On 1 October 2026, a working meeting was held in Astana to review and discuss the implementation and update of Kazakhstan’s Country Initiative on Education for Sustainable Development for 2030 (ESD for 2030). The meeting brought together representatives of government bodies, educational institutions, universities and research centers, international organizations, the expert community and non-governmental sector. Participants reviewed progress to date and discussed the implementing ESD within its five priority areas into the national education system and beyond.
For more than 20 years, UNESCO has played a leading role within the United Nations system in advancing Education for Sustainable Development. The global ESD for 2030 framework and its Roadmap set out the key directions for this work, including implementation through Country initiatives. The 2025 mid-term review of ESD for 2030 reaffirmed the continued relevance of the framework and highlighted the need for stronger coordination and improved approaches to monitoring progress.
Kazakhstan was one of the first Central Asian countries to develop its ESD for 2030 Country Initiative, which provides a national framework for mainstreaming ESD into education by bringing together the efforts of government bodies, educational institutions and other partners. Updating the Initiative will ensure that it reflects recent developments in national policies and practices, emerging priorities and lessons learned through implementation process.
