MOST School in Tajikistan on "Youth Return Migration: Problems and Research-Informed Solutions"

When :

from Thursday 28 March, 2019
09:00
to Saturday 30 March, 2019
17:55

Type of event :

Category 7-Seminar and Workshop

Where :

Dushanbe, Tajikistan

Contact :

Arina Myassoyed, a.myassoyed@unesco.org

The MOST* School in Dushanbe will be the first national MOST school carried out in Central Asia.

MOST School will take place between 28 and 29 of March 2019, at the premises of the UN Information Resource Centre at the Russian – Tajik Slavonic University, Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

Migration is as a complex social, economic, and political phenomenon, in which the expected income differences and the expected probability of finding employment abroad play a significant role. The issues of migration is high on the Tajik international rights agenda. According to Human Rights Centre, young migrants of Tajikistan (aged 15-24 years) constitute an increasing share of labor migrants. Meanwhile, it is necessary to mention that more than half of the population of Tajikistan is young people under the age of 30.

In spite of the reasons of their return to Tajikistan, labor migrants, especially young people and their families, faced complex problems, which required a high attention and prompt solutions from the governmental authorities. Young labour immigrants were not interested in obtaining professional or technical education, and were more willing to work in low-skill requiring departments abroad, since they cannot find jobs at home. Some returned migrants in Tajikistan are struggling to put their new skills into practice because the necessary equipment and technologies are lacking in Tajikistan. Additionally, due to the long-term absence, returning migrants lost their contacts with some relatives, friends or former colleagues, who could potentially help them find a decent job. Furthermore, young returned migrants also do not have any financial opportunities to obtain formal professional education to improve their skills and knowledge in order to compete in the labor market. Another problem is that any capacity-building training can only be recognized through a formal education system, and any skills gained informally remain completely unrecognized, preventing young returned migrants to enter the labor market and find a job with decent salaries.

In addition, prohibition of entry into the Russian Federation, administrative penalties, and the lack of proper working and living conditions faced by young labor immigrants abroad have a negative impact on their mental health. Therefore, their successful reintegration into their families and society is a very important task for their further socio-economic development, which can help prevent them from being marginalized, isolated, radicalized and involved in crime.

On the basis of the several facts mentioned in Tajikistan, the MOST School will provide a space for collective learning among key development stakeholders in the country. It will focus on the identification of the capacity gaps that might exist at the national level in relation to the youth return migration problems and challenges, while addressing possible alternatives for the solution of those gaps. The school, conceived as a knowledge brokering exercise, will bring together academics, public officials and representatives from civil society, and it aims to provide a foundation for a steady multi-stakeholder dialogue on the return youth migration in the context of SDGs in Dushanbe.

UNESCO, through its MOST Programme, will coordinate the process of follow-up of the school with other UN entities, national stakeholders, and international donors. One key objective is to stimulate further capacity building activities, which drawing on the results of the school but not necessarily related to MOST, may contribute to strengthening national capabilities in connection with the 2030 development agenda.

* Management of Social Transformations (MOST) Programme