Almaty, December 18, 2012 – by the initiative of the IOM and NGO “Aman Saulyk”  a public event was organized and hosted in Almaty dedicated to International Migrants Day.

On December 18, 1990 the UN General Assembly adopted the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (resolution 45/158). On December 4, 2000 the UN General Assembly established the International Migrants Day, which is celebrated annually on December 18. International Migrants Day provides an opportunity to recognize great contribution that migrant workers make to the economic, social and cultural development of all countries.

The resolution of the General Assembly invited all Member States, the UN, governmental and non-governmental organizations to observe International Migrants Day through the dissemination of information on human rights and fundamental freedoms of migrants, sharing of experiences and the development of measures to ensure their protection.

In Almaty, in the International Migrants Day, IOM and NGO "Aman Saulyk" jointly with the city TB service organized public event to prevent the spread of infectious diseases such as HIV and tuberculosis among migrant workers. The event was held in the township " Zarya Vostoka" and has captured more than 50 migrant workers from Kyrgyzstan. The informational campaign was conducted in the form of the trainings and quiz on the major issues of ways of the transmission and protection against infectious diseases; additionally migrant workers were able to improve their knowledge of existing services in the host country. Migrants actively took part in the quiz, all winners were awarded.

During the campaign, each participant received information and education materials, with information about the services provided in Almaty and contact information of non-governmental organizations engaged in the dissemination of information on the basic rights of migrants to obtain medical care in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Since August 2012 and to date IOM in partnership with the NGO “Aman Saulyk” consulted more than 430 migrant workers on HIV and TB prevention. 88 migrant workers get free HIV test and know their HIV status.