During the meeting, the Head of State noted the importance of comprehensive support for social initiatives. In this context, Nursultan Nazarbayev announced a donation of $ 300,000 of the Silk Road Peace Award, which he received during his visit to China, to each of the two funds.
“This money, of course, will not solve all the problems. However, the transfer of money to charitable foundations sends a message to our society that people should pay more attention to charity. We meet on the eve of Nauryz, the meaning of which is to help each other, especially children,” he said.
The President emphasized that the Mercy Fund has been tackling important social issues, such as helping children with serious illnesses, and it needs wider social support.
“Dealing with this problem, you set an example of mercy and draw the attention of our citizens, who can share their money to save children. At the same time, we must also address the origins of diseases, to prevent their growth,” he said.
Nursultan Nazarbayev also noted that the development of Kazakh language is essential for the future of the country.
“The issue cannot be resolved quickly, this is a work in progress. To achieve this goal, you should start working with the younger generation. It is necessary to provide comprehensive assistance to the development of state language. It is important to attract representatives of intelligentsia to discuss publication of contemporary works and promote new language teaching methods,” he said.
The Head of State stressed that the activities of non-governmental organisations are particularly important for social stability, which reflects the priorities of the state.
“The higher the level of well-being, the more people are ready to help those in need, including sick children, people with disabilities and seniors. It is important to create conditions so that no child would ever be placed in orphanage while his parents are alive, and no elderly person would ever be put into a nursing home while his children are alive. To this end, the government and society should work together. We need enthusiasts like you for the successful future development of the country,” he said.
The President thanked Aruzhan Sain and Azat Shaueyev for their work and wished them every success in the future.
Aruzhan Sain, in turn, thanked Nursultan Nazarbayev for the assistance provided by the government to vulnerable groups through funding charities.
“Your decision to donate an award to our charity fund and for the development of Kazakh language is a huge surprise and has a special significance for us. Today you have demonstrated an example that I hope will be followed by people and organisations of the country. Of course, as of today it is the largest donation from a private person,” she said.
Aruzhan Sain noted that congenital heart defects in children used to be one of the most common reasons people applied for charitable grants.
“There were no hospitals that could perform operations on infants up to one year. Thanks to the task that you gave five years ago, today there are a number of clinics in different regions of the country that perform this kind of operation. As a result, nobody applies for charitable grants as the problem has been resolved. In addition, five years ago there were nearly 16,000 children in orphanages and foster homes in Kazakhstan. Today, their number has dropped to 9.8 thousand. This is the result of your initiative to amend the legislation and introduce other measures in this field,” she said.
Azat Shaueyev told the Head of State about the current work of the State Language Development Fund, stressing the importance of government support in the development of Kazakh language. He noted that all the required conditions have been created for strengthening the state language.
“Our fund is using advanced technologies, including the Internet, to teach the Kazakh language free of charge. This has to do not only with the citizens of Kazakhstan, but also our compatriots living abroad. Within a year, about 300,000 people visited our web-portal www.soyle.kz. Every day, the number of language learners that use our resource exceeds 20,000 people. We have launched a separate web resource for children that is visited 6,000 times every day. We work directly with kindergartens, children’s homes, schools, and universities,” he said.
Azat Shaueyev also noted that the grant will be spent on projects aimed at supporting the learning of Kazakh language by the younger generation.
