The European Union, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Kazakhstan have launched an education programme to train and educate several dozen Afghan women in Kazakh universities over the next five years.
The first group of thirty women were selected in September out of 535 initial applicants. The selected women passed a three-stage selection process that included an English placement test and an interview.
On Oct. 18, the Almaty Management University (Alma U), where the Afghan students will get their foundation training, hosted a reception in their honour with remarks from international and Kazakh officials, as well as some of the students themselves.
Between now and 2025, 50 Afghan students, including 10 women who will study in Uzbekistan, will receive bachelor’s, master’s and technical degrees in agriculture, applied statistics and mining in universities across Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
In Kazakhstan, the participating universities will include four Almaty-based institutions: the Kanysh Satpayev Kazakh National University, the Kazakh-British Technical University, the Kazakh National Agratian University and Alma U. In Uzbekistan, the students are to study at an agricultural university in Termez.
The United Nations Women will organise summer schools that will train the women in entrepreneurship and networking to contribute to their post-study employment and economic empowerment.
Building on its 10-year programme to educate 1,000 Afghans in its universities, Kazakhstan proposed in 2017 to the European Union to launch a new joint programme to educate Afghan women.
