The Red Crescent of Kazakhstan, acting as auxiliary to the public authorities in the humanitarian field, it is the first among non-government organizations responding to emergencies and providing needs-based services to the most vulnerable communities at risk through its country-wide network composed of its headquarter and 18 regional branches.

The Red Crescent of Kazakhstan has its legal status confirmed by the President’s decree in 1992. Because of absence of the Red Crescent Law, it falls under the rule of the general law on public organizations, which significantly limits the capacity of the National Society to meet all its objectives in the area of disaster response, health and social assistance. Nevertheless, the Red Crescent responds to the most significant emergencies caused by natural disasters such as floods, droughts, cold waves and fires. In recent years, the National Society has faced new challenges responding to the manmade disasters (ammunition explosion), COVID-19 pandemic and civil unrest.

The current Contingency Plan of the Red Crescent mainly focuses on action to prepare and respond to natural disasters. A scenario for unrest situations was recently included in the plan. The latest situation developments in the region entail new hazards that can potentially lead to emergencies the country has never been exposed to in the past. In order to be better prepared and effectively respond to a population influx, the NS plans to organize a workshop to identify roles and responsibilities of stakeholders in responding to a refugee influx and develop a scenario and SoP for the refugee influx context in 2022.  The developed operational procedures will be tested with the stakeholders (government agencies, UN, RCRC Movement partners) during the simulation exercise as part of the NDRT training in 2023.