).
The UN system received 27.6% of Kazakhstan’s multilateral contributions, mainly in the form of earmarked contributions. Out of a total volume of USD 9.1 million to the UN system, the top three UN recipients of Kazakhstan’s support (core and earmarked contributions) were WHO-Assessed (USD 2.2 million), the UN Secretariat (USD 1.8 million) and UNDP (USD 1.3 million).
See the section on Geographic and sectoral focus of ODA for the breakdown of bilateral allocations, including ODA earmarked through the multilateral development system. Learn more about multilateral development finance.
In 2021, Kazakhstan’s bilateral spending increased compared to the previous year. It provided USD 36.9 million of gross bilateral ODA (which includes earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations). This represented an increase of 14.9% in real terms from 2020. In 2021, Kazakhstan focused most of its bilateral ODA on SDG on ending poverty in all its forms, and SDG 13 on climate action.
In 2021, country programmable aid was 17.5% of Kazakhstan’s gross bilateral ODA, compared to a non-DAC country average of 46.4%.
In 2021, Kazakhstan channelled bilateral ODA through multilateral organisations, as earmarked funding, and through the public sector. Technical co-operation made up 16.0% of gross ODA in 2021.
In 2021, Kazakhstan’s bilateral ODA was primarily focused on Asia (excluding the Middle East). USD 13.4 million was allocated to Asia (excluding the Middle East). Asia was also the main regional recipient of Kazakhstan’s earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations.
In 2021, 27.1% of gross bilateral ODA went to Kazakhstan’s top 10 recipients. Its top 10 recipients are in the Asia-Pacific region, where Kazakhstan has programmes with 25 countries, in line with its focus on its immediate neighbourhood and its policy priorities. The share of gross bilateral ODA that was not allocated by country was 72.9%.
In 2021, the least developed countries (LDCs) received 6.6% of Kazakhstan’s gross bilateral ODA (USD 2.4 million). This is lower than the non-DAC country average of 13.7%. Kazakhstan allocated the highest share of gross bilateral ODA (20.5%) to lower middle-income countries in 2021, noting that 72.9% was unallocated by income group. Kazakhstan allocated 27.1% of gross bilateral ODA to land-locked developing countries in 2021, equal to USD 10.0 million.
Fragile contexts
Support to fragile contexts reached USD 7.0 million in 2021, representing 18.9% of Kazakhstan’s gross bilateral ODA. Fifty-six per cent of this ODA was provided in the form of humanitarian assistance, decreasing from 99.8% in 2020
Learn more about support to fragile contexts on the States of Fragility platform
Sectors
In 2021, less than half of Kazakhstan’s bilateral ODA was allocated to social infrastructure and services. Investments in this area accounted for 21.5% of bilateral ODA commitments (USD 7.9 million), with a strong focus on support to education (USD 3.1 million), government and civil society (USD 2.6 million) and other social infrastructure (USD 1.6 million). ODA for economic infrastructure and services totalled USD 9.6% of bilateral ODA commitments (USD 3.5 million), focusing on energy (USD 3.2 million), transport and storage (USD 0.3 million) and communications (USD 0.0 million). Bilateral humanitarian assistance amounted to USD 7.1 million (19.3% of bilateral ODA). In 2021, earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations focused on trade policies and regulations, environment protection and energy.
Kazakhstan’s Law No. 263-V on Official Development Assistance (December 2014) describes the main objectives, principles, competencies and sectoral priorities of Kazakhstan’s ODA. The law designates the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the central authority for implementing Kazakhstan’s ODA. The same legislation also provided the legal basis for establishing KazAID on 15 December 2020 under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
KazAID is the designated authority for implementing the main lines of Kazakhstan’s development co-operation. It has a status of a “national operator” of the ODA system in Kazakhstan. The key areas of KazAID operations include technical assistance to partner countries (primarily Central Asian states), co-ordination of development efforts between the relevant ministries, and facilitation of partnerships with key stakeholders and development actors in the region.
It is important to note that humanitarian aid is channelled through the Ministry of Emergency Situations. Although it is not the direct mandate of KazAID, the agency still monitors and accounts for the provided humanitarian assistance in close co-ordination with the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
In its operation, KazAID is directed by the Main Guidelines of State Policy of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Official Development Assistance for 2021-2025 (approved Presidential Decree No. 625 from 19 July 2021), which set out the fundamental tools, instruments, and financing modalities for Kazakhstan’s development co-operation for the period up to 2025.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan: https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/mfa?lang=en
Reporting to the OECD activity-level data since 2014 on 2013 activities.
The methodological notes provide further details on the definitions and statistical methodologies applied, including the grant-equivalent methodology, core and earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations, country programmable aid, channels of delivery, bilateral ODA unspecified/unallocated, bilateral allocable aid, the gender equality policy marker, and the environment markers.
Note
← 1. Non-grants include sovereign loans, multilateral loans, equity investment and loans to the private sector.