Better integration and employment services for returning migrants

Consultations were held in the framework of a workshop organized with the support of the Swiss Government as a result of the successful cooperation between UNDP ”Migration and Local Development” Project (MiDL), Bureau for Diaspora Relations of the State Chancellery and the International Organization for Migration.

Officials from ministries and those from the mayoralties shared experience and discussed in detail the most addressed subjects by returning migrants. According to the 60 participants in the workshop, migrants are more interested in business development, civil status documents, education, healthcare services, social protection, reintegration, and consular services etc.

“Currently, an impressive number of public servants already have migration as one of their daily tasks and perform activities targeting directly and indirectly this subject. As such, this workshop is intended to serve as basis for establishing sustainable partnerships between local and central authorities aimed at building bridges with Moldovan citizens from abroad, creating an effective cohesion between local and national level policies and better matching migrants’ needs” says Olesea Cazacu, the manager of MiDL project.

To make the workshop more applicable, the present audience worked in groups looking to find answers to the most actual questions and needs of different migrants’ categories. In addition, persons in charge of migration at local level delivered presentations showcasing the integration of migration at local level, also illustrating concrete examples of migrants’ successful engagement in local development projects.

“This workshop is very useful and actual. Since, only by having cooperation and synergy with our counterparts at central level, we, those responsible for migration at local level, will succeed to identify the most optimal solutions up to the needs of our natives from abroad, but also those returned at home”, said Liliana Tincu, responsible for migration, the Mayor’s Office of Ungheni town.

Mainstreaming migration at local level in 25 localities across the country is piloted for the first time in the Republic of Moldova. For a better result, each mayoralty designated a person in charge of migration, Hometown Associations were created and the migration component was successfully integrated in 25 local social and economic strategies. Due to these interventions, within some six months from the beginning of this year, already over 100 local projects were implemented by migrants in partnership with local authorities.