IATP News

IATP Helps Migrant Laborers Adapt to Economic Changes and Challenges

Five potential migrant workers participated in ICT training after watching the film on labor migration “We are going to Moscow" at the Garm IATP Center in Tajikistan on January 16.  The film was produced by the USAID-funded Human Trafficking project, implemented by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and screened at IATP as part of its Migration Management (MM) initiative.  The event was lead by a representative from the Migration Service Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Alisher Salomatshoev (www.migratsiya.freenet.tj).  IATP is an established partner of the Migration Service Department’s MM efforts.

To begin the discussion Salomatshoev commented, “The financial crisis affected economies all around the globe.  Today, more than one million Tajik citizens work in Russia as migrant laborers and many of them are employed in construction companies.”  He continued, "Russia decreased its quota for labor migrants by 50%, which will have negative consequences for Tajikistan's economy.  Therefore the requirements for those seeking migrant work in Russia will be higher."

To follow up on the film presentation, the Garm IATP Center hosted training on internet basics for potential labor migrants from January 19-23.  Participants acquired skills necessary to use e-mail, internet resources, and search engines.  Migrant worker Davlat Safarov mentioned, “I have been employed as a miller for several years in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, but the construction company I worked for became bankrupt.  After ICT training, however, I can browse the internet and search for other jobs in Russia."

The film and presentation familiarized the migrant workers with the latest developments on labor migration in Russia.  It also demonstrated how ICT can help them find safe, gainful employment.  More than 150 labor migrants have enhanced their technology skills through IATP’s Migration Management project in Tajikistan.

Citizens Get Legal Advice at IATP Center

On December 6, 2008, 17 residents of Imishli, Azerbaijan, received legal assistance from representatives of the American Bar Association (ABA). The meeting was organized by the local IATP center as part of the USAID-funded Traveling Lawyers project, which provides free legal advice to people in Azerbaijan’s rural regions. So far, the pro-bono lawyers have consulted over 850 clients across the country.

The lawyers were asked to solve a host of problems, including land disputes, inheritance issues, social services problems, and criminal claims. Some issues required further legal follow-up from Baku, although many were resolved on the spot by the knowledgeable lawyers. In one case, a client with five children asked at what age his wife was eligible for a pension. His counsel responded that according to Article 8.1 of the Law of The Republic of Azerbaijan on Labor Pensions, women who have given birth to three or more children, have cared for them through age eight, and have paid social welfare taxes for at least five years, are conditionally entitled to a pension at age 49.

One man needed a document certifying his ownership over the house where he currently lives. This kind of problem is typical in Azerbaijan, especially in the country’s remote provinces, as many villagers occupy and build houses on empty, unclaimed plots of land. He did so in 2004, and now requires documents certifying ownership of the property in order to sell the house. The Service of State Registry of Real Estate refused his application, citing his lack of ownership over the land or the structure. The ABA lawyers told him that his only legal recourse would be to check whether the land was municipal property, and if so, buy it from the government. After that, he would be able to submit an application to build the house. If successful, he was instructed to apply to the State Registry and have the structure registered, certifying his right to it.

The IATP center’s unique community center environment and public access point for information make it an ideal partner for other free services provided by USAID projects. One citizen, Celal Ahmedov, said, “This is the first time that we in Imishli have had access to legal consultation from Baku lawyers. We express our gratitude to USAID for supporting programs that help us get legal consultations for free.”

IATP User Advocates Tolerance in Multiethnic Society

The director of the NGO Network of Cultural Exchange and Interethnic Confidence (NCEIC) in Sevastopol, Ukraine, Tetyana Seniushkina, organized a three-day international seminar on the topic “Religion and Civil Society: New National Boundaries and the Paradoxes of the Globalization of Culture” at the end of November. NCEIC’s website, developed with the assistance of IATP in 2003, helps to attract more people to the organization’s activities, and as a result, more experts on building tolerance in multiethnic societies have been attending Semiushkina’s eight seminars. She uses her multimedia skills to promote NCEIC at public events, update its website, and disseminate information. Semiushkina has increased the NCEIC’s profile and managed to increase active participation from as few as 30 in 2003, to 120 at the November meeting, including participants from Ukraine, Russia, the United States, and Chile.

A PhD in the Department of Political Science and Sociology at the National University of Tavria, Seniushkina has volunteered at the Sevastopol IATP Center since its opening. She has participated in and moderated IATP online discussions on tolerance and preventing ethnic intolerance. She actively collaborates with sociologists from the United States, Norway, Poland, and the Netherlands who readily come to the seminars and workshops organized by NCEIC to advocate for civil rights in multiethnic societies and to share European and American experiences of building civil society.

In recognition of her efforts to advocate tolerance and for creating the network’s website, Seniushkina was selected by the coordinators of the 153-nation project “1,000 Women for Peace” to represent Ukraine at the Nobel Prize Nomination in 2005. The project issued a book featuring information on the project’s activities and photos of the 1,000 global representatives.

IATP User Advocates for Human Rights on World Stage

Natalya Scherbata from Vinnytsia, Ukraine, the President of the Ukrainian Association of Women Lawyers, has been an active user of IATP services since 2002, She recently filed a case on behalf of a female resident of Vinnytsia to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), her third such petition.

Scherbata actively used IATP services and facilities to improve her professional skills and knowledge. After using the web to find international trainings, workshops, conferences, and study tours on human rights issues, she applied online and was selected to participate in many of them. In 2007, she conducted training for IATP users on lodging complaints to the ECHR, demonstrating that human rights violations could be stopped.

In November, Scherbata regularly checked the European Court’s website to monitor the progress of the case, as judgments are first published online. The case concerns an alleged property rights violation but remains confidential (www.echr.coe.int). Ten citizens of Vinnytsya have received positive decisions from the Court in recent years. As yet, however, there has been no decision in Scherbata’s current action.

Filing a motion with the European Court requires finding the Application form online, printing it out, filling it in using one’s native language and sending it by normal post or fax to the headquarters of the European Court in Starsbourg. The basic technical skills required for such an action have been taught by IATP in Ukraine for nearly a decade.

Scherbata commented, “It is a fact that through Internet access at IATP centers, Ukrainians are becoming aware of their rights and applying for protection to the European Court. This proves the development of civil society in Ukraine.” In the past year, IATP in Ukraine trained more than 190 NGO representatives like Natalya Scherbata to use technology in ways that advance civil society activities.

Voter Education Promotes More Informed Electorate

Citizens of Azerbaijan learned more about their country’s election laws and their electoral rights in an online forum co-sponsored by IATP and Eurasia Partnership Foundation (EPF). The forum took place from October 9-21, during the Azerbaijan presidential elections, as part of EPF’s USAID-funded High Profile Radio Debates and Web-Based Information Portal Project.

The project aimed to inform people about presidential elections, the candidates, and campaigning. It also sought a wider discussion of the electoral process on the internet. These goals stem from the belief that broader education and participation contribute to a strengthened civil society and more transparent electoral processes. In practice, citizens learned about exit polling, the positions of presidential candidates on key issues, the operation of election committees, and voters’ electoral responsibilities.

The IATP forum featured the Director of the Institute of Election Technologies and regular participant of the EPF’s radio debates Shirzad Mammadli. Mammadli spoke highly of the forum, describing it as a great opportunity for citizens of Azerbaijan. He praised the internet’s ability to inform people, especially those in remote regions, of important topics. According to Mammadli, "The forum revealed the level of people’s knowledge in the field of electoral rights. Some of them posted such questions as ‘How old must I be to participate in the elections?’ This proves that the citizens of Azerbaijan still need to be educated about the electoral process.”