The Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent
States (IPA CIS) and IOM today signed a cooperation agreement in
Saint Petersburg.

The agreement, signed by IPA CIS Council Chair Valentina
Matvienko and IOM Director General William Lacy Swing at the
Tavricheskiy Palace lays the ground for closer cooperation in the
areas of CIS migration policy development and harmonization of CIS
migration legislation with international law. 

IOM has actively been working in the CIS region for over 15
years and enjoys excellent institutional and working relations with
IPA CIS member states, which include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan and Ukraine.
All of them, with the exception of Russia and Moldova, are also IOM
member states. 

Specific areas of cooperation include managing temporary and
permanent migration flows in the CIS region, human resource
development for labour migration, development of measures for
controlling irregular migration and information exchange. 

The IPA CIS was set up in 1992 to serve as an advisory body for
the preparation of draft laws and other normative documents of
shared interest to the stakeholders. It actively promotes
integration processes within the CIS through consolidation and
harmonization of national laws and makes recommendations to the CIS
Council of Heads of States and the CIS Council of Heads of
Government. Its work focuses on cooperation in the areas of the
economy, safety and security, and countering crime, terrorism and
illegal drug trafficking. 

For further information, please contact: 

Dmitriy Valentey

IOM Moscow

Tel: + 7.495.797.8722

Email: "mailto:dvalentey@iom.int">dvalentey@iom.int