Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, during his speech at a meeting of the Council of CIS Heads of State, put forward a number of key initiatives to address pressing problems.

In particular, the Head of Uzbekistan proposed the creation, within the framework of the CIS, of a single interstate mechanism for the mutual recognition of documents confirming the professional competence and qualifications of labor migrants, their medical examination.

An important initiative designed to ensure sustainable socio-economic development of the CIS member states is also the proposal of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan to develop and adopt a Cooperation Program on labor migration.

The main goal is the social and legal protection of ordinary citizens working in the CIS countries. This is especially important in the context of dynamically developing economic relations in the Commonwealth space.

Moreover, this initiative will contribute to solving the tasks outlined in the Concept for the Further Development of the Commonwealth and the Strategy for the Economic Development of the CIS for the period up to 2030. In particular, these conceptual documents indicate that cooperation in this area is based on the mutual interests of all CIS member states and will contribute to the creation of favorable conditions for socio-economic development in the Commonwealth space. The need was noted for the formation of a common labor market, the development of mechanisms for the organized attraction of persons to carry out labor activities in interested CIS member states. Ultimately, all this will improve the quality of life of ordinary citizens of the Commonwealth countries.

There are more than 1 billion migrants in the world, of which 270 million work outside their home countries. Three quarters of international migrants are of working age (20-64 years).

It is no secret that Uzbekistan is considered a country with significant labor resources due to a relatively high level of natural population growth.

In this regard, strengthening and expanding cooperation in the direction of regulating labor migration processes within the CIS is important for the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Over the past four years, the government of Uzbekistan has radically changed its attitude towards citizens working abroad in a positive direction, a dialogue has been established with labor migrants, a new system has been introduced to study and solve their problems and meet their needs.

A Fund for the support and protection of the rights and interests of citizens working abroad was created, the practice of life and health insurance of labor migrants, the allocation of mortgage loans for their families was introduced.

The leadership of Uzbekistan continues to take comprehensive measures to improve mechanisms to support citizens working abroad. One of them was the Resolution of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. PP-4829 "On measures to introduce a system of safe, orderly and legal labor migration" adopted in September this year.

In this regard, the initiative put forward at the Summit is the continuation of the consistent internal policy of the Head of State to create favorable conditions for the implementation of external labor migration, which he seeks to implement on an international platform of particular importance for all Uzbeks - the CIS.

Of course, the restrictive measures taken in connection with the pandemic had a significant negative impact on migration processes. In other words, there is an acute shortage of labor in the labor markets receiving migrants, especially in agriculture.

According to experts, in the context of restricting the movement of migrant workers, the threat of transformation of migration processes into the shadow sector increases and other negative consequences are outlined (human trafficking, forced labor, etc.).

In this regard, against the background of the coronavirus infection pandemic, which has seriously worsened the socio-economic situation in the CIS countries, the initiatives of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan are becoming especially relevant.

To solve the emerging acute problems associated with the employment and life of migrants from the CIS countries, the leadership of Uzbekistan proposes the development of a joint comprehensive program of measures to support labor migrants during a pandemic and other probable exacerbations of the epidemiological situation.

Uzbekistan seeks to expand the practice of financial and social support for labor migrants in difficult situations, as well as insurance of their life and health. Large-scale work is being carried out to provide assistance and ensure the rights of Uzbeks who work abroad, to create favorable conditions for them.

It should be noted the desire of the Head of Uzbekistan to make the most of the potential of the CIS, which has a convenient legal framework that regulates the social and labor sphere, covering a wide range of issues of organization and labor protection, cooperation in the field of labor migration, social protection of migrant workers, pensions, disability issues and etc.

In general, the initiatives put forward by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev are highly demanded, aimed at creating a common orderly and safe labor market in the CIS. This, in turn, opening up new opportunities, will become one of the important areas of mutually beneficial cooperation between the CIS member states in the field of external labor migration.

Abror YUSUPOV

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Political Science, Head of the ISMI Department

under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan