Ugochi Daniels, Deputy Director General for Operations of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said the visit she is paying to the Republic of Moldova allows her to better understand the situation on the spot. It enables her to see herself the impact of the Ukraine war and the measures taken by the Government to improve the life of the population and to take the opportunities offered by migration to the country, IPN reports.
“There is significant recognition of the fact that more should be done to integrate the Ukrainian refugees for this integration to be appropriate and to bring advantages to the labor market of the Republic of Moldova. The conclusions refer to the overcoming of challenges and ensuring of protection, prevention of trafficking and violence and also to the support for development and policies in the field,” Ugochi Daniels stated in an interview with Moldova 1 given in the program “Diplomatic Dimension”.
Ugochi Daniels noted that IOM started to work out a new strategy concerning its work in the Republic of Moldova over the next three years. It will analyze all these aspects. The representatives of IOM will make sure that this country strategy fully meets the Government’s priorities and field realities.
The official said that she had a very good discussion with Minister of Labor and Social Protection Alexei Buzu, who is very devoted to the idea of better integrating the Ukrainian refugees so that these could enter the labor market of the Republic of Moldova. Surely, most of the refugees are women and these have small children and need access to childcare services to be able to become employed.
“There is a very clear commitment on the part of the Government, which we support as part of the UN family for the better integration of Ukrainian refugees. We also saw that the number of migrants in Moldova rose by 50%. So, how can we support the Government in this regard so as to maximize the potential of these migrants in the country, namely on the labor market? There are also rather many opportunities that can be taken to tackle this problem,” stated Ugochi Daniels.
The IOM Deputy Director for Operations also said that in Chisinau, she had a meeting with donors, which centered on the importance of solidarity and efficient coordination of assistance. They also discussed the importance of combining forces in a critical moment and how the immediate needs can be supported and also how to support the path of accession to the European Union.
