A large percentage of the Kyrgyz population is internal migrants, with numbers expected to increase significantly in the coming years because of climate change. Many internal migrants construct non-energy efficient, non-climate resilient housing in growing residential neighbourhoods in the outskirts of the cities, where there is little access to basic services. This exposes them to many health- and climate-related risks. Green Economy Development Program of the Kyrgyz Republic for 2019-2023 calls for green renovation and for partners to deepen their understanding and develop approaches enabling vulnerable groups to participate in decision making and policy development processes at household level.

IOM launched its new project to promote the inclusion of internal migrants in green renovation in Kyrgyzstan and organised the first Working Group meeting on 30 October 2023. The event brought together national partners from Ministry of Labor, Social Security and Migration of the Kyrgyz Republic, State Agency of Architecture, Construction and Housing and Communal Services under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic, Ministry of Energy of the Kyrgyz Republic, Ministry of Economy and Commerce of the Kyrgyz Republic, Bishkek City Hall to improve communication between each other as well as  to serve as a place for the inclusion of vulnerable groups in solving environmental problems faced by the country.

At this opportune moment, the project aims to promote the inclusion of internal migrants in the Government of Kyrgyzstan's efforts on green renovation. The first step is to develop standardised, pre-approved, cost- and energy- efficient, climate-resilient construction plans and green renovation designs. These designs will then be piloted in internal migrant households led by women.