DEMOCRATIZATION
Migration and Freedom of Movement
Freedom of movement within state borders and the
ability to travel or live abroad are often pre-requisites for the exercise of many fundamental rights,
such as the right to education, the right to work
and the right to family life. Essentially, the right to
freely move within state borders and the ability to
visit foreign states is a pre-condition for equality of
opportunity, which allows people to pursue their
personal and professional goals.
a lack of national policies that address the specific
needs of both men and women.
In 2014, ODIHR continued to promote the inclusion of gender aspects in national labour migration
policies of participating States, in line with OSCE
commitments and international standards. On 15
and 16 May in Riga, ODIHR organized a regional training on gender-sensitive labour migration
policies for 28 government and civil society representatives from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
ODIHR supports OSCE participating States in developing policies that protect the right to freedom
of movement and facilitate freer cross-border mobility. ODIHR assists participating States by raising
awareness of migration and freedom of movement
commitments, promoting the exchange of good
practices and building the capacity of key national stakeholders in implementing comprehensive
migration policies that take into account gender aspects of migration and facilitate better integration of
migrants in line with OSCE commitments.
Migrant Integration
The Office, in co-operation with the NGO the Migration Policy Group, continued to support OSCE
participating States by conducting country assessments on migrant integration measures, in
accordance with the Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX) methodology. A MIPEX Assessment
Report for Turkey was published on 30 April, including findings and recommendations on how to
improve migrant integration.
ODIHR continued to build the capacity of national authorities and civil society actors in meeting
international standards on migrant integration by
conducting training on best practices in migrant
integration in line with OSCE commitments at the
request of OSCE participating States and Field Operations. More than 225 participants attended nine
training events in Tirana, Yerevan, Riga, Chisinau,
and Odessa, Lviv, Kharkiv and Kyiv, in Ukraine.
Gender Mainstreaming Migration Policies
Women of working age make up almost half of the
migrant population in OSCE participating States.
During labour migration, many male and female
migrant workers may encounter gender-specific
obstacles and challenges, such as gender-stereotyped labour roles, resulting in employment that
does not match their skills, wage discrimination or
38
ODIHR Annual Report 2014
Cross-Border Mobility
The liberalization of entry regulations and the waiving of visa requirements by OSCE participating
States have contributed to continued growth of international travel within the OSCE region: In the last
20 years, the total number of foreign visitors to the
OSCE region doubled and the number of foreign
visitors from both within and outside of the region
is likely to rise to as high as 1.1 billion by 2030 from
578 million in 2011.
In 2014, ODIHR developed
and published a Baseline Study on Cross-Border
Mobility in the OSCE region, which aims to support
OSCE participating State
national experts and responsible government
institutions in their efforts
at visa facilitation and the
promotion of cross border
people-to-people contact.
The Baseline Study was launched during the “Expert Meeting on Visa Facilitation and Cross-Border
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