From September 27 – 28, 2018, the fifth meeting of the highest officials of the state parties to the Almaty process took place in Bishkek. Withinthe framework of the meeting, issues of population mobility in Central Asia, the rights of vulnerable categories of migrants and refugees, and new opportunities for regional cooperation were discussed.

The meeting was attended by national coordinators and senior officials of member states and observer states, including Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, representatives of NGOs (the participant of the NGO “Sana Sezim” was Yenikyeva, Elina), UNHCR, IOM and other international organizations, as well as experts of this field and interested parties. From 2016, the Kyrgyz Republic assumed the chairmanship of the Almaty process for two years.

Within the course of wo days, the participants of the meeting worked out the following topics:

• Preparing for response to refugee emergencies: Examining the situation in Tajikistan
• Needs and rights of women and girls affected by labor migration in Central Asia, and ways to implement them
• The dialogue of the High Officials on the role of the Almaty process and the future development prospects
• Mobility in Central Asia: challenges and opportunities for identification and referral systems for migrants in vulnerable situations
• The rights of refugees and asylum seekers “Quality Assurance Initiative (QAI): QAI Examples of Eastern Europe and South Caucasus countries in improving the asylum system”

After summing up the fifth meeting of senior officials of the Almaty process, a ceremony was held to transfer the chairmanship of the Republic of Tajikistan.