Captain grant children in Kazakhstan: story of the fiasco

By Alisher SAGADIEV

“In times of scumbag prosperity it is stupid to ask decency from others and demand it from yourself. But there is no other way to change the age.”

Yelena Ermolova

Finance from different foreign governments and foundations has come along in Kazakhstan in roaring 90’s; in very due time and very much to the point, because in that period every dollar in the country was on the account. But effectiveness of all those financial injections was minimal. Many grants were redound to advantages purely for grant receivers, and along with this substantially discredited ability of NGO’s to make something useful to the country and society.

On the present moment we are in the situation, in which majority of the country has no access to mass-media (simply to tell about their problems). They can’t find truth and justice in corrupted courts. They have no power to establish party or union to protect their interests. They simply don’t have organizational and resource possibilities to solve everyday questions of life necessities in places (local government). Social, educational and cultural environment around enormous layout of Kazakhs is continuing to degrade.

Allegedly these are the directions, on which different grants from West were devoted since the board line of independency. How could happen, that millions of dollars and euro on various improvements were devoted and came to Kazakhstan, but it didn’t get better? Such directions like court system and protection of environment are falling into deep.

We will start from the people, because the main wealth of any country and any organization is people. In the beginning of grant era the most clever, action and enterprising men were focused on it. By the way of mastering of those finance it became clear that grant giving organizations are of non-governmental (sometimes even governmental) kind of bureaucracy. The main thing that authority of such fund requires is a pack of papers proving that money was used according to maintained procedures. And was it good out of it is the other question.

As the result, in the short term the majority of places near grant feeders were taken by cynic and bloody-minded people. They can write tons of paper (thanks god, along with development of e-data on such purposes, forests in Siberia and Amazon are more safe), showing that everything is ok. Kazakhstan is a far country for the West, and that’s why auditors from various foundations are rarely visiting here.

Meanwhile grant-suckers are writing entertaining reports and rarely messing with authorities, i.e. representatives of governmental structures. However, constructive conflict between NGO’s and governmental bodies is a necessary condition on the way to social progress. Because bureaucracy has never liked, when somebody disturbs it and forces to work. NGO employees, imitating social activity, are trying to arrange round tables and seminars in good neighbor surrounding. By the result of it many books, manuals and recommendation are writing, which nobody takes into consideration.

If to read anything about human rights grants after all, and then try to use on practice in the court or local police precinct, then it wouldn’t be good. Because all such paperwork is based on how it must be, but people in such places are meeting the real things as they are.

Real NGO’s, which are carrying job of social importance, can be counted by one hand fingers. Is it freedom of speech protection fund Adil Soz, Kazakhstani international bureau on human rights and observance of lawfulness, Journalists in Trouble foundation and Oil Income under Control of the Society. Along with this, they can be considered in the first stance as beating head against a wall. But are there any rents in the wall? It is hard to judge. For instance, Ramazan Esergepov, Tochniyaz Kuchukov and Evgeniy Zhovtis (human rights activist) are in jail.

It’s coming to an absurd. At one time there was only one NGO in the whole country, which helped mass-media and journalists under prosecution and 15, which were monitored prosecution on press. A classic model of grant-receiving organizations looks like following: to arrange a seminar (i.e. smoking damages health, detriment of compulsory subscription of state employees on periodic, about necessity of hot meals in schools, about evil of domestic violence in families etc.), organize press-conference, publish a manual… That’s it. Where are methods of solving problems and its step-by-step implementation? NGO working in that sector are units. No fact that they will receive next grant.

The other thing is that grant organization are like to teach authorities, inviting them abroad or carrying special trainers to them. And they are teaching with all seriousness, that you can’t take bribes, breach the rights of disabled, show law nihilism and many things which are serious by nature. However, it is easier to lead Playboy reader to read Little Prince of Saint-Exupery. Simply because there is a place for freedom here, but bureaucrats are built-in into system, where rules were set not by them. And there you can play by convention or you’ll be fired, or something even worse.

Western grants were also notably mutated on local corrupted scene. Major part of given grant finance is even don’t living areas of Washington and Brussels. Periodically, this information becomes publically accessible, when figures are appearing innit, splat by tables “funds allocated to representative in Kazakhstan” and “received”. When grant giving person is in share, self has to close eyes on various “snowdrops” (people who are only itemized in a list to receive salary), occurred in report documentation.

It turns out that with their coming in Central Asia Western grants were not so much helpful to develop civil society in local countries as they were corrupted themselves too. For two years ago story with Dutch NGO in Kyrgyzstan made a lot of noise. This leads to a mass of thoughts. It turns out that people are generally the same. It’s simple – in US and EU they are held by environment, and when they are getting in situation without conventional control and shell, then it appears to be that far less of them have an internal rod.

The power of Kazakhstan would happily add grant institution on its armory. Nowadays a number of NGO’s, fed by the side of ministries and town councils are simulating support of society to any galimatias. And that’s when the question emerges – what Western grant-givers wanted, when opened financing here? If to waste some money, then they were succeeded; but if to advance local civil sector on higher level, then not. If to form group of men, grateful to the West for received money then there are some options.

Nevertheless, there is a kind of NGO, that successfully working even in Uzbekistan. In truth, they are narrow profiled organizations, which working in beekeeping, medicinal herbs, cultural heritage research, and sanitary-hygienic education of society. But almost on anything, that were grew by politically biased grantors, can be claimed as “rotten”, “stealing”, “meaningless” and “weak”.