2004 World Survey on the Role of Women in Development: Women and International Migration

In its resolutions 54/210 of 22 December 1999 and 58/206 of 23 December 2003 the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to update the World Survey on the Role of Women in Development for consideration by the General Assembly during its fifty-ninth session. The present World Survey addresses key issues related to women and international migration. The migration of women has always been an important component of international migration. As of 2000, 49 per cent of all international migrants were women or girls, and the proportion of females among international migrants had reached 51 percent in more developed regions. A gender perspective is essential to understanding both the causes and consequences of international migration. Gender inequality can be a powerful factor in precipitating migration when women have economic, political and social expectations that opportunities at home do not meet. Migration can be an empowering experience for women. In the process of international migration, women may move away from situations where they live under traditional, patriarchal authority to situations where they are empowered to exercise greater autonomy over their own lives. Women who remain behind when their husbands or children migrate often have to take on new roles and assume responsibility for decisions affecting the social and economic well-being of their households. A dearth of data on women and migration makes it difficult to assess the full implications of international migration for women. Statistics on international migration, both legal and unauthorized, are far from reaching universal coverage and are often published without classification by sex or age. A better understanding of women and international migration requires improvements in data collection, dissemination and analysis. Migrant women play a part in the economic development of both their country of destination and their country of origin through financial contributions from remittances, the improvement of their own skills or their contribution to the improvement of the education and skills of the next generation. Individual remittance transfers continue to be an important source of income for may families in developing countries. Migrant women may also influence the societies of origin by disseminating new values about the rights and opportunities for women. Women often migrate officially as dependent family members of other migrants or as a future spouse of someone in another country. Female migrants are increasingly part of worker flows, moving on their own to become the principal wage earners for their families. Most women move voluntarily, but women and girls are also part of the flows of forced migrants who have fled conflict, persecution, environmental degradation, natural disasters and other situations that affect their habitat, livelihood and security.