Background and political system
With a population just over 19.9 million people, Kazakhstan is located in Central Asia along the Aral and Caspian Seas, bordering China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Kazakhstan was among the last former Soviet republics to declare independence from the Soviet Union in December 1991. After independence and the adoption of its Constitution in 1993, the country’s first multiparty elections took place in 1994 and led to the creation of the first post-independence national parliament.
The Constitution of Kazakhstan, adopted in 1995 and subsequently amended, provides the framework for the country’s political institutions and governance. Kazakhstan is a unitary presidential constitutional republic divided into 17 provinces and four cities, and governs via central and local government structures.
Kazakhstan’s government consists of the Executive and Legislative branches, complemented by the Judicial branch. The central government is led by the President of the Republic, who is directly elected for a seven-year term and acts as Head of State. The Prime Minister is Head of Government and is appointed by the President and approved by the Mazhilis (Parliament’s lower house). The executive branch’s Cabinet of Ministers consists of the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, and ministers appointed by the President, based on recommendations from the Prime Minister. The legislative Assembly consists of the Senate and the Mazhilis. The Senate is formed by 40 members elected indirectly by the oblast-level assemblies and 10 members appointed by decree of the President. The Mazhilis is formed by a total of 98 members, 69 elected directly by the public through a proportional representation vote and 29 directly elected in single-seat constituencies. The judicial branch hosts the Kazakhstan Supreme Court of 64 members, and the Constitutional Council, consisting of the Chairperson and 10 judges, in addition to subordinate courts.
Gender equality and women’s empowerment
Women’s right to vote and to stand for election was first ensured in the country in 1924 under Soviet administration, and confirmed in the first Constitution of independent Kazakhstan in 1993. The first woman in parliament was elected in 1990.
Traditional patriarchal values and gender stereotypes have persisted in the Kazakh society, both beneath the surface of the communist era despite formal gender equality, and following the country’s democratic transition, creating barriers to practical socioeconomic and political equality and participation.
However, considerable strides have been made in recent years. According to UN Women, 83.3 percent of the legal frameworks that promote, enforce, and monitor gender equality under SDG 5, gender equality, with a focus on violence against women, are in place. However, according to the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Global Gender Gap Index, Kazakhstan ranks 76th out of 146 countries, down from its 2023 ranking of 62nd and its 2022 ranking of 65th. There are still challenges in the areas of political and economic empowerment, especially in terms of barriers to access to decision-making positions. Traditional norms still place the majority of the care burden on women, presenting challenges to sharing domestic work equally and to pursuing meaningful, equally compensated employment outside the home.
Structure of parliament
The Parliament is composed of two chambers: the Mazhilis (lower house) and the Senate (upper house), and is responsible for adopting laws, discussing the budget, ratifying and denouncing international treaties, issuing acts of amnesty to citizens, and establishing procedure for resolving issues of administrative-territorial division.
The electoral code, as amended through 2023, establishes that at least 30 percent of candidates must be women, youth and persons with disabilities.
Women's representation in parliament
As of July 2024, the Mazhilis has 18 women members, representing 18.4 percent of total deputies, while the Senate has 12 women members out of 50 senators, representing 24 percent. The youngest member of the Mazhilis, Dinara Naumova, is a woman. The next elections will be held in 2026 for the Senate and in 2028 for the House of Representatives.
Forecast based on past trends
If changes continue at the current pace, this is how women's representation in parliament will look like by 2030.
We calculated this forecast by taking the average rate of improvement from 1995 to 2023 and projecting it into the future.
Forecast based on recent trends
If changes registered in the past five years continue, this is how women's representation in parliament will look like by 2030.
We calculated this forecast by taking the average rate of change in the past five years and projecting it into the future.
Best case forecast
If the situation improves similarly to the country performing best in the region, this is how women's representation in parliament will look like by 2030.
We calculated this forecast by taking the rate of improvement from the country performing best in the region and accelerating the change with this amount over five years and then keeping it constant.
Worst case forecast
If the situation deteriorates similarly to the country registering the worst drop in the region, this is how women's representation in parliament will look like by 2030.
We calculated this forecast by taking the drop rate in the country performing worst in the region and deteriorating the situation with this amount over five years and then keeping it constant.
Women Chairpersons of Parliament Committees
The Kazakh Mazhilis has seven specialized Committees on the topics of Foreign Affairs, Defense and Security; Finance and Budget; Social and Cultural Development; Economic Reform and Regional Development; Legislation and Judicial and Legal Reform; Agrarian Issues; Ecology and Environmental Management. As of July 2024, women are chairpersons of the Foreign Affairs, Defense and Security Committee (Aigul Kuspan), the Committee on Legislation and Judicial and Legal Reform (Snezhanna Imasheva), and the Committee on Finance and Budget (Tatyana Savelyeva).
The Kazakh Senate has six specialized Committees on the topics of Constitutional Legislation, Judiciary System and Law Enforcement Agencies; Finances and Budget; International Relations, Defense and Security; Economic Policy, Innovation Development and Entrepreneurship; Social and Cultural Development and Science; Agrarian Issues, Nature Management and Rural Development. As of July 2024, there are no women chairpersons of the Committees of the Senate.
Structure of government
Central government
The Kazakhstan President is responsible for the main directions of the domestic and foreign policy of the State, represents the country in international relations and appoints the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister supervises and organizes the Government.
The Cabinet is composed of the Prime Minister, 21 members who take on the positions of Ministers, one member who take the position of First Deputy Prime Minister, and six Deputy-Prime Ministers. The Minister of National Economy and the Minister of Foreign Affairs hold the position of both Deputy-Prime Ministers and Ministers of their respective portfolio. Within the executive branch, the Cabinet of Ministers, led by the Prime Minister, constitutes the Government of Kazakhstan and is responsible for determining the main directions of the domestic and foreign policy of the State and representing the country in international relations.
The current Prime Minister of Kazakhstan is Olzhas Bektenov, who has been in power since 2024, while the current President of Kazakhstan is Kassym-Jomart K. Tokayev, who has been in power since 2019. Kazakhstan has not yet had a woman serve as Prime Minister or President. As of July 2024, Tamara Duisenova, Deputy Prime Minister, Akmaral Alnazarova, Minister of Health Care, Svetlana Zhakupova, Minister of Labour and Social Protection of the Population, and Aida Balayeva, Minister of Culture and Information, are the only four women ministers of the Government of Kazakhstan.
Ministers or Cabinet Members
Tamara Duisenova
Deputy Prime Minister
Svetlana Zhakupova
Minister of Labour and Social Protection of the Population
Akmaral Alzanarova
Minister of Health Care
Aida Balayeva
Minister of Culture and Information
Local government
At the local level, the government is organized into one or two tiers. The single-tiered system has three cities of republic significance, the City of Almaty, the City of Astana and the City of Shymkent. The city of Baikonur has a special status, since until 2050 it is leased to Russia for the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The two-tiered system has an upper tier of 17 regional-level local government units and a lower tier of 38 cities of regional significance and 178 district-level local government units.
At both tiers, local governments are comprised of deliberative bodies and executive bodies. The regional-level deliberative bodies (maslikhat), the Almaty maslikhat and the Astana maslikhat are composed of 50 elected members, and presided by a representative elected by and from its members. The city-level maslikhat are composed of up to 30 elected members, while district maslikhat are composed of up to 25 elected members, and both and presided by a representative elected by and from its members.
The gender quota also extends to local government representation, the number of women and youth must be at least 30 percent as a requirement for each constituency-based list. Local executive bodies consist of a governor (akim) that is directly to be the executive at the regional, district and city levels of government.
For more information on gender quotas adopted at the national level, visit the women in parliament section.
Structure of public administration
The central government’s role and responsibilities include developing the main directions of, and organizing the implementation of the socio-economic policy of the State, its defense, security, public order; carrying out structural, financial and investment policies, as well as actions in the areas of trade, environment protection, science and technology, education, health and tourism.
The local government is responsible for approving plans, the local budget, social and economic programmes at the local level, and adopting decisions and resolutions regarding the territory.
Women’s representation as employees and decision-makers in public administration
This visualization was developed based on data provided by GIRL@University of Pittsburgh.
Data across countries and territories is not comparable. For more information about the methodology and sources used, read here.
Women’s representation in public administration in Kazakhstan has undergone significant transformation. At the employee level, the representation of women has slightly decreased over the years from 59.8 percent in 2008 and a peak of 60.4 percent in 2009, to 56.1 in 2021. Despite some fluctuations over the years, the decision-making level shows substantial progress, with women’s representation reaching 43 percent in 2019, compared to 32.8 percent in 2001.