On 29 August 2017 at the Ministry of Health, Labour and Social Protection was held the annual meeting of the Steering Committee of the project "Supporting the Implementation of the Migration and Development Component of the EU-Moldova Mobility Partnership and the Benefits for the Transnistria Residents of the Republic of Moldova", implemented by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Mission to Moldova and funded by the European Union (EU).

Ms Anastasia Oceretnii, Deputy Minister of Health, Labour and Social Protection and Chair of the Steering Committee, Mr Jarek Domanski, Program Officer, Confidence Building Measures Programme, EU Delegation to Moldova and Mr Antonio Polosa, Head of IOM Moldova opened the meeting.

Mr Polosa said: “The present project falls under two strategic pillars of EU-Moldova cooperation: the first one being the support to confidence building measures in the Transnistria frozen conflict context. The project works to advance the implementation of the confidence building measures in an important area affecting the lives of residents on both banks of the Nistru River – migration, and its socio-economic consequences, challenges and opportunities for positive impact on development. The second pillar is the EU-Moldova Mobility Partnership. The present project is working to expand the benefits of the Mobility Partnership also for the residents of the left-bank Moldova. We are carrying out this work with the generous support from the EU, and with the close engagement of the present stakeholders who joined our efforts, minding the need for stronger strategic – and practical partnerships required for working in this region”.

The event was attended by the representatives of the Migration and Asylum Bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure, Reintegration Policy Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Social Protection, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Ministry of Education, Culture and Research and the United Nations Development Programme in Moldova.
During the meeting Mr Ghenadie Cretu, IOM’s Migration and Development Programme Coordinator presented the progress of the project as follows:
diaspora mapping of the Moldovan migrants, including those originating from the Transnistria Region (conducted earlier in six countries: the Russian Federation , Italy, Germany, Great Britain, Portugal, Israel),
creation of an advanced methodology to compile and analyse data in the field of migration,
training of academia representatives (from both banks of the Nistru River) and representatives of the administrative structures (on the left bank of the Nistru River) in the field of migration statistics;
supporting the development of over three Extended Migration Profiles of the Republic of Moldova;
organization of two international scientific conferences dedicated to the subject of migration, with the participation of academia and research representatives (from both banks of the Nistru River)
and the organization of two contests for young researchers from both sides of the Dniester River in the field of migration, etc.
Three IOM consultants presented several project activities at the meeting. Ms Maria Vremis presented the results of the Joint Research and Data Coordination Group – a group of experts from both banks of the Nistru River. Mr Valeriu Mosneaga presented the preliminary conclusions of the diaspora mapping.
Mr Vitalie Varzari presented the results of the program "Promoting migrants' return and transfer of skills through facilitations of temporary professional placement of returned graduates migrants" and presented the conclusions of analysis of the content and structure of several web resources for migrants.
At the end of the meeting were presented the following activities of the project, including the organization of the third edition of the International Scientific Conference dedicated to the topic of migration (December 2017).
You can read more about the project here.
For more information, please contact Ms Adriana Barilov at abarilov@iom.int