A new online platform was presented, which will become a space for an honest, open and professional conversation about the main thing – how to keep people in Ukraine and make it a country where people want to live.
The platform was created jointly with the Ptukha Institute for Demography and Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Association of International Employment Companies and the Migration Policy Office. Its goal is to bring together science, government, communities and business to find solutions to overcome migration challenges. The platform will become a place for publishing research, sharing experiences and jointly developing practical solutions.
The event featured the presentation of two studies conducted with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation: ‘Assessment of the implementation of the current migration policy’ and ‘Analysis of migration policies of foreign countries: guidelines for Ukraine’. They should become the basis for the formation of a new migration policy.
“Ukraine’s problem today is not only that so many of our people are forced to stay abroad, not only that after the war, which has already destroyed a significant part of our economy and it is not yet known when it will end and how much more will be destroyed, we will need to rebuild the housing stock, public infrastructure and industrial infrastructure. We will need to attract investment to Ukraine. And for all this, we will most likely lack labour. We are living in a depopulation situation that did not start today, and its roots are not connected with the current war. We have to catch up with all this. This is on the one hand. On the other hand, we have no experience of successful, independent migration policy. We simply do not have it, and we have to learn it. We have to learn from the mistakes of other countries, not our own. This is the reason for conducting and presenting these two interrelated studies. When conducting these studies, we wanted to analyse the Ukrainian experience in a way that would provide evidence, and on the other hand, to study the experience of other countries, more or less successful, as deeply as possible. To understand what mistakes were made there so that we do not repeat them and do not create chaos in our country,” said Ella Libanova, Director of the Mykhailo Ptukha Institute for Demography and Quality of Life Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
“Speaking about the key shortcomings that we identified during the assessment of the implementation of the current migration policy, I would like to emphasise that despite the fact that throughout the period of independence the Ukrainian state has kept migration issues in sight, trying to find ways to solve the problems associated with them, migration has never been among the priorities of state-building and has not been in the focus of attention of the authorities and society. The key problem of Ukraine’s migration policy is its reactivity, i.e., its response to emerging events and challenges rather than prevention of negative phenomena. While reactivity is an objective reality in terms of policy in unpredictable conditions (COVID-19, full-scale war), insufficient consideration of inevitable demographic prospects is a serious gap,” said Oleksiy Poznyak, Head of the Migration Research Sector, Institute of Demography and Quality of Life Problems of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
“Countries that have become examples of successful migration policies are, first of all, countries of so-called permanent immigration, whose economic development strategy is based on attracting highly skilled migrants – Canada, the USA, Australia, New Zealand. They have relied on intelligence as the basis for increasing labour productivity, and thus competitiveness and welfare. As for the mechanisms of returning citizens or attracting foreign specialists who can be adapted in Ukraine, everything is simple and complicated at the same time. It is simple because we understand what factors play a crucial role in the context of the return of our citizens – security issues, decent jobs, decent wages, housing, etc. It is difficult because to solve these problems, it is necessary to form a new model of economic development based on continuous growth of labour productivity,” said Svitlana Kalinina, Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Law of Mariupol State University (Kyiv).
“When we talk about migration processes, we must consider them in the context of the country’s economic, demographic and social development. As for the country’s economic development, it can be achieved through intensive, extensive and structural factors. The intensive factor is the growth of labour productivity. As for the extensive factors, we are discussing this topic now, and it is the attraction of additional labour. As for the structural factor, unfortunately, this problem is not discussed in Ukraine at all, because it is a change in the structure of the economy and the identification of economic areas that would generate greater added value. Unfortunately, everyone is focused on the extensive factor, namely attracting migrants,” said Oleksandr Gladun, Deputy Director for Research, Mykhailo Ptukha Institute for Demography and Quality of Life Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
“Today we have taken the first step towards creating a platform for ongoing dialogue in the areas of demography, social policy, quality of life and migration policy. This platform is about the shared responsibility of science, government, communities and business for the preservation of human capital. We presented research that does not just describe the situation, but suggests directions in which we can move. In the context of the demographic crisis and war, we need a strategy based on facts, not reactions. And most importantly, we believe that a person is the most valuable thing a state has. Their freedom, dignity and right to choose should be at the centre of every decision. It is around these values that we are building a new platform and invite everyone who cares to join the cooperation,” said Vasyl Voskoboinyk, President of the All-Ukrainian Association of International Employment Companies and Head of the Migration Policy Office.
The study is part of the project ‘Migration Policy of Ukraine: Ways to Improve’ funded by the International Renaissance Foundation.
Reference:
The All-Ukrainian Association of International Employment Companies is a non-profit public organisation that deals with issues and problems related to the employment of Ukrainian citizens abroad. Members of the Association are independent private companies providing services in the field of international employment. The Association exists to coordinate the efforts of all participants in the foreign employment market and to effectively protect the interests of Ukrainian workers working outside Ukraine.
The Office of Migration Policy is a non-profit public organisation that is engaged in the formation of a new migration policy of Ukraine in order to preserve and develop human capital. The Office acts as a platform for cross-sectoral cooperation to develop sustainable migration and labour market policies.
The International Renaissance Foundation is one of the largest charitable foundations in Ukraine, which since 1990 has been helping to develop an open society based on democratic values in Ukraine. Since then, the Foundation has supported about 20,000 projects worth more than $350 million.
The material was prepared with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation. The material represents the position of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the position of the International Renaissance Foundation.
Source: Interfax-Ukraine
