Almaty, Kazakhstan - UPF-Kazakhstan worked in close cooperation with the African Union of Kazakhstan, the Ethnos-Forum Foundation of Kazakhstan, and Almaty State College of New Technologies, UPF-Kazakhstan to celebrate Africa Day on May 26.
{besps}/images/ftp_uploads/2012/kazakhstan/ad-4627{/besps}This was first time UPF-Kazakhstan cooperated with other organizations on such a level to organize an international commemorative day. All four partner organizations were sponsors of the event, and they divided the organizational and financial responsibilities among them: UPF-Kazakhstan was responsible for the official program on the stage, the African Union took full responsibility for the banquet, and Ethnos-Forum (an organization under the Peoples' Assembly of Kazakhstan) was responsible for inviting ethnic cultural centers and the mass media (TV and newspapers). The event took place at the top college in Kazakhstan, Almaty State College of New Technologies. About 180 guests came, including African Union members with their families.
Among the guests were representatives and heads of six ethnic cultural centers, including Turkish, Azerbaijani, and other centers, the national TV channel “Kazakhstan,” and the Turkish weekly newspaper.
The MC was a famous professional entertainer in Kazakhstan, the Vice-Director of the City Circus. The official program consisted of Welcoming Remarks and expressions of thanks from the African Union President, Ambassador for Peace Mr. Lamin Bangura, and the Director General of the Ethnos-Forum Foundation, Ambassador for Peace Mr. Gabit Nuradil. Welcoming Remarks were given by the Director of the Almaty State College of New Technologies, Mr. Ezau Victor.
The UN Secretary-General's Message on Africa Day was read publicly in English and Russian by African Union members.
The achievements of the African continent over the last decade were shown through a 30-minute video presentation.
The impressive concert included the College’s Fashion Theatre demonstration (three collections, including the African Savanna Collection), three African dances performed by the local African dance group and accompanied by four African drums, a very young professional singer (singing in the style of Michael Jackson); and a dance trio of teenagers.
The program was then followed by a banquet for 120 people.
A full-page article about the event was published in the local newspaper of the Turkish Cultural Center on May 31. A 20-minute TV program about the event was shown on the national TV channel “Kazakhstan” on June 8.