The International Organization for Migration (IOM) in the Republic of Uzbekistan, with support from IOM in the Kingdom of Bahrain, organized a two-day training of trainers’ workshop, in collaboration with the Agency for External Labour Migration of the Ministry of Employment and Poverty Reduction in Uzbekistan.

The workshop gathered a diverse group of 18 participants from the Agency for External Labour Migration of the Ministry of Employment and Poverty Reduction, the Monocentre “Ishga Marhamat”, the UK Embassy in Uzbekistan, as well as trainers involved in the framework of the UK Seasonal Workers’ Scheme to help them build their skills in delivering comprehensive and inclusive orientation programmes for outbound Uzbek migrant workers.

“The workshop is underpinned by our priorities and objectives in the Central Asian region to build the resilience of migrants in vulnerable situations, leveraging mobility, and encouraging rights-based and inclusive migration management policies,” said Kerry McBroom, IOM Head of Office Uzbekistan.

“Orientation programmes are powerful tools that not only contribute to the protection of migrant workers, but also to their empowerment,” said Erika Broers, Head of IOM’s Hub of experts for orientation programmes for labour migration based in IOM Bahrain.

The two-day training workshop, which took place between 21 and 22 August 2023, covered a wide range of key topics to help orientation trainers contribute to creating a positive learning environment for Uzbek outbound migrant workers. Amongst the key topics covered were setting training expectations, qualities and roles of effective trainers, designing interactive and participatory activities, fostering healthy communication with participants, applying effective monitoring and evaluation methods, as well as training simulations delivered by the participants. 

Notes to editors:

Migration in Uzbekistan

Migration is a critical issue for Uzbekistan, as a significant number of its active population is engaged in labour migration abroad. The country is also experiencing a high level of internal migration from rural to urban areas for employment and educational reasons. Regarding emigration, the main destinations of approximately 70% of migrant workers leaving Uzbekistan are the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan. Other destination countries include Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Republic of Korea, Europe, United States.

Internally, Uzbekistan is particularly vulnerable to climate change, experiencing increased temperatures, decreased annual rainfall, drought, soil erosion, desertification and water scarcity. Climate change, the environmental disaster of the Aral Sea and unsustainable land management practices are drivers that saw 79,942 internally displaced persons in Uzbekistan in 20182. This figure is expected to triple to reach an estimated 200,000, as the Aral Sea situation continues to cause new climate related displacements and acts as a driver for internal and international migration.

According to data from the State Statistics Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan (UzStat), the total number of Uzbek citizens who migrated abroad in 2017 was 6.8 million; this figure doubled to 13.8 million in 2018. More than half (58%) were men (an estimated 8 million) and 42 per cent were women (5.8 million). The countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States were the main destination for 14.2 million Uzbek nationals as 7.1 million moved to Kazakhstan, 3.1 million moved to Kyrgyzstan and 3.5 million moved to the Russian Federation, while 531,000 people (4%) migrated to Korea, Turkey, China, the United States and Germany.

About the IOM
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is part of the United Nations System as the leading inter-governmental organization since 1951 promoting humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all, with 175 member states and a presence in over 100 countries. The IOM plays a key role in meeting the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development through different areas of intervention that connect both humanitarian assistance and sustainable development.

For more information contact:

E-mail: iomtashkent@iom.int