The State Migration Service and IOM Azerbaijan celebrate the fifth batch of the "Migration School" graduates.

On 18 July 2023, the State Migration Service and IOM Azerbaijan jointly organized a graduation ceremony of the "Migration School - 5", part of the Regional Training Center on Migration project (RTCM) initiative. The training is conducted by expert government officials, international organisations, private sector, and non-governmental organizations, adopting a whole of government and whole of society approach.

The State Migration Service Chief, Mr Vusal Huseynov, commended the fresh graduates, highlighting the importance of various aspects of migration, including social, economic, humanitarian, and legal issues. Mr. Huseynov expressed his confidence that the outcomes of such trainings would make an important contribution to the effective implementation of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) in Azerbaijan.

The Global Compact - the first inter-governmentally negotiated agreement on migration was developed to improve the governance of migration, address the challenges associated with today’s migration, and to strengthen the contribution of migrants and migration to sustainable development.

IOM Representative, Mr Amr Taha, expressed IOM’s appreciation for being a partner in this important initiative. He then complimented the graduates noting the many opportunities in this sphere with Azerbaijan, also as a Champion country for Migration. Mr. Taha shared some examples of how migration, when well managed contributes to sustainable development, as also recognised in the Agenda 2030’s Sustainable Development Goals, quoting the World Migration Report “3.6 per cent of international migrants contribute to 9 per cent of global GDP”.

The ceremony was concluded with the presentation of certificates to the graduates.

The Regional Training Centre on Migration was initiated by the State Migration Service in 2018 with the technical and financial support of IOM, aims to enhance the knowledge on migration governance in Azerbaijan, neighbouring CIS countries, and beyond, -also serving a as a platform for knowledge sharing policy dialogue, research, among governments and stakeholders in the region.

The Regional Training Center on Migration was funded by the IOM Development Fund.