IOM’s Director General António Vitorino this week signed the cooperation agreement between IOM and Uzbekistan, formalizing the Central Asian state’s admission as the 173rd IOM Member State. Below is the full text of his video welcome.

By co-signing the cooperation agreement between IOM and Uzbekistan I am very pleased to be able to finalize the application process and to welcome Uzbekistan as the 173rd Member State of the organization, a development which takes our dynamically developing cooperation with the Government of Uzbekistan to a new level. Since opening of IOM office in Tashkent in 2015 we have witnessed an increasing interest and steady practical steps of Uzbek authorities to build an effective modern-day migration governance system. Uzbekistan’s leadership has demonstrated openness for political and socio-economic reforms, pragmatism in its relations with the neighboring countries, and has achieved remarkable results.

We recognize and appreciate that President Mirziyoyev himself attaches high priority to migration issues at national level and actively participates and supports regional and global initiatives dedicated to cooperation on international migration. Uzbekistan was among those countries that supported the Global Compact for Migration from the very beginning and now demonstrate a determination in its implementation as well: indeed, Uzbekistan was the first country in Europe and Central Asia UN region to voluntarily report on the progresses it has made in the country-wide implementation of the Global Compact.

We welcome President Mirziyoyev’s Resolution from 15 Sep 2020 on ‘On safe, orderly and regular migration’ with its focus on skills development for prospective migrants, protection of their rights abroad, expansion of cooperation with diasporas, and provision of reintegration support to returnees.

We live in challenging times of crisis caused by the outbreak of Covid-19. Through this crisis millions of migrants have become stranded. It has made the vulnerable even more vulnerable and continues to affect millions of people and households across the globe. We commend the efforts of Uzbekistan to support its own nationals abroad, who are also suffering from the Covid-19 crisis in destination countries and to help those who returned to Uzbekistan. We thank the Government of Uzbekistan for providing safe corridors for hundreds of Tajik migrants hit by the Covid-19 crisis, to transport them from the Kazakh-Uzbek border to the border with Tajikistan.

Covid-19 crisis has also revealed a need for even wider cooperation between the countries of origin, transit and destination of migrants, between international organizations, government entities, civil society organizations, and the private sector. The agreement we signed today is yet another sign of our dedication towards expansion of such cooperation.

I congratulate us all for signing this important document and welcome once more on behalf of the IOM Membership, Uzbekistan in the ever-growing IOM family.

For more information please contact Joe Lowry at jlowry@iom.int. Tel +436603776404

City of Dispatch: Tashkent