The Regional Ecological Summit 2026 (RES 2026), initiated by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, will take place on 22–24 April 2026 in Astana, Kazakhstan. The United Nations is a strategic partner of the Summit, which will bring together governments, international organizations, and other stakeholders to advance environmental sustainability in Central Asia. Eighteen UN agencies are co-organizing 25 sessions and 5 workshops under key thematic areas related to climate action, environmental resilience, and sustainable development. The Summit will serve as a platform for promoting coordinated regional solutions to shared environmental challenges. A key outcome will be the adoption of a Joint Declaration by the Heads of State of Central Asia on regional environmental cooperation. In addition, a Programme of Action for 2026–2030, developed in partnership with the United Nations, will be launched to support a resilient and sustainable future for the region.RegistrationLearn more

Kazakhstan has become part of the United Nations global advocacy campaign #MakeASafetyStatement, a global initiative supported by prominent figures from sport, film and music and designed to promote safer road use and reduce deaths and injuries on roads worldwide. From 3 April 2026 outdoor placements have appeared in Astana and Almaty on advertising assets operated by RTSDecaux. The public campaign features internationally known figures including Novak Djokovic, Jean Reno, Michael Fassbender and Michelle Yeoh, helping bring key road safety messages to audiences across the country. The campaign has already expanded to more than 80 countries and 1,000 cities worldwide. By joining the initiative, Kazakhstan becomes part of a broad international effort to promote safer behaviour on the roads across high-visibility platforms, ranging from outdoor media to digital channels. Led by the Office of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety, in collaboration with JCDecaux and with the support of Saatchi & Saatchi, the campaign encourages public figures, decision-makers and influencers to make clear and personal commitments to safer road use. It promotes simple, effective and evidence-based road safety behaviours and serves as a call to action to reduce key risk factors and contribute to safer, more inclusive and sustainable streets worldwide.“Road crashes are a silent pandemic around the world, and in Kazakhstan they still claim over 2,000 lives each year, affecting families and communities across the country. While there has been real progress, with fatalities declining over time and strong seat-belt laws in place, challenges like speeding and drink-driving remain. As mobility continues to grow, sustained efforts will be key to making roads safer for everyone,” said UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety Mr. Jean Todt. “Road safety is not only a transport issue — it is a matter of public health, sustainable development and human life. Every death and serious injury on the road is preventable. Through this campaign, we want to encourage a culture of responsibility, mutual respect and simple life-saving choices that can protect drivers, passengers, pedestrians and cyclists alike. In Kazakhstan, this effort is also an opportunity to engage the public in a broader conversation about safer, more inclusive and more sustainable mobility,” noted Ms. Sarangoo Radnaaragchaa, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Kazakhstan.Road traffic injuries continue to pose a major global public health and development challenge. Every year, road crashes claim around 1.19 million lives worldwide and remain the leading cause of death among young people. In Kazakhstan, according to the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Kazakhstan, 36,146 road traffic accidents were registered in 2025, including 1,796 fatal cases.“Our company, which operates its own network of public transport shelters in Almaty and Astana, unfortunately faces road traffic incidents on a regular basis. Therefore, for us, participation in the United Nations global campaign #MakeASafetyStatement is not merely an act of informational support, but a meaningful contribution to fostering a culture of responsibility and road safety in Kazakhstan. By leveraging the reach of outdoor advertising, we aim to communicate simple yet life-saving principles of safe behaviour to millions of people — principles that can help save lives and make the urban environment more sustainable and comfortable for all road users,” emphasized Arman Kagarov, CEO of RTSDecaux.Among the internationally recognized personalities supporting the initiative are Didier Drogba, Patrick Dempsey, Charles Leclerc, Marc Márquez, Kylie Minogue and Youssou N’Dour. In total, 16 global celebrities and Olympic champions are helping amplify the campaign’s messages in the six official languages of the United Nations. By mobilizing global influencers and leveraging large-scale media platforms, the campaign seeks to accelerate behavioural change and contribute to the goals of the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety, which aims to halve the number of road-related deaths and injuries by 2030.The Office of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety will continue to advance the #MakeASafetyStatement campaign together with international and national partners, reinforcing the global road safety agenda and promoting responsible behaviour among all road users. 

When these materials break down, they release pollutants that harm our health and speed up climate change.A UNEP report says that by 2050, solid household waste will reach 3.8 billion tonnes. Waste is the third-largest human-made source of methane, making up about 11 percent of global methane emissions.Sources: 1) Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2) Methane emissions (European comission: Energy, Climate change, Environment), 3) What a Waste: A Global Review of Solid Waste Management (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-03) Hoornweg, Daniel; Bhada-Tata, PerinazKazakhstan currently ranks near the bottom in global waste recycling statistics, placing 175th out of 179 countries assessed, with a recycling rate of only 3.8 percent. To ameliorate this situation and address the negative consequences of ineffective waste management, the country has begun to use GPS tracking for garbage trucks, increased penalties for illegal dumping, offered special loans for recycling equipment, launched the ‘EcoQoldau’ program for certain businesses, and begun projects to utilize landfill gas.Illegal dumping remains a major environmental problem in both cities and rural areas. This happens when there is no organized system for managing waste, if local authorities do not have sufficient capacity to monitor, and when people are insufficiently aware of the environmental issues that result from improper waste management. The trouble with illegal dumping is larger than solely greenhouse gasses. Waste also pollutes soil and groundwater, which harms plants and animals and can contribute to disease transmission. Photo: UNDP Kazakhstan/ Madina KakimzhanovaDespite these challenges, solutions are possible. In the village of Aksu in southern Kazakhstan’s Sairam district, one illegal dump became the start point for real change. A local resident, Vladislav Golyarko, built a functioning local waste management system. He is not an environmentalist by profession, but he cares deeply about the issue. Vladislav turned a problem into a resource, engaged the community, and created a model that could work across the country.“We lived on the first floor of an apartment building, and our windows faced an illegal dump. The stench was awful, and animals roamed constantly. Residents of our building and neighbouring ones kept adding to it, and the pile grew larger and larger. I started looking for ways to clean up the dump, organize it, and ultimately change the approach to waste disposal,” Vladislav recalls.Photo: UNDP Kazakhstan/ Samat MyrzaliyevHe has experienced hardship himself. In the early 1990s, a very difficult time in Kazakhstan, his mother lost her job and could not support him. To make sure he survived, she had to send him to an orphanage, where he stayed for two years.“My mother raised me alone. At that time, there was no work, no money, no food. It was so hard to survive that she made the difficult decision to send me to an orphanage. There, I studied in grades 4 and 5. Later, I returned to my school, graduated, and joined the army. That experience deeply influenced my life,”Vladislav says.Today, he is an environmental activist, entrepreneur, and founder of the public association ‘Istoki Dobra’ (‘Sources of Good’). Over time, he has made his idea a reality and helped numerous members of his community.It all started when he joined the youth NGO ’Alpamys’ which, with international grant support, organized community events.“After the army, I came back home. My mother, who worked as a journalist for a local newspaper, told me about an NGO recruiting volunteers, including former residents of an orphanage. I signed up and began helping organize sports events. At the same time, I worked as a security guard. Gradually, I got involved in community work, attended many trainings on how to distinguish goals from tasks, defend projects, write grant applications, and present ideas,”Vladislav explains.In 2017, he registered his own public association. Its mission was to collect and recycle waste, thereby making life better in the village. That’s when Vladislav thought of turning the dump into a marketplace for recyclables, like a hub for secondary raw materials. First, he had to set up collection points and put up fences and containers. Vladislav applied for a grant from the Small Grants Programme of the Global Environment Facility and the United Nations Development Programme. Upon receiving funding, his team started working.“You can’t solve this problem alone, you need to involve residents. But few will sort waste just for the sake of it, so I proposed a system where people benefit, for example, financially. After installing special containers, people began separating plastic, glass, and paper. We collected everything for recycling. The money from recyclables went to the building’s account and was used for repairs, landscaping, and cleaning,” he says.At first, the villagers were unsure, but when they saw actual payments begin flowing, they got involved. Next, Vladislav suggested making apartment buildings more energy efficient. They used the money earned to install LED lights in the hallways, which fixed the lighting problem.After the project succeeded in one village, Vladislav wanted to expand it to the whole Sairam district. This led to the creation of a mobile app.Photo: UNDP Kazakhstan/ Samat Myrzaliyev“We launched the app last year. It works like a taxi service: businesses that accept waste and residents who have accumulated waste find each other. A resident uploads a photo and a request, and the company then collects it. The price ranges from 25 to 30 tenge per kilogram (≈US$0.04-0.05). Later, companies clean the waste and sell it to factories for about 100 tenge (≈$0.20),” he explains.Now, in addition to apartment buildings, about 1,000 people and more than 170 businesses in the district take part, including 11 schools. The largest initiative is at a local school named after M. Gorky, which has 2,300 students. Each week, Vladislav collects cans, glass, notebooks, and paper. The school has used the money earned to install LED lights everywhere.“We need to change behaviour and attitudes toward waste. Patriotic slogans alone don’t work. You have to lead by example, create conditions and infrastructure that make sorting the norm. Only then does culture change.”With his partners, Vladislav expanded the project. Now paper, metal, plastic, and glass are all sorted and sent to recycling plants. Today, 12 people work in the production site, where they clean, press, and prepare the waste for shipping.“We prepare waste carefully for recycling. Dry, clean paper costs more, so we remove tape, staples, and strings from boxes. We plan to collect and send for recycling over 320 tonnes of wastes this year,” Vladislav shares.He wants to turn the project into a ‘green’ budget, where recycling generates revenue to help cover waste collection costs. Vladislav’s idea is that one company would collect recyclables from homes or sorting points, and another would collect non-recyclables. The sorted materials are then sold to factories, made into new products, and the profits are shared among recyclers, local authorities, and residents.“I hope such a system will be implemented at the state level. This transformation will reduce landfill pressure and local budget strain, while increasing separate waste collection. People will be able to live sustainably—if they meet sorting norms, they won’t have to pay for waste removal. Local authorities can direct part of the proceeds to waste collection companies and part to the local budget,”Vladislav says.For Vladislav, this is more than just a recycling project. It’s a way of life. “The system we built in the district works: residents are engaged, waste is sorted, resources return to the economy. I want these models included in state programs, especially in rural areas. They don’t require billions but deliver real results.” Local Action = Global Impact           SGP has been providing financial and technical support to civil society and community-based organizations at the local level to drive initiatives that address global environmental issues while improving livelihoods for over 30 years. Since 1997, it has supported 374 projects throughout Kazakhstan in the areas of biodiversity, land degradation, climate change, chemicals and waste, and international waters.For more details on SGP’s work in the country, visit the SGP Kazakhstan page.For information on SGP’s global portfolio, visit the global SGP website.

The United Nations Country Team and the Government of Kazakhstan convened today for the Joint Steering Committee meeting of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan. The meeting was co-chaired by Mr. Assan Darbayev, Vice Minister of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and Ms. Sarangoo Radnaaragchaa, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Kazakhstan. The session brought together the United Nations Country Team, representatives of national ministries and government institutions, civil society organizations and academia. The Steering Committee reviewed the results of the 2021–2025 Cooperation Framework cycle and presented key achievements for 2025, marking the conclusion of the five-year implementation period. Over 2021–2025, the United Nations delivered nearly USD 172.5 million in programmatic support in Kazakhstan. The Government of Kazakhstan remains the largest contributor to UN programming in the country, providing nearly one-third of total funding — a testament to strong national ownership and partnership. In her remarks, the UN Resident Coordinator Ms. Sarangoo Radnaaragchaa emphasized the strength of the partnership and national leadership: “Kazakhstan has made remarkable progress towards achieving the SDGs with nearly 40% SDG targets achieved or on track, well above 18% global average. These results are, in fact, the Government’s results, where the United Nations provided support. This demonstrates strong national ownership and close alignment of our work with national priorities. The Cooperation Framework remains a vital tool to guide our joint action, ensure policy coherence, and mobilize resources where they are most needed.” Significant progress was highlighted across social, economic, environmental and governance areas. In social protection, the UN provided policy support to the development of the Social Code, contributed to the adoption of a new poverty measurement methodology based on median income, and supported the integration of multidimensional child poverty indicators into the Digital Family Card. These reforms strengthened the targeting and effectiveness of social assistance systems. In health, the UN supported the adoption of an immunization plan covering 5.6 million children, expanded the rollout of HPV vaccination, and facilitated the procurement of medicines, including treatments for rare and orphan diseases, benefiting over 11,000 people and generating approximately USD 10 million in savings. Vaccines and HIV-related supplies worth USD 5.6 million were also procured. Digital transformation remained a cross-cutting priority. The UN supported digitalization in social services, health, migration governance, agriculture, and education, including online safety initiatives reaching more than 900,000 children. Institutional strengthening efforts included support for justice sector reform, crime prevention, anti-money laundering, cybercrime response, and measures to prevent and respond to gender-based violence. In the environmental and economic sectors, the UN supported the development of the Carbon Neutrality Strategy and Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC 3.0), piloted innovative financing mechanisms such as green bonds and auction systems that mobilized over USD 1 billion in external financing, and contributed to expanding protected areas to 9.65% of Kazakhstan’s territory. The meeting also presented the structure and priorities of the new Cooperation Framework for 2026-2030, signed last year. The new cycle is structured around four strategic pillars: Empowered People and Strong Institutions; Resilient and Inclusive Economy; Sustainable Environment; and Strengthened Social Cohesion. Under the new Cooperation Framework the UN and Kazakhstan will prioritize several flagship initiatives. These include improving digital public services and the responsible use of AI, promoting green and inclusive economic growth with expanded livelihood opportunities for vulnerable groups, turning national climate commitments into practical regional action, and empowering women and youth to strengthen social cohesion and access to justice. These initiatives reflect a shared commitment to deliver practical, people-centered results in line with national priorities. The Steering Committee reaffirmed its commitment to advancing shared priorities under the new Cooperation Framework cycle. The United Nations Country Team remains firmly committed to supporting the people and the Government of Kazakhstan in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and building a more inclusive, resilient and sustainable future.