IN HONOR OF THE 2011 INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY: Six (6) quick facts that draw a link between Migration and Women

(Note from the Author: The photos I have used in this piece are some of the ones that I took at a celebration that was held in Nairobi, Kenya to mark the 2011 International Women’s Day. This year’s theme was: “Equal access to education, training and science and technology: Pathway to decent work for women”.)

Above: LABOUR MIGRATION: Women constitute around 60–80 percent of the export manufacturing workforce in the developing world. (courtesy, World Bank)

Above: FORCED MIGRATION (Refugees): Together, women and children constitute almost 70 percent of those under the care of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees today. (courtesy, UNHCR)

Above: ECONOMIC MIGRATION: Female migrants are increasingly part of flows of migrant workers, moving on their own to become the principal wage earners for their families. (courtesy, Division for the Advancement of Women Department of Economic and Social Affairs United Nations)

Above: LABOUR MIGRATION: It is estimated that if women’s paid employment rates were raised to the same level as men’s, America’s GDP would be 9 percent higher; the euro-zone’s would be 13 percent higher, and Japan’s would be boosted by 16 percent. (courtesy, UNIFEM)

Above: MIGRANTS WITH DISABILITIES: Australia’s migration policy promotes the discrimination of women (men and children) with disabilities owing to what is perceived as the “financial burden” of taking care of them. (courtesy, ISIS International)

Above: ROUTINE MIGRATION: If the average distance to the moon is 394,400 km, South African women together walk the equivalent of a trip to the moon and back 16 times a day to supply their households with water. (courtesy, UNIFEM)


The author is a humanitarian analyst and she writes on migration. Email her on: msanyu@yahoo.com

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