OSCE, IOM train trainers on labour migration at the OSCE Academy in Bishkek

BISHKEK, 29 September 2009 - A seminar on labour migration organized by the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) started at the OSCE Academy in Bishkek today.

The three-day "train the trainers" seminar aims to build the capacity of government officials in the CIS countries and representatives of employers' and workers' organizations, recruitment agencies, and other stakeholders to effectively manage labour migration, and will provide participants with a useful tool for promoting the protection of migrant workers within existing legal frameworks, thus combating the exploitation of both regular and irregular foreign workers.

"The seminar will not only help enhance trainers' skills to promote migrant workers' protection but it will also focus on the need to consider gender aspects in development and implementation of labour migration policies," said Nina Lindroos-Kopolo, the Economic Adviser of the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities.

The training sessions will provide participants with useful tools on how to best conduct a training course on labour migration while introducing them to the international legal framework for the protection of migrant workers, latest developments in bilateral labour agreements, gender aspects of labour migration, and policies and measures to reduce irregular labour migration.

"Labour migration issues are relatively new in the political and economic agendas of the post-Soviet countries, particularly in Central Asia. This regional training seminar will enhance the participating countries' national capacity to develop efficient and co-ordinated policies in the field of labour migration. It is fitting that the seminar is held in Kyrgyzstan, one of the most active participants of the regional migration processes," said Lilian Darii, Deputy Head of the OSCE Centre in Bishkek.

Feedback from the participants will be used to further adjust the labour migration training modules before finalizing them for publication in Arabic, English and Russian and for wider use by OSCE States and Partners for Co-operation by the end of the year.

The seminar is a part of a larger OSCE-IOM project co-funded by the OSCE Greek Chairmanship and IOM which aims to improve institutional capacity in labour migration management in countries of origin and destination. The training modules are based on the structure of the OSCE-IOM-ILO Handbook on Establishing Effective Labour Migration Policies in Counties of Origin and Destination.