The experimental programme “Youth Leadership” was launched by Mitsva two years ago with the full support of Dutch Humanitarian Fund and of the “Joint” committee. Today, “Youth Leadership” is an independent, promising and integral part of the Kazakhstan’s Jewish community. For the duration of the project, 46 residents of Almaty and 154 young members of the Jewish communities from regional Kazakhstan have so far contributed to its success.

  In 2006, as a part of the programme “Youth Leadership”, a number of workshops for the purpose of uniting the Jewish Youth of Almaty were conducted. Further seminars were then undertaken in order to identify and select potential Leaders who would be capable of stimulating interest in other community members with their ideas.

  A number of professionals were engaged to provide training for the members of the programme in psychology, fundraising strategies and Jewish Traditions for the duration of six months. The psychologist was responsible for the preparation of the group, each member of which, while preserving personal qualities, became an effective team member.

  The fundraising training resulted in a number of interesting and innovative outcomes. The Young Leaders began to administer funds and to draft projects necessary for, and in the interests of the Jewish community. The group came up with a novel and progressive idea: to conduct a Project Expo where 14 projects represented ideas and areas of work connected with the various facets of charity organisations of Kazakhstan: Heseds, Jewish Cultural and Youth centres. This programme also held seminars and meetings with distinguished guests, including several consultants from Israel. In addition, a traditional Saturday celebration, the Sabbath, was organised by the programme’s participants in conjunction with the Jewish Community Centre.

  Youth Leadership members who demonstrated outstanding leadership and organisation skills were elected to become Youth Counsel.

  In 2007 the programme continued to expand. Young men and women of Youth Leadership were offered further workshops with psychologist and successfully completed courses in Traditions, English language and Social Success coaching.

  The group carried on holding weekly Sabbath, meetings with distinguished guest speakers, seminars and lectures. In addition, further charity activities, which were developed during 2006, were commenced with the help and support from the young volunteers. For example, the project “Healthy Lifestyle” included activities such as Maccabiada, training sessions, games and week-end camping trips.

  “100 Square Meters of Art” was a programme specially developed for the benefit of the youngest members of the Jewish community. Here children attended craft, sculpting, drawing, dancing classes and ceramics club.

  The success of the programme is further underlined by the fact that traditional Jewish celebrations were organised and conducted independently by the Youth. Some of the festivities were prepared by the members of the programme for the whole Jewish community of Almaty.

                  Programme “Youth Leadership” statistics for 2006-2007

Activity                                                                            2006                                        2007

Single day seminars                                                                8                                         5

2-3 day seminars                                                                    3                                         1

Celebrations and community activities                                       4                                        6

Project Fair                                                                              1

Kazakhstan Jewish Youth community forums                                                                        2

Sabbaths                                                                                 20                                     42

Tradition studies                                                                        15                                    35

Foreign consultants participating in the programme                  3 participants

Local consultants participating in the programme                    2 participants          14 participants

Community volunteers contributing to the programme            5 participants          5 participants


Distinguished young volunteers                                            10 participants         23 participants



Community projects organised by Young Volunteers                      2 projects         4 projects

  On 20 March 2007, during the meeting of the Counsel of Jewish Youth of Kazakhstan, a decision was made to conduct the First National Jewish Youth Forum in Almaty. The main aim of the Forum was to expand Youth Leadership activities on the national level and to create active chapters in the Regional Kazakhstan.

  The First National Forum was organised by the members of “Youth Leadership” and took place in May 2007 in Almaty. Eight regions were represented by 27 people. The First Youth Forum became a new step towards forming a network of young community members on a national scale.

  The event continued over two days and included studying of Traditions, projects, meetings with representatives from the programme sponsors “Joint”, as well as with the leading members of the programme organisers, Mitsva Association. The outcomes of the discussions held during that event were new ideas on further project developments and strategies to enhance Kazakhstan’s Jewish community

  The event was a success, and it was unequivocally agreed by the participants of the Forum to organise the Second National Forum in the end of 2007. In preparation for the Second Forum a number of seminars were held in regional Kazakhstan under the heading “The Role of Young People in Creation of the Self-Sufficient Jewish Community”. Twelve regional seminars were conducted in October and November 2007, which were attended by more than 150 young Jewish men and women. In 3 cities those seminars were organised by the volunteers from the Almaty chapter of the Youth Leadership. During these seminars, participants for the next National Youth Forum were selected.

  The Second National Jewish Youth Forum took place 30 November – 1 December 2007 in Almaty. The Forum’s opening ceremony was attended by the representatives of the City Council, the Government and the Public organisations, members of the Almaty business community as well as the members of the Board of Association of Jewish Communities of Kazakhstan “Mitsva”. The forum was attended by 36 persons from 12 cities of Kazakhstan. Especial gratitude and thanks were given by all the participants of the Forum to the sponsors: the Dutch Humanitarian Fund and the Jewish “Joint” Distribution Committee. The members of the Forum were divided into groups according to their interests.

  The Forum provided psychological training to help the participants to develop teamwork and to successfully reach set goals. In addition, the members worked on the creation of National projects. The most successful projects were the "Business project" (establishment of commercial links between the members of the young Jewish community of Kazakhstan), and "Promotional Train" (building up the awareness of the Jewish culture across Kazakhstan). The Forum, together with all activities, was prepared by the members of the "Youth Leadership" programme. The training provided to the members of the programme during the two years since its inception ensured the Forum’s paramount success and allowed the young people to realise their potential and to display the full scope of their abilities.

  The Second forum demonstrated the opportunities and advantages of networking on a national level and showed the benefits of developing strong Jewish community. Successful forums organised by Youth Leadership members, most of whom were aged over twenty two years, sparked cultural interest of university students and teenagers and strengthened community ties amongst them.

  The success of the Forums and regional seminars gave the “Youth Leadership” members confidence in their achievements and allowed them to appreciate the contribution they made to the Jewish community.

   In January 2008 at the Annual General Meeting of Jewish Cultural Centre elections were held. The Counsel of Jewish Youth won the elections and became the member of Small Assembly of Nations of Kazakhstan.

  Currently the programme “Youth Leadership” is taken to a new level. The success in undertaken activities with the support of the founders of the programme and of the Jewish community will help the Counsel of Jewish Youth to found a self-sufficient community and to allow for the development of future leaders.

  The programme in Kazakhstan has experienced significant growth during 2006-2007 as a result of major financial help from the Dutch Humanitarian Fund, “Joint” and with the patronage from Association of Jewish Communities of Kazakhstan “Mitsva”, and has successfully completed the first step in its development.

  The programme is complex and voluminous and involves a constant search for further developments to enhance the ties and the collaboration of youth within the Community. The success of the project is a direct result of great passion and effort on behalf of its organisers and especially the Young Leaders, who take increasing responsibility for the programme’s further development. The programme is very gratifying as many improvements have been seen in the community in the past two and a half years, and as it provides great aspirations for the future.

  The programme will continue its operations. The plans for 2008 include strengthening the national reach of the programme, organisation of the Third National Forum of Jewish Youth, expansion of projects for students, fundraising for the projects developed by the members of “Youth Leadership” during 2006-2007, and expansion of the young Jewish community.
  The progress of the programme is constantly updated on the website www.mitsva.kz and in the Jewish Community of Kazakhstan newspaper, “Davar”.

Alexander Baron, Inessa Chugainova.