In Astana on Friday 23 February, representatives of the EU, UNICEF and Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs discussed the reintegration of children returning from conflict zones.
Participants exchanged views on strengthening Kazakhstan’s child protection and social support systems to help reintegrate these children, and discussed joint activities to help local executive bodies and schools in their efforts to socialise and educate repatriated children.
“The joint efforts of UNICEF, the EU and Kazakhstan are essential to enable these children to adapt successfully to new conditions, with each step aimed at ensuring their well-being and their future”, said Kazakhstan’s Ambassador-at-Large from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Talgat Kaliyev.
The EU-funded programme ‘EU-UN Support to the States in Central Asia for their citizens returned from conflict zones, primarily Syria and Iraq’ aims to support repatriated women, children and families by encouraging their successful reintegration into local communities.
In 2023, Kazakhstan began implementing the second phase of this programme. During the first phase, the country created a National Resource Centre with UNICEF support to train and equip specialists working with repatriated children.
To date, Kazakhstan has ensured the return of 526 children by providing full government support to help them adapt to life in the country. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)