C. ACTIVITY OVERVIEW 

Regional 

Central Asia Website (Russian Language) 

ICNL has continued to develop its Russian language on line resources.  The website now contains 

general and country specific publications, a calendar of events, laws from each country relating to 

NGOs, and links to local partner organizations.  For more information, please see 

www.icnl.org/car

. 

Public Legal Education Initiative Linkages 

Law professors from Tajik State University, Tajik Slavic University, Kyrgyz Slavic University, and 

the Adilet School of Law in Kazakhstan are taking steps to open NGO legal courses.  In May 2003 

they traveled to Budapest, Hungary to participate in the ICNL regional Newly Independent States 

(NIS) conference  Institutionalizing the law of non commercial organizations into legal curricula,  

accompanied by the ICNL Program Director for Central Asia. In Budapest they exchanged 

experiences with professors from Bulgaria, Hungary, Estonia, Ukraine, Croatia, and Albania on 

teaching NGO law.  This program was supported by USAID through CEE NIS linkages funding. 

Kazakhstan 

Technical Assistance with the Draft Law on NGOs 

After the Ministry of Culture, Information and Public Accord made it clear that they were not taking 

into consideration the comments of NGOs on the  working group  ICNL turned its attention to 

supporting the then pregnant advocacy initiative of local NGOs. 

Enabling Advocates to Speak Against the Draft Law 

On April 03, 2003, Mr. Ovcharenko, ICNL Legal Consultant, spoke at a briefing, conducted by OSCE 

with the purpose of informing international and foreign organizations' representatives in Kazakhstan 

about the major problems associated with this NGO draft law prepared by the Ministry of Culture, 

Information and Public Accord. Mr. Ovcharenko made a presentation commenting on the latest NGO 

draft law.  He also distributed ICNL's comments identifying the key problems with the draft law to 

the participants. These comments are also available on the ICNL Russian language website. ICNL 

provided the following additional support: 

Assistance with the advocacy campaign against the draft NGO law to the Platform Initiative 

Group, an informal association of NGOs engaged in a campaign against the draft NGO law. The 

on going assistance includes updates on developments with the draft NGO law as it remains under 

consideration in the government, assistance with drafting letters and petitions against the law 

addressed to the President, Government, and other.  Leaders.  In this initiative group are the 

Youth Information Service of Kazakhstan (YISK), Institute of Development Cooperation (IDC), 

and Counterpart Consortium Civil Society Support Centers. 

Expert participation in the roundtable discussion organized by the ANNOK in opposition to the 

NGO draft law. 

Assistance to KNOK, another Kazakh umbrella NGO, in its preparation for a meeting with the 

government officials. KNOK's President, Valentina Sivryukova, met with Mr.  Tazhin, the First 

Deputy Head of President's Administration, and some representatives from key Ministries 

involved with social sphere to speak about deficiencies in the draft NGO law. 

Expert participation in June 10 conference  On draft law on NGOs in Kazakhstan: pros and 

contras,  organized by the OSCE. ICNL's experts presented international experience on forms of 

social partnership between civil society, business, and government and highlighted legal 

mechanisms and issues of contracting in Kazakhstan.  

Assistance to the NGO's coalition with drafting a letter to the President advocating against the 

draft NGO law, which was signed by the OSCE Ambassador and NGO leaders in June. 

Participation in the June 18 press conference conducted by OSCE and NGO leaders devoted to 

the open letter to the President signed by the OSCE Ambassador and NGO leaders, requesting he 

change his directions to the Government on preparing the draft law for NGOs. At the press 

conference  

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