Philippines - Italy (2006-2007)

“THE GENDER DIMENSION OF REMITTANCES: Their flows, uses and development impacts” Objectives To assess the impact of remittances sent by migrants- men and women- on household food security and community development in rural areas in the Philippines; To support capacity building activities promoted by Association of Migrants in order to improve the living conditions of Filipino men and women in Italy. . To increase awareness of Filipino migrants –men and women- for promoting rural development in their communities of origin and available alternatives for sending remittances. To enhance capacity – building of key stakeholders ‘Financial institutions, UN agencies, government offices, international cooperation agencies, migrant’s associations, local NGO’s and academic centres, in order to integrate gender into their programmes, projects, and other initiatives linking remittances and rural development in Philippines through the elaboration of specific guidelines, tools and other materials. This project has two innovative approaches: On the one hand, it aims to analyze remittances impact on food security and rural development. Hence, this project is funding by IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development). Consequently, this study explores remittances potential in reducing rural poverty from gender perspective, which is often dismissed in this kind of studies. On the other hand, this project includes a partnership with Filipino women association along both the research and the capacity building process. Therefore, the Filipino Women’s Council, based in Rome, is an active part of the whole project. Its participation acknowledges the importance of leading women towards decision making dialogues, especially migrant women and local developing agendas within their communities of origin. Moreover this process achieves two important goals: empowerment of migrant women and more efficiency on programs and public policies on development. Duration: July 2006- December 2007 Partners: Filipino Women’s Council You can read the country briefs of that study in the map of the introduction section.