Child Well-Being Index Project Launched in Kazakhstan

NUR-SULTAN, 1 April 2021 – The Committee on the Protection of Children's Rights, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Economic Research Institute (ERI) JSC have signed a joint Action Plan for the implementation of the budget methodology for children and the Kazakhstan Child Well-Being Index. 

By the order of the Head of State at the fourth meeting of the National Council of Public Trust, the Ministry of Education and Science has started developing the Child Well-Being Index.  

"The Index’s goal is to improve the situation of children in various fields. The Index will enable us to determine how well the country's children are in general and in certain areas. It will make it possible to track the effectiveness of national policies in different areas, broken down by region. The most relevant indicators for the country will be selected to calculate the Index. It will consist of objective and subjective data, sourced from the official statistics of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the results of the population survey”. 

“Signing the trilateral Action Plan gives a start to the joint project.  Our common task is to develop an adapted Index model based on the global methodology of the UNICEF Innocenti Office of Research, comparing the OECD and European countries, with the further goal of decision-making in the state policy to improve the lives of children in Kazakhstan", said Yesengazy Imangaliyev, the Chairman of the Committee on the Protection of Children's Rights of the Ministry of Education and Science of Kazakhstan.

Arthur van Diesen, UNICEF Representative in Kazakhstan, noted that ensuring equal opportunities for children is one of the most important tasks of UNICEF.

"Launching the Child Well-Being Index by 2022 will allow continuous monitoring of the situation with children in the country and decision-making based on objective indicators. The system of national monitoring of children's well-being is a unique and breakthrough project for Kazakhstan. The Index will clearly demonstrate how the quality of life of children changes over time and indicate problem areas in their well-being," said Arthur van Diesen, Representative of UNICEF Kazakhstan.

 The Index is necessary primarily for making decisions to improve the lives of children. It will make it possible to track the effectiveness of national policies in different areas, broken down by region.