21 December 2011

A Memorandum on Understanding and Cooperation between the International Organization for Migration and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine was signed in Kyiv today.

?To better assist Ukraine in improving its migration management and reform efforts we were seeking to strengthen our cooperation with the Verkhovna Rada. While IOM has been providing inputs to migration legislation for some years now, this Memorandum marks an important milestone in our relations with the legislature as we move to the next level of cooperation,? said IOM Ukraine?s Chief of Mission Manfred Profazi at the signing ceremony.

The Memorandum aims at consolidating efforts to improve Ukrainian legislation in the fields of migration management, counter-trafficking and protecting the rights of displaced persons and national minorities. IOM and the Verkhovna Rada also intend to conduct consultations on maximizing the social, economic and cultural benefits of migration and mitigating its potential negative consequences.

IOM Ukraine already assisted in the development of over 20 legislative acts, such as the State Migration Policy Concept and the Law on Countering Trafficking in Persons, approved earlier this year.

When meeting with IOM Ukraine?s Chief of Mission in summer 2011, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Mr. Volodymyr Lytvyn stressed the importance of using the analytical and organizational capacities of IOM to assist the Parliament in harmonizing Ukraine?s migration legislation with best international standards.