On February 9 this year at the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan (ISRS), a meeting was held with International Organization for Migration (IOM) Sub-Regional Coordinator for Central Asia, Zeynal Hajiyev, as well as with representatives of this organization in Uzbekistan - coordinator for policy, cooperation and support program Sanjarbek Tashbaev and senior program assistant Jasur Saidov.

The guests highly appreciated Uzbekistan's policy in regulating external labor migration, ensuring gender equality, and combating human trafficking. Significant improvement of legislation and institutional mechanisms in these areas was mentioned.

Zeynal Hajiyev noted with great satisfaction the dynamic development of IOM's mutually beneficial cooperation with Uzbekistan. According to him, thanks to Uzbekistan's policy of openness, since 2016 the Organization has been actively participating in the implementation of reforms in the field of migration in our country.

During the meeting, the participants paid special attention to the establishment of bilateral contacts in areas of mutual interest. In particular, the sides agreed to conduct joint research on improving external labor migration, studying the impact of climate change on migration processes and other issues related to migration issues.

The Head of the IOM Delegation welcomed President Shavkat Mirziyoyev's initiative, put forward in December 2023 within the framework of COP-28 in the UAE, to hold jointly with the UN in 2024 in Uzbekistan a conference on "Climate Migration", expressed interest and readiness to participate in its organization.