Kazakhstan’s BeWoman Asia 2025 Forum explored the importance of supporting women and its role in building stronger, healthier, and more progressive societies.
When women are empowered, they don’t just have the potential to shape their own futures but also the decisions that could change our world for the better.
This idea underscores Kazakhstan’s recent focus on gender equality and security, including the establishment of the Department for Combating Domestic Violence and Protecting Women from Violence.
More progress has been made in education, in which women make up 58% of undergraduate students. In the scientific community, 55.7% of researchers are women, and in public administration, they account for 55.8% of all civil servants.
The women of our country are a true driving force of the economy.
Aida Balayeva, Minister of Culture and Information of Kazakhstan
Aida Balayeva, Minister of Culture and Information of Kazakhstan, spoke at BeWoman Asia 2025 alongside a global collective of other female leaders. The event showcased and celebrated the women who are creating a movement, business, or culture of change.
BeWoman Asia is the largest platform for women’s leadership and development in Central Asia. On the 26th of September 2025, it brought more than 3,000 participants from over 20 countries together in Almaty, Kazakhstan, to create a strategic framework geared towards women and their progression.
Under the theme ‘The Power of Generations’, the annual forum encouraged collaboration between all ages and cultures as a way of developing new ideas and solutions for the future.
The main stage spotlighted speakers such as BeWoman Asia founder Zhanna Khan, bestselling author of “A Woman Makes a Plan” Maye Musk, and founder and CEO of Women in Tech® Global Ayumi Mur Aoki.
The forum also hosted major international institutions such as UNESCO, UNICEF, UN Women, and the World Bank, encouraging conversations on current global challenges and how to define common areas for development.
The decision to host the event in Almaty carries strong symbolic meaning. Known as the cultural capital of Kazakhstan, the city is emerging as an intellectual and humanitarian hub of Central Asia.
As part of the BeWoman Asia Forum, its cultural program held a special place. Delegates visited the Almaty Museum, featuring masterpieces by prominent global artists including Japanese sculptor and installation artist, Yayoi Kusama, and German painter and sculptor, Anselm Kiefer.
The event culminated with the exhibition “Drawing the Future,” designed specifically for BeWoman Asia 2025 to showcase contemporary art by young artists from Central Asia. Here, art continued the global dialogue around intergenerational collaboration and added new meaning to cultural transformation.
Almaty was also the chosen destination to witness the signing of the Almaty Declaration on Cooperation and Development by BeWoman Asia 2025 participants. Not only did it mark the establishment of the International Alliance of Women Leaders of Central Asia and Partners but also a step forward in the advancement of women’s leadership, innovation, and education.
BeWoman Asia prides itself on staying true to its mission of turning ideas into action. Since its inception, it has inspired several women-focused initiatives around the world, including a “Mother’s House” in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan in partnership with the Mother’s Home International Foundation (MHIF), which provides women and children in crisis with psychological, housing, and legal support.
For forum founder Zhanna Khan, movements like this are the reason BeWoman Asia exists. It is not just an event; it is a platform for the voices of those ready to make a difference to women’s lives.
Supported by 320 business patrons, it is only set to forge more international partnerships and make more lasting changes. Organizers have already begun preparations for the next BeWoman Asia, which is scheduled to take place in October 2026.
Discover more insights from BeWoman Asia 2025 here.
