Almaty - today is a special day for UNFPA as we are marking World Population Day which is celebrated annually every year on 11 July. World Population Day provides an occasion to mark the significance of population trends and reproductive health in our lives and our future.

The celebration kicked-off with a press-conference held in National Press Club in Almaty with participation of Mr. Werner Haug, UNFPA Regional Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Mr. Nikolai Botev, Sub-Regional Director for Central Asia, Mr. Kossukhin Alexander, Assistant Representative for Kazakhstan, and Ms. Tamara Dzhussubaliyeva, president of the Kazakh Association for Sexual and Reproductive Health.

To re-energize the commitments towards universal access to reproductive health and to recognize those who provide information, services and supplies, UNFPA in Kazakhstan established an award for contributions towards improving the access to sexual and reproductive health in Kazakhstan. During the press-conference Regional Director has presented an award to the president of the Kazakh Association for Sexual and Reproductive Health. 

The celebration gradually moved to UNFPA premises in UN House in Almaty where heads and representatives of other UN agencies, national implementing partners, representative of MoFA, NGOs and other guests had been gathered together for an art event, which included an exposition of renowned Kazakhstan artists Eduard Kazaryan, Yuliya Ismambetova, Vyacheslav Lui-Ko accompanied by the musical performance by students of A. Zhubanov Musical School.