SCOPE OF WORK: CHILD CTIP CHAMPIONS – PRO BONO 

Kazakhstan has seen increased domestic and international migration due to regional economic instability, hosting over 550,000 migrant workers as of October 2025 – primarily from Uzbekistan (86%), the Russian Federation (7%), Tajikistan (2.5%), the Kyrgyz Republic (2%), and China (0.6%). Many migrant children enter through informal crossings, mainly with Uzbekistan, without documentation, leaving them highly vulnerable and unable to access basic services. 

The lack of consistent, child-specific data in the country has resulted in no unified statistics on accompanying children of migrant laborers (ACML), constraining the government’s ability to deliver appropriate services for ACML and child trafficking survivors. 

The 2025 DOS Trafficking in Persons Report highlights the exploitation of domestic and foreign victims in Kazakhstan, including children forced into begging or criminal activity, with heightened risks among migrants without legal status or documentation, rural populations, the unemployed, persons with disabilities, and other vulnerable groups. Reports indicate rising cases of minor trafficking, including sales of newborns and infants; the Ministry of Internal Affairs recorded nine cases in 2024 and 19 cases each in 2023 and 2025, all involving illegal adoption across multiple regions.   

While the Government of Kazakhstan has expanded services, strengthened legislation in 2024, and advanced the Children of Kazakhstan State Program 2026–2030, significant gaps remain: only half of identified victims are referred to services, foreign victim identification remains low, child‑specific shelter services are underfunded, and online commercial sexual exploitation and abuse (OCSEA) circulation increased by 1,240% between 2019 and 2023.  

To address these challenges, Winrock International is implementing a five-year project – Kazakhstan Actions against Trafficking in Children (KATCH) – to support central and local government agencies, as well as NGOs network to improve identification and offer individualized, comprehensive assistance to child TIP survivors and ACML and to increase accountability within the child protection system.  

Winrock International seeks individuals to serve as Child CTIP Champions for the KATCH project to strengthen Government of Kazakhstan (GOK) accountability and advance project objectives and targets through participation in an orientation and the development of achievable action plans.