Male and female migrants around the world have been greatly affected by the global financial crisis, yet they have also adopted new strategies to cope with the crisis. Today, on International Migrants Day, UN-INSTRAW commemorates women around the world who have made the decision to migrate in search for a better life.

En República Dominicana, las inequidades de género son factores que impulsan las mujeres a emigrar. El desempleo afecta a más de la cuarta parte de las mujeres activas en el país, aún teniendo un buen nivel de estudios.

Latin America and the Caribbean is a dangerous place for women. More than 50 percent of the women on the continent have been victims of some form of violence. In commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, UN-INSTRAW is launching a media kit on violence against women and human security in the region as well as a new study about gender and security sector reform in the Dominican Republic.

The experts in UN-INSTRAW’s Gender Training Community of Practice will meet virtually to discuss about the empowerment of women for their leadership and political participation.

Women politicians and experts on the issue of governance and political participation gathered at a meeting held at the UN-INSTRAW headquarters to discuss women’s political empowerment, the strengthening of local, national and supranational mechanisms for the advancement of women and the development of public policies and gender equality.

Women migrants make up the largest number of domestic workers in Spain. Now,  through a series of meetings and dialogues, they are demanding changes in legislation regulating the domestic employment sector.

After a five week virtual dialogue, gender training professionals and specialists share their best ideas, tips and resources on gender training methodologies.

The search for sanctions to penalize non-compliance with quota laws, the promotion of a greater participation of indigenous peoples, afro-descendants and young persons, and the impulse given to Women’s Ministries and to gender-sensitive budgets were the most important lines of action identified by the participants in the Virtual Forum of Gender Specialists. 

Multilateral institutions and members of academia will hold a meeting on migration with a special focus on women’s migration from the Caribbean. The event is entitled “Women and Migration: a view from the Caribbean,” and will be held on 22 April in Santo Domingo.

The new UN-INSTRAW virtual community aims to bring together academic experts, practitioners and other stakeholders from all over the world to discuss the issues of migration, remittances and development from a gender perspective, share information and learn from each other. The Gender and Migration Virtual Community was launched on 20 April 2009.

For the first time in a post-conflict country, national governmental institutions, the United Nations, and civil society organizations have worked together to build an inclusive policy document for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325. On International Women’s Day 2009, the Government of the Republic of Liberia, headed by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, launches its national action plan on women, peace and security.

The project "Strengthening Governance with a Gender Perspective and the Political Participation of Women at the Local Level in Latin America", has contributed to greater debate around the issue of women’s political participation at the local level in the political, academic and media fields. This was one of the conclusions at the conference with representatives from 13 Latin American countries in Santo Domingo on 13 February.