A youth study tour on Kazakhstan's nuclear legacy
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In the summer of 2024, twenty young people from Kazakhstan and Germany spent a week travelling through Kazakhstan to learn about the country’s nuclear past and its consequences today. Yerdaulet Rakhmatulla co-organised the tour with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Kazakhstan, ICAN Germany and the Steppe Organization for Peace (STOP).
In Astana, the group met officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and visited Nazarbayev University. In Almaty, participants joined discussions with activists and experts and a documentary screening. In Semey, they met communities affected by Soviet nuclear testing, the Abai Region administration and local research institutions, including Semey Medical University. During the week the group also met a judge of the Constitutional Court and a member of Parliament.
He noted that visits by civil society representatives to the Foreign Ministry are still rare, and described this one as a good sign for dialogue between the state and civil society on nuclear issues. For him, the tour also confirmed how much intergenerational dialogue matters, and how much regional activists and affected communities need support to build their own capacity.
Original source
Young Changemakers Advocate for Nuclear-Free Future through Educational Journey in Kazakhstan
The Astana Times