Based: Astana, Qazakhstan

Current: Journalist for Manshuq online magazine and MA student at Nazarbayev University. Since January 2025, Adiya has served as a member of the Inter-departmental Working Group under the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Speaks: Qazaq, Russian and English

Contact:
+77014109570
akhmer.adiya@gmail.com

Founding member of Steppe Organization for Peace (STOP) an independent youth-led initiative aimed at raising awareness about the humanitarian and ecological consequences of nuclear testing in Qazakhstan. “We advocate for nuclear justice applying decolonial, feminist, and human-rights based approaches. We want to STOP living in the world with nuclear weapons and calling states to join TPNW. For the sake of our humanity, our present and future.
Contact: steppe.nuclear@gmail.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stop.nuclear

TPNW engagement: Adiya presented youth perspectives at the 2nd and 3rd Meetings of States Parties to the TPNW, co-organized side events in New York and contributed to a Feb 2025 working paper on trust fund governance by STOP and Fredrick Ebert Foundation. 3MSP article mentions both Adiya and fellow Reclaim Cohort, Indira, and also an excellent working paper on Qazaq situation.

Quotes from media

“Nuclear justice is the effort to acknowledge, address and remedy the harms caused by nuclear weapons—ranging from environmental destruction to long-term health impacts—while ensuring that affected communities are at the center of decision-making about their futures,” said Adiya Akhmer, STOP founding member and independent researcher.

“Meaningful youth involvement requires moving beyond visibility-driven participation. She said symbolic participation places youth in public-facing roles without influence, while substantive participation involves youth in agenda-setting, policy development, long-term research, and work with affected communities.

“We may be young, but we are not youth experts. We are experts, and that’s it,” said Akhmer. She added that youth advocacy should confront the lived realities of survivors — including health consequences, environmental degradation, socioeconomic marginalization and long-term emotional trauma, and that youth contributions should “amplify survivors but not overshadow them.”

“This is our commitment to continue building evidence, to stand alongside affected communities and to make sure that youth engagement and nuclear justice are not just visible but also meaningful.”