Shymkent, December 2, 2022 – On the eve of International Migrant Day, celebrated annually on December 18, as well as within the framework of periodic consultations of the UN Migration Network on achieving the objectives of the Global Compact on Migration (GCM), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) – the UN Migration Agency in close cooperation with the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, organized a  round table dedicated to a brief overview and recommendations on migration flows and migration policy in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The meeting was attended by IOM beneficiaries as well key IOM governmental partners, such as the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Akimat of Shymkent, the Commission on Human Rights under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan. During the round table, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population presented the Concept of Migration Policy of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2023-2027. The Public Opinion Research Institute also presented the results of a study to identify the needs and vulnerabilities of Afghan women and girls in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The study was conducted in November of this year with the support of the "Legal Center for Women's Initiatives "Sana Sezim", and access to beneficiaries was provided by IOM during a humanitarian campaign to issue Magnum network food and non-food vouchers to vulnerable groups of migrants from Afghanistan and their family members in Almaty and Shymkent. The IOM humanitarian campaign covered more than 800 people, citizens of Afghanistan and was designed to support those vulnerable migrants who could not be reached during the previous IOM humanitarian campaign, held in August 2022 and covered more than 1,200 people in Almaty, Shymkent, Astana, Karaganda and Semey. The humanitarian campaign was supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

The round table meeting and subsequent recommendations served as the final chord in coordinating the efforts of IOM and its partners – the state authorities of the Republic of Kazakhstan in a joint approach to implementing the principles of the GCM in 2022.  Over the past two years, the capacity-building of the UN Migration Network, as well as the technical support provided to Kazakhstan by the IOM on GCM issues, has also become possible thanks to the financial support of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which testifies to the whole-of-government approach and commitment of the Republic of Kazakhstan in implementing the principles and objectives of the Global Compact on Migration.