Project PRAYAS

About Project PRAYAS

• Promoting Regular Assisted Migration for Youth and Skilled Professionals (PRAYAS) was launched in partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
• It is one of the first attempts to consolidate all the state-level initiatives for safe, orderly, and well-managed international migration.
• Goal: To facilitate safe, orderly, and regular migration for aspiring Indian migrant workers and students through policy recommendations in collaboration with the MEA and state governments, thus strengthening international migration governance.
• It aims to undertake a study, capturing the key migration trends, the needs and aspirations of migrants, and the major international migration and mobility initiatives taken by the union, as well as the state governments sharing the analysis with the ministry.

Key facts about the International Organisation for Migration (IOM)

• Established in 1951, IOM is a United Nations (UN) agency dedicated to promoting humane and orderly migration.
• The IOM defines the term migrant as: “a person who moves away from his or her place of usual residence, whether within a country or across an international border, temporarily or permanently, and for a variety of reasons.” 
• It offers, at the request of States, its support to migrants but also to internally displaced persons, refugees and other uprooted people in the four broad areas of migration and development, facilitating migration, regulating migration and addressing forced migration.
• Member countries: It currently has 172 member states and 8 states holding observer status. India is a member of this organization.
• Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.

Q1) What is the United Nations?

The United Nations is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and serve as a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations.

Source: Project PRAYAS explained: UN program to help Indian youth migrate abroad