ASTANA – Kazakhstan launched a new housing initiative on April 29 aimed at improving access to safe, affordable housing for vulnerable groups and advancing broader housing policy reforms. The three-year project, called Shanyraq: Partnerships for Stronger Communities and the Right to Accessible Housing for All, is supported by the European Union and implemented by the Eurasia Foundation of Central Asia (EFCA) in partnership with the iTeachMe Foundation and the Nomad Rights Foundation.
It is expected to directly benefit at least 400 people while strengthening civil society organizations, advancing housing rights advocacy and improving citizens’ legal and financial literacy. “ Safe, adequate and affordable housing is not a privilege – it is a basic right.
Through the Shanyraq project, we are bringing partners together to help make that right a reality for everyone in Kazakhstan,” said Juana Mera Cabello, the deputy head of cooperation at the Delegation of the European Union to Kazakhstan. Rinad Temirbekov, director of the Eurasia Foundation of Central Asia (EFCA), noted that the project aims to increase the effectiveness of existing housing support programs for socially vulnerable groups.
Photo credit: EFCA Rinad Temirbekov, the EFCA director, said the project is built on a partnership between civil society organizations and government agencies, with the goal of increasing the effectiveness of existing housing support programs for socially vulnerable groups.
He identified four categories of systemic barriers the project seeks to address: legal and institutional, economic, physical and informational. “Legal and institutional barriers include restrictions on eligibility for housing waiting lists, inadequate criteria for determining need and limited mechanisms to account for diverse life circumstances,” Temirbekov said.
Economic barriers stem from the gap between household incomes and market housing prices, as well as shortcomings in government subsidy programs that do not fully reflect the actual costs of building adequate housing. Temirbekov noted that physical barriers include a shortage of accessible and adaptable housing units and underdeveloped infrastructure for people with disabilities, whose needs vary significantly across categories.
Informational barriers reflect a lack of public awareness about available government programs, difficulty accessing advisory support and the absence of a single digital platform to simplify access to housing services. “The variety of programs is really present.
However, it is difficult for a person to understand the nuances of different programs,” Temirbekov said. Project beneficiaries include people with disabilities, families raising children with disabilities, large families, orphanage graduates and single parents.