Dr. Zhar Zardykhan is an associate professor at the Department of International Relations and Regional Studies at KIMEP University in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Dr. Nargis Kassenova is an associate professor at the Department of International Relations and Regional Studies at KIMEP University in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Dr. Mukash Burkitbayev is the vice rector of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University in Almaty, Kazakhstan. As professor of chemical sciences, Burkitbayev was jointly awarded in 2007 the NATO Science Partnership Prize for his work on testing radiation levels at the Soviet-era Semipalatinsk nuclear test site.
Dosym Satpayev is an independent political analyst and the director of the Kazakhstan Risks Assessment Group, an Almaty-based think tank that researches political reform, democracy, government opposition movements, corruption, and transparency in Kazakhstan.
Kids play chess with pieces several feet tall at the First President's Park in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The park was opened by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in November 2011.
In a plain single-story house in a northeastern suburb of Almaty, Pastor Vasiliy Shegay brings his flock of about 50 followers to their feet in song and prayer on a late Sunday morning. An ethnic Korean from Uzbekistan, Shegay says he left his birthplace for Shymkent, Kazakhstan, seven years ago and later moved to Almaty, where he is pastor of the Sun Bok Ym Pentecostal Church.
Funded by The Foundation of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the third international Talented Youth Festival featured exhibits from artists from Kazakhstan, Turkey, Russia and Kyrgyzstan in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The event, which opened Nov. 10 in the foundation’s new Almaty building, included an exhibition of Kazakhstan landscape photos by Kazakh photographers, paintings by international and local artists, and a sculpture of stone and wood by a Kyrgyz artist.
The foundation, created by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, was established in late 2000 to showcase the country’s cultural talent, build international relations, and strengthen Kazakh society.
Massoud Hossaini is a staff photojournalist for Agence France-Presse and the winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news photography for his image of a suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan. Born in Afghanistan in 1981, Hossaini’s parents fled with him and his family to Iran when he was six months old to escape Soviet occupation.
Massoud Hossaini is a staff photojournalist for Agence France-Presse and the winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news photography for his image of a suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan. Born in Afghanistan in 1981, Hossaini was brought by his family to Iran as a baby to escape Soviet occupation.
OSF’s Documentary Photography Project recently announced the winners of the 2012 Production Grant for photographers from Central Asia, the South Caucasus, Afghanistan, Mongolia, and Pakistan.
Inna Mkhitaryan’s project looks at the underlying economic, social, and psychological factors that give rise to human trafficking in Armenia and seeks to challenge the stigma against trafficking victims who are often blamed for their own plight.
Arthur Lumen Gevorgyan’s project on the human costs of landslides in Armenia addresses government negligence toward people who live in landslide zones. To help policy makers plan for and prevent disasters in the future, Gevorgyan will provide visual documentation detailing how people who live in landslide zones are affected.
Sitara Ibrahimova’s project will call attention to the practice of selective abortions of girl fetuses in Azerbaijan, which reflects a prevalence of gender inequality and discrimination against girls and women that persists in much of the region.
Elyor Nematov’s project focuses on the severe living and working conditions that migrant laborers from Kyrgyzstan face when they seek better economic opportunities in Russia.
Dina Oganova’s project on Roma communities in Georgia will portray the everyday life of Roma women with the goal of dispelling stereotypes about, and intolerance for, the Roma community.
Daro Sulakauri’s study of the Samtske-Javakheti region of Georgia will look at both the ethnic Armenian and Georgian communities of this historically isolated, tense area.
Darya Komleva’s project seeks to challenge stereotypes of people with disabilities in Kazakhstan by profiling the daily lives of children with disabilities and their families, as well as their experiences with alternative education programs.
