"The migration experience is different, depending on if you are a man or a woman," Cristina Sánchez, President of the organization "Tú, Mujer", pointed out.

The Dominican Women’s Secretariat decided to initiate a common action plan on gender issues and migration that will include the participation of national and international institutions, non-governmental organizations, the academic community and researchers. Issues to be discussed include:  the design of policies to mitigate the negative impact of the crisis on remittance-receiving countries; the promotion and expansion of knowledge and information on remittances from a gender perspective through research and studies; gender disaggregated information on remittances in national accounts or income; the design of training programmes for women migrants concerning economic investment.  UN-INSTRAW will participate and contribute its knowledge on these themes.

Cristina Sánchez, summarizing the issues discussed during the event held on 4-5 June, said that just as companies need investments, a country that wants to see sustainable results must also invest.

"When the Dominican State does not invest a penny, remittances do not transform into real development.  Rather, we have economically exiled Dominicans who have had to leave their country to achieve a life that will allow them to cover their basic needs, and due to the emotional ties with their families, they send thousands of millions of pesos each year,” stated Christina Sánchez.

"It is our responsibility to make it publicly known that the government, without investment, earns a high gross national product based on remittances, and there are social consequences.  There are 1,200,000 families who depend on remittances, and as a result, they are able to live under more or less decent conditions.  Without the remittances, they could be living in poverty, since there are no policies to strengthen our Dominican population,” she added.

During her presentation "Women and Transnational Practices: New challenges for public policy," Bridget Wooding, researcher from the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO),  reiterated that the new “mantra” of governments and international organizations is migration and development.

"Remittances have become the new “mantra” of development, that is, the belief that remittances can be channeled to economic investments in order to overcome underdevelopment. Or, put in a harsher or less positive way – that some of the most exploited workers in the world can compensate for the failures of prevailing development policies."

Wooding stated that there is a feminization of migration in which women are migrating in an increasingly autonomous manner. This phenomenon is, in part, a response to the need for women’s labour. At the same time, women’s economic independence and the wish or need to travel is more accepted. However, migration also presents risks, and migrant women can find themselves in particularly vulnerable situations given the greater invisibility and informality of the labour niches available to female workers. 

"Recognizing the benefits and risks that migration presents, it is important for migratory policies to take into account the impact migration has on the reduction of poverty and vice versa in order to maximize the benefits and reduce the risks of migration for people living in poverty," she highlighted.

Other distinguished panelists participated on the second day of the meeting, including Juan López, General Secretary of the Santo Domingo East City Hall, who gave examples of local development projects and who announced the inauguration of an office on gender equity and a future municipal study to be conducted on the problems stemming from migration. Javier Ochoa, specialist and researcher on co-development from the Communications, Research and Documentation Centre Europe-Latin America (CIDEAL), suggested in his presentation, which was entitled "Co-development and Evolution Concept; Viability in Origin and Destiny," that the creation of networks is an important element in the work towards achieving viable co-development. He also mentioned the need to raise awareness among migrants of the reality of receiving countries, conduct trainings in receiving societies, take steps for the free movement of people, create programmes for an assisted, efficient and productive return, and to create trainings for the productive use of remittances in savings, production and investment.  

The event was held at Hotel Santo Domingo, with the sponsorship of CIDEAL and the Madrid Autonomous Community (CAM).  Other collaborating institutions included UN-INSTRAW, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the International Organization for Migrations (IOM).  

Read more about the UN-INSTRAW Gender, Migration and Development programme on the website

See the video from the event