On April 10, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba and Director General of IOM Amy Pope signed the Cooperation agreement between the MFA of Ukraine and the IOM.

The document expands the areas of cooperation, particularly in restoring Ukraine's infrastructure, personal data protection, cybersecurity, and digitalization of migration and border control systems.

The agreement also intends to strengthen cooperation to create appropriate conditions for returning Ukrainian citizens and their reintegration, establishing closer contacts with Ukrainian communities abroad to attract assistance for the development, reconstruction, and economic recovery of Ukraine.

Among other things, the document will contribute to increasing the efficiency of migration and border management, including training of officials, development of standard operating procedures, and strengthening of personnel management systems.

Certain points of the agreement aim to assist the Ukrainian side in improving policies, legislation, and administrative and legal regulation in the areas of migration, citizenship, asylum, integrated border management, readmission, combating human trafficking and smuggling of migrants, visa issues, etc.

For reference: The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is an international intergovernmental organization established at a conference in Brussels on December 5, 1951. IOM's strategy focuses on improving migration management, ensuring proper protection of migrants' rights, contributing to the economic and social development of states through migration, promoting and further developing the International Dialogue on Migration, as well as training and supporting states in developing national programs to combat human trafficking. IOM operates a network of 450 offices in 150 countries.

The IOM Mission in Ukraine was established in 1996. In 2022-2023, the Organization provided assistance to about 6.5 million Ukrainian citizens, primarily IDPs and the most affected communities, with assistance exceeding $1 billion. The Organization has supported the Government of Ukraine with temporary shelter, legal, medical, and direct cash assistance and programs to improve access to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, as well as supporting Ukrainian citizens who were forced to move to Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

In March 2024, IOM presented the Strategic Response Plan for Ukraine and Neighbouring Countries for 2024-2026 with a budget of $1.5 billion, which includes further implementation of measures to assist Ukrainians affected by the Russian aggression against Ukraine.