Iz Project leader Inkar Bakytnur is a graduate of the NU School of Engineering and Digital Sciences. Inkar wants to help empower young ethnic immigrants in Kazakhstan to better integrate into Kazakhstani society by providing access to an information platform. She chose Kandas kazakhs living in Kazakhstan between the ages of 13 and 19 as the main target group, who will soon have to choose a profession or what they want to do in the future.

As a result of the project, Inkar intends to create relevant and useful content aimed at integrating young Kandas kazakhs. On social media, the project leader intends to reach about 400 users interested in the project.

“iz” means “path” in Kazakh. The project aims to support Kandass Kazakh teenagers and their parents with videos through social media about opportunities and career choices in Kazakhstan, migration issues and integration into Kazakh society.

To make the project a success, Inkar has divided the Kandas into several groups:

Secondary group 1: adolescents from Kazakhstan and ethnic Kazakhs in their teens living abroad who may have access to useful information relating to career opportunities and migration issues in Kazakhstan.

Secondary group 2: parents of young ‘kandastar’ representatives who will directly influence their children’s decisions about suitable career paths.

Tertiary group: citizens of Kazakhstan who were born and raised in Kazakhstan and wish to challenge stereotypes about ‘kandastar’ representatives to help empower their peers.

The Iz Project team is responsible for creating and posting the video interviews, including liaising with potential speakers and coordinating the interviews, coming up with interview questions that fit the main objectives of the project and translating the content into three languages, creating illustrations and front page design; video design, posting and monitoring the results on social media.

Video interviews aim to provide fact-based information and stories that viewers can empathize with, which can then help to create a positive environment for and towards the young people of kandastar.