BACKGROUND
Ensuring sustainable development within the framework of the Global Agenda until 2030 depends on the sufficiency of financial resources. In turn, this requires targeted development financing. One of the effective tools for identifying and monitoring financial resources in the field of sustainable development is an Integrated National Financing Framework.
The Integrated National Funding Framework (INFF) is a useful tool for informing the Government on how to channel the necessary funding to achieve the SDGs. The INFF is a guideline for the development of a financial policy that is integrated and consistent with all aspects of sustainability. The key structural unit of the INFF is aimed at analyzing financing needs, for example, through cost calculation exercises and the financial landscape, in order to create a basic understanding of financial gaps. The INFF also includes identifying the main risks and assessing the sustainability of the country's financing system, as well as identifying economic, institutional, potential and policy-binding constraints that hinder the effective and efficient financing of national development priorities.
In order to support the Government of Kazakhstan in further coordinating development planning and financing, assessing the impact of COVID-19 on the total amount of available SDG funding in the country and work on the creation of the INFF, a joint UN team represented by three agencies: UNDP, UNICEF and ESCAP in Kazakhstan, with the leading role of UNDP, has launched a Joint Program (JP) to coordinate policy measures and financing with the SDGs, funded by the UN Joint Fund for the SDGs. The JP focuses on the implementation of priority reforms necessary for the implementation of the INFF, based on the implementation of the DFE and a Rapid Comprehensive Assessment of national budgets.
At the moment, Kazakhstan has almost completed the initial phase of the INFF, having conducted an analysis of the DFE, which provided an overall assessment and diagnosis of the financial system. The assessment of development financing showed that it is necessary to develop a strategy for financing the country's sustainable development. This, in turn, requires the development of a methodology for determining the amount of funding for the country's strategic goals in the field of sustainable development.
Within the framework of a Joint Agreement, experts from the Economic Research Institute, together with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), have been conducting a study to determine the cost of funding corresponding to the implementation of SDG 4.2 "By 2030, provide all girls and boys with access to high-quality systems for the development, care and preschool education of young children, in order to so that they are ready to receive primary education." Within the framework of this study, in order to effectively solve the problem of inequality in access and obtaining high-quality preschool education and, ultimately, contribute to the fulfillment of SDG commitments, a model for calculating the costs of SDG 4.2 for Kazakhstan and justifying its corresponding financing has been developed.
The UNESCO expert team has been involved in this work, which advocates the development of a cost calculation Model based on data on preschool education (demographic, economic, etc.). UNESCO developed an Educational Policy and Strategy Simulation Model (EPSSim) in 2001. Since then, EPSSim and its various versions have been used in dozens of countries around the world to support the development of plans for the development of the educational sector, as well as to promote data-based policy dialogues and research in the field of educational policy and planning. The model will help to estimate the current costs of education and the financing of basic education, as well as calculate the cost of achieving SDG 4.2.
In August 2022, an interim version of the developed Model was discussed with representatives of government agencies, research institutes and analytical centers of the country, as well as experts from international organizations. Currently, work is being completed to finalize the presented Model, taking into account the comments received.
In this regard, this seminar is aimed at presenting the results of the project, and also provides for a discussion of the cost modeling methodology with various stakeholders and experts, which will contribute to the preparation of a coherent national educational policy and strategies leading to an effective, efficient and cost-based plan for the development of education in Kazakhstan.