In Kazakhstan, rural women are forming collectives to improve their livelihoods

Nurbek Bekmurzaev · Global Voices · Creative Commons Attribution 3.0. Text excerpted and formatting simplified; media and third-party quotations excluded. No endorsement implied.

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Their most pressing challenge is solving the long-standing water shortage in the village

This interview is part of a series of spotlights on the work of some of the grantees of the Digital Spark granting scheme, as part of the Regional Support Mechanism EECA project, implemented by the Metamorphosis Foundation and TechSoup, in partnership with CIVICUS and under the Digital Democracy Initiative (DDI) that covers the Global South. It is being published on Global Voices as part of a content-sharing agreement.

Women in the rural areas of Kazakhstan are among those most affected by climate change, energy deficit, and poor governance. They bear the heavy burden of water shortages, especially in the southern parts of the country, where this problem is the most acute due to dense population, economic reliance on agriculture, and water losses related to outdated irrigation infrastructure.

In the village of Qyzylsay, located in the southern Jambyl region, the water shortage has become a major issue affecting the daily lives of women. It forces them to spend multiple hours a day outside their homes to secure water for their households, gardens, and animals. Their grueling work often goes unnoticed and unpaid, and their geographical remoteness places limits on access to information and government services, exacerbating their situation.

In 2026, Nazgul Aidabossynova, a local activist, implemented a project to help local women improve their livelihoods by training them to engage with the government more effectively and efficiently, calculate the cost of their labor and products, and mobilize collective efforts to solve community problems. Global Voices conducted an email interview with Aidabossynova to learn more about her initiative. The interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Global Voices (GV): Please tell us about your organization and why you chose to get involved with the Digital Sparks project.

GV: What issue/challenge in your community prompted you to undertake this project?

GV: What are the key changes/activities that your organization implemented during your participation in the project?

GV: How did your participation in the project impact your organization’s beneficiaries and the community that you serve? Please provide examples.

GV: How has your own knowledge, awareness, and experience with digital democracy and civic space changed, thanks to your participation in the project?

GV: What are the most valuable lessons and experiences you are taking away from this project?

GV: What comes next? How will you apply the learning and digital capacity you have built in your future work and within your community?

Source: Global Voices ↗