Report No: ACS9609 Republic of Kazakhstan Expanding Civil Society Engagement in EITI in Kazakhstan Communications and Regional Outreach June 15, 2014 SEGOM EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA Standard Disclaimer: This volume is a product of the staff of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/ The World Bank. The findin interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect the views of the Executive Directors of The World Bank or governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colo denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bank concerning legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Copyright Statement: The material in this publication is copyrighted. Copying and/or transmitting portions or all of this work without permission may be a violation applicable law. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/ The World Bank encourages dissemination of its work and w normally grant permission to reproduce portions of the work promptly. For permission to photocopy or reprint any part of this work, please send a request with complete information to the Copyright Clearance Cent Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA, telephone 978-750-8400, fax 978-750-4470, http://www.copyright.com/. All other queries on rights and licenses, including subsidiary rights, should be addressed to the Office of the Publisher, The World Bank, 1818 Street NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA, fax 202-522-2422, e-mail pubrights@worldbank.org. FINAL REPORT Selection Number: 1079933 Selection Title: EITI/MDTF CSO Direct Support in Kazakhstan: Priority 2 - Communicating EITI in Kazakhstan. Project: Communicating EITI in Kazakhstan Contract #7165618 Consultants’ Organization: Decenta Foundation Reporting period: 15 January – 25 December 2013 Objective: This Report is aimed at describing presenting the final results and impact of the mentioned above project. Task 1 - Preparing a communications strategy that targets general public. 1.1. Brief Report on a complex analyses of all previous experiences and activities in this direction. As mentioned in the previous reports the Consultant Organization has fulfilled this task. Within the reporting period, the Consultant Organization has fulfilled this task. There was a desk research carried out within first two weeks of the project. This research included analyzing experience of Kazakhstan organizations in developing a communicating strategy on EITI. First of all Decenta studied the Action Plan of the National Stakeholders Council. This document did not contain any clear, specific, measurable objectives and activities regarding the communications. The next document that has been analyzed was a draft of media plan developed by two state bodies of the national level: the Ministry of Industry and new Technologies and Ministry of Culture and Information. As it is seen from the title of this document – this is a media plan, this means that it can contribute to the communication strategy but hardly be considered as a strategic document. This plan is a typical form and approach usually used by authorities in Kazakhstan. In general, this plan provides us with the information on where (in what media) it is planned to publish articles and other information on EITI. The most detailed document that concerns communications is the Strategy of the Coalition “Oil Revenues – Under Public Control!”. This Strategy includes a Section on communications that described a factual situation and intentions in respect communications. But when we tried to find out how the Strategy was implemented we came to a conclusion that the majority of the described activities has never been carried out. Although as a document, this Strategy looks comprehensive and well grounded. Decenta has also examined the documents developed ever since the Dialogue Platform was launched. Thus in 2011-2012 the members of the DP had several meeting aimed at developing the strategy of further promoting EITI in Kazakhstan. The minutes of these meeting show that the DP’s members were also going to develop a communication strategy (the minutes of the meeting held in May 2012 in Almaty). In fact, this work has not been completed and the DP does not have its communication strategy either. In addition to the documents accessible in a hard copy we also studies content of the web resources regarding EITI. Decenta has studied the following web sites: www.eiti.org/ru/Kazakhstan, www.geology.kz, www.eitingo.kz, www.mining.kz, www.oilnews.kz, www.old.kazenergy.com. None of the mentioned web-resources contains any information that might be considered as a communication strategy on EITI. In 2012 there was a project implemented by MediaNet with the support of WB and Soros- Kazakhstan that had a goal to develop new approaches on communicating the information on EITI to the public and all interested parties. With this purpose, MediaNet developed infographics for simpler and easier delivering the information about EITI and the National Reports on EITI in particular. Conclusion: After having studied all accessible documents, Decenta can conclude that there were a few attempts to develop communication strategy on EITI in Kazakhstan. These attempts have been made by: 1. Coalition of NGOs “Oil Revenues – Under Public Control!” in 2008-2012; 2. Dialogue Platform of NGOs – in 2011-2012; 3. National Stakeholders Council – in 2008; 4. Working Group of the National Stakeholders' Council – in 2012; 5. Ministry of Information and Culture with Ministry of Industry and New Technologies – in 2013. As a matter of fact, there was no any strategy that has been ever fully implemented. All these strategies were reviewed and there was a question to be address – is it worth improving some of the mentioned documents or better developing absolutely different one? After discussions there was a decision taken to develop new document that should include good suggestions from the mentioned variants.. Nevertheless we have used and applied some elements and suggestions from the revised materials when developing the strategy on this project. 1.2. Holding a meeting of the Dialogue Platform members. This activity was also completed. On the 8-9th of April there was a meeting of the DP held in Almaty. On the 8-9th of April there was a meeting of the DP held in Almaty. As a matter of fact this meeting was not a part of this project and was organized by the NGO “ECHO” with the support of Soros - Kazakhstan Foundation. Nevertheless, Decenta decided to use this opportunity to fulfill achieve the project’s objectives. Therefore, first together with INIDI we presented our projects, its goals, objectives, activities and expected results. On the second day of the DP’s meeting Decenta arranged a session of the communication strategy planning. This meeting was attended by representatives of all DP’s members: “Oil Revenues – Under Public Control!”, Young Professional of Kazakhstan, Confederation of Akmolinskaya Region Trade Unions, Civil Alliance of Kazakhstan and Association of NGOs of Kazakhstan. Decenta’s representative facilitated this process trying to involve all participants into discussion. There were three key questions addressed to the participants: 1. What do we want to tell about EITI in Kazakhstan? 2. Who do we want to deliver this information to? 3. What are the best ways to deliver this information? The session combined brainstorming and general discussion. As a result, we came to general recommendations regarding main issues about the process of EITI progress in Kazakhstan; about the target groups, which we want to inform bout these achievements; and the methods of communications. As the results of this meeting, we had minutes with suggestions and recommendations on all three issues. 3.1. Interviewing of the National Stakeholders' Council members. In accordance with the Inception Report Decenta has developed a Questionnaire for interviewing the NSC’s members. The members of the NSC representing civil society have answered the questions of the Questionnaire. As for the members of the NSC representing the Government – they requested for the ToR and details of the contract concluded between Decenta and WB. They also have articulated a concern that they are not aware of many projects and actions being implemented in the sphere of EITI. Therefore, they expressed a hope that in the future NGOs and donors will share with them such information. On the 13th of June there was a meeting with a representative of the International EITI Secretariat – Dvyke Rogan in Astana, where most of the NSC attended. And using this opportunity Decenta has started interviewing of the companies representatives. In particular, the questionnaires were given to E.Karazhan, R.Zhampisov, M.Namazbekov. Decenta has also approached a member of the NSC representing the Parliament – Mrs. A.Solovyova. As a result, this activity was also fulfilled and 7 NSC's members (N.Yantsen, P.Lobachev, A.Solovyova, R.Zhampiisov, S.Nikitinskaya, M.Namazbekov, E.Karazhan) were interviewed by this time. 3.2. Summarizing all suggestions and developing the Communications Strategy. After studying all previous experiences and materials developed in other countries and in Kazakhstan Decenta started the process of developing the Communication Strategy. This document is built on the information received from the DP’s and NSC’s members. Decenta has contacted consultants to assist in developing this document – totally 4 experts were attracted. Besides, to secure discussions and deliberations, to gather maximum opinions from all stakeholders Decenta announced that all interested individuals were invited to participate in the process of the Strategy development. As a result, we formed a group of experts who worked on paid and free basis. These experts are: 1. Yuriy Krivodanov, Director of NGO “Blago”, member of Working Group on Communications of the NSC, Karaganda; 2. Sergey Khudyakov, Director of “Local Self-Government Institute Development”, NSC deputy member, Petropavlovsk”; 3. Svetlana Ushakova, Director of “INIDI”, member of Working Group on Communications of the NSC, Almaty; 4. Olesya Khalabuzar, Director of “Young Professionals of Kazakhstan”, NSC deputy member, Almaty; 5. Aziya Kurmanbayeva, PWYP, Steering Committee member, Semey. 6. Ramazan Zhampiissov, Kazenergy Association, Executive Director, NSC member, Moderator of Working Group on communications, Astana. 7. Maulen Namazbekov, Kazenergy Association, Deputy Director, NSC member, Astana. Decenta acted as a coordinator and facilitated the process of the Strategy development. As a matter of fact we have completed a draft of this document. But some points and aspects in this draft were arguable and disputable. When working over the Strategy we came across some tough questions that actually were answered only partially. These questions are the following: 1. Who is the owner of the Strategy, i.e. who is supposed to push it forward, fulfill it step by step, to raise funds etc.? 2. What resources are allocated or will be to finance implementation of the Strategy? 3. Why there was no preliminary survey or needs assessment done to learn more about expectations and necessities of all target groups and beneficiaries? These questions made us stuck in the process of discussions and finding consensus. Finally, we agreed that the most suitable owner of the Strategy is the NSC. But at the same time we realized that the companies are not very much interested in this Strategy. We understand that the Government will be interested until Kazakhstan passes successfully validation and nobody knows what comes after. The Parliament members also do not seem very much interested. Thus, only NGOs reveal real interest, enthusiasm and commitment. Therefore, some consultants offered the Dialogue Platform as the most possible owner. The issue of resources is also a complicated one. We know that some resources are allocated but there was no guarantee that the Government will be financing the activities of the Strategy. All experts agreed that a survey should have been conducted. Because we are trying to build something having very limited and not clear information about the ground. This means that no one ever asked what the interests and expectations of the companies, citizens, officials and other stakeholders were. Anyway, we agreed that under the present conditions we have to complete the Strategy meeting the ToR, factual situation in the country and operating with the real resources. Therefore have decided to finish up with the process of the Strategy development. And what concerns the mentioned above questions we propose that: The owner of the Strategy will be the NSC; we will be planning only the most likely sources of funding; if there is an opportunity, our group will suggest conducting a survey on needs, expectations and necessities of the target groups. On the 20th of November there was a meeting of the NSC where S.Gulyayev who represents NGOs and Decenta offered including the Communication Strategy into the Working Plan of the Council for 2014-2016. And this suggestion was agreed by the members. As a result, in the Minutes #44, paragraph 2.1. there is a resolution to include the Communication Strategy into the Working Plan. And the draft Working Plan that is going to be approved by the end of 2013 contains paragraph 6.6.1. – Approving the Communication Strategy by February 2014. Therefore, this task is fully completed. The Strategy can be found on the web-site of the Geology Committee: http://geology.gov.kz/ru/eiti/communication-strategy Task 2 - Developing communications materials, as outlined in the communications strategy. This task was also completed. Decenta in accordance with the Communication Strategy has developed three materials: a booklet and two video films. As it was planed – the booklet containss brief information on profits that a region and its citizens benefit from EITI. As an example there was taken Pavlodar region where 9 extracting companies operate. We have found information about: natural resources that the companies extract (coal, gold, copper), payments that the companies paid to the national budget and local budget in 2011 (as it was stated in the National Report - 2011), percentage of these payment in the local budget, number of social objects that could be constructed using this money (kindergartens, schools, roads), amounts of social investments spent by the companies in 2011. This booklet was presented to the participants of EITI School, members of NGOs, media and all of them have found it as a good, simple instrument of information delivery. There were printed 500 copies of the pamphlet for distribution and disseminating among all interested parties. An electronic version of the booklet was enclosed to the Interim Report #3. Decenta has also created short video (http://decenta.kz/projects/index.php?id=128) containing same information as the booklet but in a form of video and inforgaphics. This video was demonstrated during the Eurasian Regional Seminar on EITI Standard 2013 in Batumi, September 20-21, 2013. The participants expressed their interest and approved the idea and approach. Than it was demonstrated to the participants of the seminar on new EITI Standards in October 2013 in Astana. In November the video was showed to the participants of the seminars held by INIDI Foundation in Aktobe and Uralsk. The video was also posted to the web site of the Geology Committee of the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies ( http://geology.gov.kz/ru/eiti/public-debate). As far as we know this material is widely used now by many groups of interested stakeholders Finally, Decenta developed a second video that is about implementing EITI in Kazakhstan in general. The film is accessible here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbZEKov9f1c&feature=youtu.be. Thus by this time Decenta has designed and produced three materials. The materials are very easy to be adapted by any other region of Kazakhstan, so they might be used as templates. Task 3 - Conducting EITI communication and outreach activities. On 09-11 September 2013 Decenta Foundation held in Pavlodar EITI School that was on of the core activities of the Project. As it was planned there was made an announcement – Call for Letters of Interest to participate in the School. This announcement was sent to all coalitions and associations that work in the sphere of EITI, Decenta also used resources of its partners in the target regions, besides the announcement was sent through the biggest and most famous system of e-newsletters – [PROF] that has more than 15000 subscribers. As a result there were 28 letters of interest applied. Unfortunately some of the participants could not attend the School due to their health condition and they refused just a day before the School so that it was not possible already to invite somebody else. It should be also highlighted that the theme of EITI is not yet very much interested for NGOs and CSOs and this can be seen by the number of applications. The participants of the School were representatives of NGOs, media, business and universities. These people were from Atyrau, Mangistau, Western-Kazakhstan, Aktobe, Southern- Kazakhstan, Karaganda, Eastern-Kazakhstan and Pavlodar regions. In general these were young representatives of NGOs. Totally 24 people attended the School, 13 people were representatives of Pavlodar region and 11 people – other regions. The School Program took 3 days and included the following components:  General Information on EITI, its history, participation of Kazakhstan in the Initiative, stages of its development. 2. The Dialogue Platform and its members. . 3. Validation: meaning, principles, experience of Kazakhstan. 4. National EITI Reports: development, principles, practice. 5. The National Stakeholders' Council: functions, competence and powers, principles. 6. Social payments of companies, opportunities for civil society to participate and influence the process of planning and spending. One of the eligibility criteria for participants was absence of experience in EITI sphere and seminars in particular, thus the majority of the participants had just very general knowledge of EITI. At the same time there was a real demand to obtain information on this subject. The participants asked a lot of serious and tough questions on the theme, they also very actively used Internet resources to find information themselves. In particular there were articulated the following questions:  Who pays for the work of a company that develops the national EITI reports? If the Government pays – is not it trying to get the results that it wants to?  What is the way to contract a company that develops the national reports? 8. What happens if in the reports any discrepancies found? Who and what measures takes? 9. Who takes decisions on what objects should be constructed in the regions at the expenses of the companies' social payments? Etc. Decenta contracted as trainers: N.Yantsen (Tax Culture Foundation, member of NSC, Almaty); S.Ushakova (INIDI Foundation, Almaty); O.Chernyshov (Institute of Analysis and Forecasting of Eastern-Kazakhstan Region, Ust- Kamenogorsk); E.Jantureeva (Secretariat of EITI in Kazakhstan, Committee of Geology at the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies, Astana). The first two days of the School were more theoretical. The participants were presented information about EITI, how Kazakhstan follows the rules and standard of the Initiative, hoe the NSC develops and takes decisions, what problems and challenges are faced when decisions are making. There were specifically explained that the NSC includes all interested parties and this secures protection and promoting interests of all stakeholders, and this is very democratic way of decision-making. But at the same time this approach is a very difficult and time-consuming because it requires finding consensus on any decision. It is remarkable that the trainers had their own experience of membership in the NSC and this allowed them using real cases from their practice and this made the training materials maximum useful for the participants. At the end of the first day the participants were offered a business role-playing game, that was aimed at training skills of developing decisions by different stakeholders. Each group had their own objective/mission that was absolutely opposite to the objectives of other groups and the task was to find a solution and come to consensus. This exercise allowed to the participants to feel how the process of discussions and decision-making is usually organized in the NSC. The session held by E.Jantureeva was very useful as she delivered to the participants information about EITI from the point of view of an official, she also explained how the Secretariat works, the role of the NSC. Mrs.Jantureeva provided the participants with very detailed information about extracting sector in Kazakhstan, and described the process of validation that took place in 2013. O.Chernyshov told about the experience of Eastern-Kazakhstan region and how civil society and public influence social payments of extracting and industrial companies. His core message was about a necessity to use professional approaches when communicating to the companies. In particular he told about the role of data obtained as a result of social researches held in the region. The final day of the School contained a very important practical part of the Program when the participants were offered to make analysis of opportunities and define ways of promoting EITI in the regions (as all participants mentioned that the level of awareness about EITI in the regions was very poor). As a continuation of this work the Communication Strategy was presented to the participants. The task was to review the Strategy in a critical way and propose their comments and recommendations. But as a matter of fact the document did not provoke any criticism, there were just some opinions and recommendations expressed:  The Strategy looks like a document of good quality and as a quite applicable tool;  The Strategy is a ready Guidelines to be used;  As a recommendation – probably the abbreviation EITI should not be used at all when communicating to citizens because people do not care about what it is but just want to know what they will profit from it;  Probably there is a necessity to tell to the population about experience of public councils (in Eastern-Kazakhstan and Mangistau regions);  A lot of recommendations were expressed in respect working with media: as mass media are hunting for sensations – the materials should be presented as exclusive unique information;  As instruments for promoting EITI there were recommended debates and such a platform as Youth Forum where it could be possible to arrange a separate session on EITI. And even more specifically the participants mentioned Zhascamp that is going to be held in Almaty on 14 October, 2013$  It is recommended to more widely use social networks (Facebook in particular), this will bring thousands of subscribers;  It was also highlighted the necessity and importance of having full-time press-secretary for the NSC who should be first of all an analyst, able of working with information for definite target audiences;  There was recommendation to use approach applied by some TV channels – short messages containing inphorgaphics, something like “EITI in figures; And at the end the participants were shown drafts of presentation materials – booklet and video. The materials were approved both as ideas and as implementation. The participants agreed that the materials could be used as templates for all other regions. The feedback of the participants: Aitbayev Nurbek (Uralsk): Proposed to create an account on Facebook and volunteered to act as a moderator. Evgeniy Anisimov (Aktau): Criticized the idea with Facebook and proposed to establish a google- group for the School participants. Vera Kurbanova (Atyrau): Said that she was going to use EITI theme when organizing debate tournaments, also was going to share her impressions about the School with her classmates and teachers at University. Sergey Anisimov (Aktau): Has given a high mark for the trainers' work and logistics of the event. Marina Tsygankova (Aktobe: Was intending to use the knowledge and materials at the University, Department of Ecology. As promised, the participants created an account on Facebook: EITI Казакстан. In general the participants expressed appreciation to the trainers and Decenta for the opportunity to attend the School and for new knowledge. They also emphasized importance of promoting EITI in the regions and using the mechanism of public councils. Thus all activities planned were successfully implemented. Among other results and outcomes of the project Decenta would like to mention the following:  In October 2013 there was held the 5th National EITI Conference in Astana. Decenta was responsible to arrange participation in the Conference for selected representatives of NGOs and CSOs. And we want to highlight that 8 people who participated in the EITI School also applied their Letters of Interest to participate in the Conference. And 5 people were invited to attend the Conference.  Participants of the School created accounts on Facebook – EITI Kazakhstan, and regularly post their publications.  Materials of EITI School and video developed by Decenta were posted on the site of the Geology Committee that facilitates the activity of EITI Kazakhstan Secretariat. The Secretariat also invited NGOs to post their publications on the page of the site named Public Debates.  The Communication Strategy raised interest of the NSC’s members and they agreed to incorporate it into the Working Plan. Therefore, the Strategy is going to be reviewed and approved in early 2014. The Strategy is present on the website of the Geology Committee.  The information presented in the pamphlet attracted the attention of local journalist – Alexander Baranov, who used the data from the National Report 2011 and the pamphlet for his article about social payments/investments of ENRC.  Representatives of GIZ in Kazakhstan revealed their interest towards the presentation materials and expressed an idea for future cooperation in communicating EITI information to the citizens of Eastern Kazakhstan region. As a conclusion, Decenta would like to highlight that the target audience demanded this project. A group of stakeholders benefited from this project: the EITI Kazakhstan Secretary, National Council of Stakeholders, NGOs, and students. The materials produced raise an interest of any audience. There are no any suggestions regarding improvement of the program but there is necessity to continue this activity in the future. Kazakhstan at present is entering the post-validation period and needs to adapt all procedures to the new EITI Standards and Regulations. This is going to demand coherent and comprehensive communication activities, informing all interested parties on EITI, getting feedback, improving the process of communicating, delivering this information to each region and the audiences identified in the Strategy. Decenta Foundation General Director Sergey Gulyayev Final Program Report Contract #: 716517 Grant Amount: $ 44 920,00 Name of the contractor: INIDI, Public Foundation Project Title: “National and Regional Capacity Building of Civil Society And Their Engagement in EITI Processes in the Republic of Kazakhstan” funded by the World Bank Project Timeframes: January 15, 2013 – December 30, 2013 Reporting Period: January 15, 2013 – December 30, 2013 1) Summary of activities conducted under the present project In compliance with the approved project action plan, the following activities have been conducted in the course of the project: 1. On April 8-9, 2013 the project was publicly presented at the meeting of the Dialogue Platform of Associations of NGOS on the Extracting Industries Transparency Initiative (DP of ANGOs on the EITI). Attachment – Project presentation. As a result, the project action plan was approved by the representatives of the DP of ANGOs on the EITI, and ANGOs’ Coordinators have agreed to provide informational assistance among members of their associations. Representatives of international organizations Eurasia Public Foundation and Soros Foundation Kazakhstan have attended the meeting as invited guests. They also expressed interest in the project. 2. Project implementing partners in the regions have been identified among the most sustainable and competent NGOs in the project target regions. Contracts with the regional coordinators (RCs) have been signed, covering the following project activities and obligations on creation the EITI of RCs:  Set up communications between the regional NGOs/CSOs and project team in Almaty;  Organize 2 (two) training events on the project themes;  Conduct at least 6 (six) meetings of NGOs to discuss aspects of project implementation in the target regions;  Build interactions/cooperation among the regional CSOs to organize joint activities on creation of the RPCs and SIPs monitoring;  Provide detailed information on the meetings;  Conduct final media conference in their home locations at the close-out stage of the pro- ject. After signing the contracts, all RCs have successfully accomplished the first obligations on arrang- ing the first training round in their home regions. Training announces were distributed, applications collected and CSOs representatives were selected jointly with the central project office staff in Al- maty. Regional project partners: Aktobe – Support Center for Women, Public Association, Aigul Duysenova; phone: +7 7132 54 67 68, mobile: +7 701 494 44 54, email: daigul2007@yandex.ru; Uralsk – Zaman, Association of Producers, Aigul Turkina; mobile: +7 701 635 78 01, email: a- turkina@yandex.ru Kyzylorda – Center for Youth Problems, Bayan Egizbayeva; mobile: +7 777 961 08 96, email: egizbaeva.bayan@mail.ru. 3. Preparatory arrangements for the first training round in the project target regions. The following activities/actions have been accomplished with this purpose:  Trainers have been identified on the bases of required experience and professional training background in the field of EITI implementation. Определена тренерская команда на основе необходимого опыта по проведению тренингов по ИПДО. The following experts were selected as trainers: Natalia Yantsen – the Director of Formation of Tax Culture, Public Association. Mrs. Yantsen possesses more than 7-years experience conducting trainings on the EITI and have professional background in financial management and taxation; she is a member of the National Council of Stakeholders on the EITI (NCS on the EITI); Svetlana Ushakova – the Director of INIDI, Public Foundation. Mrs. Ushakova has more than 9 years of experience conducting trainings on the EITI, 15 years of experience conducting trainings on various themes; she is a highly qualified expert/consultant in institutional development, monitoring and evaluation, advocacy and gender-related issues.  Training module for the first training round in the regions was designed; presentations and handouts have been developed and produced. During the preparatory stage, the project team used materials, developed by NGOs under the project of Soros Foundation Kazakhstan ( “Passion according to a barrel” and “Money to nowhere” films, infographics on the history of EITI implementation in the Republic of Kazakhstan, reports of the Coalition “Oil revenues – under public oversight”, and materials from the www.eiti.org website (please refer to the Attachments folder). 4. First training round The first round of trainings envisaged the following outcomes:  Presenting information and training on the EITI and results of EITI implementation in Kazakhstan;  Creation of conditions/basis for monitoring of regional socially important projects (SIPs) under the EITI through creation of resource centers (RCs), dialogue platforms (DPs) and regional public councils (RPCs). Results of the first training round: City Date Number of Decisions made participants Kyzylorda June 27 – 28, 28 The RPC on sustainable development was 2013 created; Decision to conduct SIP monitoring was made; Draft work plan of the Public Council on SIP monitoring was developed; Seminar participants decided to agree and approve the work plan on SIP monitoring at the next meeting of the RPC. Aktobe July 3 – 4, 2013 24 Initiative group of 15 CSOs representatives was created; Decision to conduct SIP monitoring was made; Draft work plan of the Public Council on SIP monitoring was developed; Seminar participants decided to agree and approve the work plan on SIP monitoring at the next meeting of the RPC. Uralsk July 11-12, 2013 24 Initiative group of 10 CSOs representatives was created; Decision to conduct SIP monitoring was made; Draft work plan of the Public Council on SIP monitoring was developed; Seminar participants decided to agree and approve the work plan on SIP monitoring at the next meeting of the RPC. During the seminar, the participants of all training events were presented with the DP mechanism for interaction of CSOs. The participants agreed that quality, efficient and equitable interaction of CSOs with each other is the key to success in SIP monitoring, as it involves promotion of an agreed, consolidated position and it's lobbying in relationships with extracting companies and local authorities. To develop their own rules of interaction between CSOs, the seminar participants were presented with the Regulation on the DP of ANGOs on EITI in Kazakhstan to be used as an example. 5. Meetings of the initiative groups on work plans in the regions As a result of the communications and meetings between the regional NGOs, the initiatives groups were created, work plans on further EITI implementation and public monitoring of regional SIPs were designed, and all trained NGOs are now motivated and educated to realize their initiatives and strengthen public participation. Another valuable outcome is raised interest of the state representatives towards cooperation with CSOs and media. That creates favourable background for effective cooperation between the stake- holders and following joint work on SIP monitoring. In the post-training period meetings of CSOs - members of the initiative groups - have been held on the basis of Resource Centers in the project regions. Participants discussed action plans for SIPs monitoring and mechanisms for better information dissemination among the constituency, stake- holders, and media. At least 2 meetings of initiative groups have been conducted in each project region. Key messages included, but were not limited to the following: - Specific features of the regional aspects of the EITI implementation; - Effective instruments of SIPs monitoring and public participation; - Establishment of Public Councils and communications with media and stakeholders; - Opportunities for cooperation with government actors and extractive companies, etc. The main result was updated work plans. These plans were used for further activities and during the second training round for further improvement and refinement. 6. Second training round INIDI conducted the second round of EITI seminars, training participants in public monitoring methods, best international practices, development of indicators, data collection and analysis, EITI new standards and regulations. The goals of the second round of EITI training were to promote and strengthen EITI implementation in the target regions, to extend public participation in monitoring of social and infrastructure projects (SIPs), and raise awareness of stakeholders on new EITI rules and standards as an issue of national concern. Two trainers were identified in consistence with professional requirements; and corresponding agreements were signed. The first trainer, Sergei Gulyayev, representing Decenta, PF, is a member of the National Council of Stakeholders on the EITI. His duties include but are not limited to development of training module and information section on the EITI new rules and requirements, adopted in May 2013. The second trainer, Oleg Chugunkov, representative of the Institute of Analysis and Forecasting of the Eastern Kazakhstan Region, LLC, is responsible for design of the section on Public Council practice on the example of the Eastern Kazakhstan Region, including mechanisms of social and infrastructure projects monitoring. Svetlana Ushakova, who is currently the leading EITI expert in Kazakhstan, has designed all other training modules. In cooperation with invited, the training module and agenda were developed, integrating feedback of the first training round participants (please refer to the Attachments folder). Second round of trainings included the following events/dates: Kyzylorda – October 13-14, 2013 Aktobe - October 21-22, 2013 Uralsk - October 24-25, 2013 These seminars were key events in the framework of the second training round. Regional Coordinators were involved in organization of the events in Kyzylorda, Aktobe and Uralsk, which attracted 24, 24 and 19 participants respectively from different backgrounds. The core objectives of the trainings were to give participants skills and knowledge in public monitoring of SIPs; introduce trainees to the best international practice and its applicability in Kazakhstan; present instruments for public monitoring planning (required resources, preparations and planning process); train target audience on development of indicators, data collection methods, tools for analysis; provide detailed overview of EITI new standards and opportunities for civil society organizations (CSOs) under the framework of these standards. The organizers of the events were dedicated to contribute to the development of trainees’ advocacy campaigning skills, provide comprehensive EITI implementation tools and best practices of SIPs public monitoring to the representatives of CSOs, media, civil servants and civic activists, and to share international experience in strengthening transparency and accountability of extracting industry. Also further regional activities on the EITI implementation were discussed and strategic planning for future activities in SIPs public monitoring was done. Training sessions in all three cities attracted representatives of key state agencies. This fact demonstrates raising interest of several state bodies in quality and accurate implementation of new EITI rules and procedures in the country. The organizers’ assumption that EITI implementation and public monitoring skills would be very important for all sectors of civil society was confirmed by the majority of trainees in their evaluations of the events. Some of the sessions were video-recorded to be utilized by trainees as an information resource, to be shared with other stakeholders that couldn’t participate in the trainings, and also to be posted on the Internet for wide audience (website of the Dialogue Platform of ANGOs on EITI, web-resource of the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies, other thematic websites, social networks, Youtube, etc.) The issue of support to the RPCs will also be raised with the National Council of Stakeholders on the EITI to provide further support to regional initiatives and promote multiplication of the best practices nationwide. Within the National Council it is planned to initiate adoption of the relevant legislative regulation on the state support of RPCs at regional level. EITI training program was developed and approved at the regional focus groups meetings. Monitoring plan and post-training reporting forms were designed. All regional project partners were motivated to carry out informational and educational activities in the framework of the project. Regional CSOs and state bodies were informed about the following informational events on EITI implementation in development of civil initiatives for raising transparency of extracting industries at the regional level. 7. Situation analysis ( social problems research in Kyzylorda) While the project didn’t include the task for the regional resource centers to conduct need assessment in the regions as it would require additional funds, the group of CSOs in Kyzylorda has carried out such research. It has to be highlighted that Kyzylorda initiative group almost right after the first training has been restructured into the Public Chamber (PC). Members have designed the PC Regulations, official chart, etc. Experience of the Coalition “Oil revenues – under public oversight” and the DP of ANGOs on the EITI was taken as an example for the newly established PC. The Chamber was created in the form of association of local CSOs with the main goal to promote public monitoring of the state agencies and business structures in the region. The PC has conducted the research of social apprehensive zones in Kyzylorda and neighboring areas. To do that, financial support from the Soros Foundation Kazakhstan has been used. At this stage INIDI, PF has provided constant consulting support to the Kyzylorda PC. The overall goal of the research was to develop criteria and recommendations on SIPs efficiency assessment in the target region. 614 respondents were involved in the study. The research sample included age, gender and ethnic considerations; revenue and education level were also taken into account at the stage of data analysis. To make the research more precise, logical grouping method was utilized. Key findings and recommendation of the research  Public opinion survey has disclosed deep public concern about various social, economic and political issues.  The research identified core challenges for city inhabitants. These matters differ by relevancy and acuity level. Social program analysis has to consider decision-making level for each and every issue.  Issues of advance on municipal services and poor ecological conditions could force people to express discontent more actively. Recommendations on effective monitoring of social projects/programs and raising citizen participation:  Civil society has to be more involved in decision-making at local level. As one of the alternative solutions, CSOs and civic activists could develop social programs for local government and extracting companies;  Public participation in decision-making should be synchronized with the process of extracting companies’ priorities identification to consider public needs and demand to larger extent and thereby increase efficiency of social projects/programs at local level;  Местное население должно активнее привлекаться местными исполнительными и представительными органами через механизм «обратной связи»;  CSOs have to be consistently engaged in social projects/programs monitoring and evaluation by signing memorandums and legal documents between the stakeholders: executive and representative local government bodies, extracting companies and CSOs (civil society);  Social situation is a dynamic process, so social apprehensive zones have to be monitored on a on-going basis;  The following monitoring scheme was proposed: analogous sociological research - every other year; public compliance assessment of implemented projects, their social dimension and efficiency (primarily, towards target groups);  It seems to be more effective to conduct such monitoring of different target groups separately. In this case it would be possible to design particular research instruments and get more detailed picture of social apprehensive and expectations zones;  Social apprehensive zones include not only existing challenges but also their reflection in public opinion of the citizens. That is the reason to widely cover social projects/programs implementations in the media. Full text of the research is in the Attachments folder. 8. Final media conferences At the close-out stage of the project, the following media conferences have been conducted in the target cities: Aktobe – December 20, 2013 Uralsk – December 21, 2013 Kyzylorda – December 27, 2013 Each media event attracted from 7 to 10 local media representatives. That could be considered as a very good indicator, as there are not so many local regional media in the country (in Kazakhstan government does not pun much emphasis on local independent media, especially in the regions) and media events were conducted in holiday season (when media prefer not to cover social and political themes). Lists of media representatives are in the Attachments folder. EITI is rather new and under-developed theme, so journalists mainly asked general questions about the nature and concept of the EITI, implementation in Kazakhstan, experience of other regions in the country, etc. All media expressed interest and willingness to follow the progress and participate in future events. “Money to nowhere” film was also demonstrated at media events. Feedback from journalists demonstrated the fact that some of them do not know about allocations of extracting companies’ funds to the regional budget. Information on several SIPs was presented. Press-kit also included press-releases (please refer to the Attachments folder) and CDs with full versions of the 2010 and 2011 EITI National Reports. In Kyzylorda, the initiative group has developed work plan for public monitoring of SIPs and EITI implementation in the region, and have planned further steps on promotion and strengthening public monitoring and participation in SIPs design and realization in the region. The abovementioned needs assessment (the research) was one of the milestones of this work plan. Uralsk initiative group has also designed a work plan, but currently the group is still at preparatory stage; it is expected that planned activities would start in 2014. In Aktobe, representatives of media and CSOs have developed tentative work plan embracing one- month collection of information and design of recommendation for Oblast Akim on SIPs allocation. Media and CSOs united their efforts to create a platform for regional cooperation with government bodies. The work plan included the following: 1. Prepare statistical data on regional budget allocations (amounts and actual volume, beneficiaries and organizations); 2. Make an inquiry to the Budget Planning Department on purposes and volumes of subsoil users’ allocations to non-budgetary organizations; 3. Send a request to 14 companies on their SIPs allocations. As the media conferences were held at the end of 2013, media materials will be released in 2014 as such publications require more thorough preparations. Therefore, it should be highlighted that regional media conferences have raised interest of media to the EITI, SIPs and civil participation in this fields. 2) Knowledge management At the start-up, project team has presented the present project and key components of its implementation to the members of the DP of ANGOs on the EITI through e-mail distribution. Coordinators of coalitions and associations of NGOs have also informed their constituency about the project. Information has been also forwarded to non-member NGOs: Azamattyk Kurultai and Aikyndyk. Therefore NGOs engaged in EITI implementation in Kazakhstan j=have been informed about the project. Wider range of NGOs and civil leaders (more than 10 000 respondents) has also got information through e-mail distribution lists of the Young Professionals Society of Kazakhstan (YPSK). In the course of the project (upon completion of each project stage and training round) brief information was distributed through e-mail distribution lists of the YPSK. Upon completion of the project, all information will be made available on the official website on the EITI implementation in Kazakhstan, and website of the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies under the “Public Debates” section. In addition to all planned informational events, the project team has recorded the second round training session. The record will be edited, processed and posted on YouTube open to public. That was made upon numerous requests from many CSOs in the target regions and from other locations, which were not able to attend training sessions. We hope to at least partly satisfy CSOs’ training needs in the sphere of the EITI implementation in Kazakhstan. Press-clipping on all publications made on the basis of project activities, is enclosed to the present report (Attachment “Press-clipping”). It was also decided to create an e-mail distribution list in order to strengthen cooperation among the trainees and promote their further joint initiatives aimed at better EITI implementation at the regional level. Training participants are discussing long term plans to create a network of NGOs on EITI implementation at the regional level. It is assumed that the network of NGOs will be established in 2014. The main focus of the network will be made at monitoring of government and extracting companies’ financial expenditures, as well as other related issues. 3) Recommendations and lessons learned  It is necessary to further strengthen the capacity of NGOs in the regions of EITI implementation at the regional level, especially in the field of public participation, financial monitoring and public needs assessment;  Regional NGOs are very fragmented and need to focus on uniting their efforts, enhance skills of joint work, and develop common strategic and tactical decisions. This is the basis for successful interaction with the government and real public participation in decision- making;  Pool of trainers on the EITI is very limited in Kazakhstan. There are no trainers capable of conducting training in Kazakh language. This impediment limits the scope of regional NGOs, as sub-national greatest need is learning in Kazakh language. That is necessary to train a pool of trainers on EITI including Kazakh-speaking experts;  There is a greater need for wider informational campaign on opportunities of public monitoring and public participation in the decision-making through the EITI mechanism. The present project proves to have a great impact in current national conditions. Upon publication of the National Report with segregated data on social infrastructure projects, favourable conditions for public monitoring were created. The main challenge for civil society in Kazakhstan is that regional CSOs did not have tools and effective instruments to access information on SIPs funded by the extracting companies. Therefore, project activities have greatly contributed to raising awareness of regional stakeholders and provided comprehensive training on public monitoring of SIPs. Regional communities face crucial need in high quality training on EITI implementation and utilization of the latest international mechanisms for effective public monitoring and follow-on activities. Results of the second training round demonstrate high importance and positive impact in view of EITI implementation at the regional level. 4) Conclusions Following the training, Regional Coordinators in Uralsk organized a meeting with the Advisor to Akim oft he city, where plans of local CSOs for SIPs public monitoring were presented. The Advisor expressed his interest in the initiatives and positively evaluated public activities in the thematic area. In Kyzylorda, training results were presented at “Sustainable development. Civil society – practices and cooperation prospects” conference, attended by the Deputy Akim of the Region, representatives of Maslikhat and business structures. Stakeholders demonstrated positive attitude towards new initiatives and expressed willingness to cooperate and provide necessary support to the regional project implementation team. It can be stated with confidence that the training courses were successfully completed and highly evaluated by participants. The trainer’ perfomance was very professional and well- received by the audience. Practical sessions were evaluated as the key ones; and participants expressed their willingness to realize action plans using tools and methods presented during training sessions. Currently, the designed action plans are being discussed in the regions with key state agencies and extracting enterprises, and will be submitted to the project office shortly. As a result of the EITI implementation, fractal information on SIPs is public. Information on funds allocation (name of a company and amount of funds allocated in the framework of SIPs) is shared in the National Reports on the EITI implementation in Kazakhstan (2010 and 2011). The present project was aimed at training NGOs on SIP monitoring. As the result of project activities, all NGOs engaged in the initiative (about 20-25 NGOs in each target region) have been trained in SIP monitoring and given effective instruments in public participation, needs assessment and public monitoring of SIPs with the goal to strengthen public engagement in oil revenues distribution and decision-making. Trainees obtained comprehensive knowledge and skills on step-by-step procedures and mechanisms of SIP monitoring, presented with detailed information on the EITI concept and standards, ways of public involvement and citizen participation. Thus, we foresee that trained groups of NGOs would initiate SIP monitoring and utilize newly gained knowledge and skills. The main impact is initiative groups becoming more interested and motivated towards initiation and active participation in public monitoring of SIPs. The group in Kyzylorda was one of the best examples of successful project activities, as they already have conducted needs assessment (the research mentioned in the final report) and are now ready to initiate SIP monitoring. Final conclusion of the project is that all target beneficiaries and stakeholders have expressed ultimate interest in the project findings and achievements and strive to further continue the progress of the present initiative. It has been proved that the project brought significant impact towards better EITI implementation in Kazakhstan with respect to full-fledged promotion of the needs and demands of civil society, and, furthermost, improvement of living standards countrywide.