migration, remittances and gender-responsive local development - 2010

7/28/2019 Migration, Remittances and Gender-Responsive Local Development - 2010

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Migration, Remiancesand Gender-Responsive

Local Development

Executive Summaries

Case Studies:

Albania, the Dominican Republic, Lesotho, Morocco,

the Philippines and Senegal

UN-INSTRAW AND UNDP

2010


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The United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (UN-INSTRAW) promotes appliedresearch on gender issues, acilitates knowledge management, and supports capacity-building through networking mechanisms and multi-stakeholder partnerships with UN agencies, governments, academia and civil society.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the United Nations global development network, an organization advocatingor change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better lie. We are on the ground in 166countries, working with them on their own solutions to global and national development challenges. As they develop local capacity, theydraw on the people o UNDP and our wide range o partners.

Copyright 2010, UN-INSTRAW and UNDP

All rights reserved

Compilation Prepared by: Allison J. Petrozziello and Elisabeth Robert (UN-INSTRAW)Copy edited by: Jerey Stern (Suazion, Inc.)

Design and Graphic Line: Sughey AbreuLayout: Juan Rodrguez Familia

The designations employed and the presentation o the material in this publication do not imply the expression o any opinion whatsoever onthe part o the Secretariat o the United Nations, UN-INSTRAW or UNDP concerning the legal status o any country, territory, city or area, or o itsauthorities, or concerning the delimitation o its rontiers or boundaries.

The views expressed are those o the authors and do not necessarily reect the views o the United Nations, its Member States, UN-INSTRAW or UNDP.

UN-INSTRAWCsar Nicols Penson 102-ASanto Domingo, Dominican RepublicTel: 1-809-685-2111 Fax: 1-809-685-2117Email: [email protected]: w ww.un-instraw.org

UNDPOne United Nations PlazaNew York, NY 10017 USATel: +1-212-906-5000 Fax: +1-212-906-5364E-mail: [email protected]: ww w.undp.org

AlbaniaLead researchers and report authors: Julie Vullnetari and Russell King, SussexCentre for Migration Research, University of SussexReport edited by: Sandra Panopio (UN-INSTRAW)

UNDP AlbaniaPapa Gjon Pali II Street,ABA Business Center, 6th Floor, Tirana, AlbaniaTel: +355 4 2400 721 Fax: +355 4 2400 726Website: w ww.undp.org.al

Dominican Republic

Lead researcher: Tahira VargasAdditional research conducted by: Diana Lpez and Elisabeth Rober t (UN-INSTRAW)Contributing author: Diana Lpez (UN-INSTRAW)Technical Support: Raissa Crespo (UNDP Dominican Republic)Photography: Vianco Matnez

UNDP Dominican RepublicCasa de las Naciones UnidasAvenida Anacaona #9, Mirador Sur. Apartado 1424Santo Domingo - Repblica DominicanaTelfono: +1 809 537 0909 Fax: +1 809 537 3507Web page: w ww.pnud.org.do

LesothoLead researchers and report authors: Jonathan Crush, Belinda Dodson, John Gay andClement Leduka, Southern African Migration Programme (SAMP)

Report edited by: Allison J. Petrozziello (UN-INSTRAW)

UNDP Lesotho3rd Floor UN House,P.O. Box 301Maseru, LesothoTel: +266 22 313790 Fax: +266 22 310042E-mail: [email protected]: ww w..undp.org.ls

MoroccoLead researchers and report authors: Angeles Ramirez, Universidad Autnoma de Madridand Mara Jesus Criado, Universidad Complutense de MadridAssistant researchers: Acetre Consulting, Rita Gomes Faria, Vivian Solana, Virtudes Tllez,Alba ValdezContributing author: Diana Lpez Castaeda (UN-INSTRAW)Executive Summary translated by: Sandra Panopio (UN-INSTRAW)and Allison Petrozziello (UN-INSTRAW)

UNDP Morocco13, Av. Ahmed Balafrej, Casier ONU, Rabat-ChellahLD : + 212 (0) 537 63 30 87 GSM : + 212 (0) 661 23 26 99Website : w ww.pnud.org.ma

PhilippinesLead researchers: Sylvia H. Guerrero and Carolyn Sobrichea, University of the PhilippinesCenter for Womens Studies Foundation, Inc.Philippines Project Coordinator: Wilma Silva-Neto RojasContributing author: Sandra Panopio (UN-INSTRAW)

UNDP Philippines30th Floor Yuchengco Tower,RCBC Plaza6819 Ayala AvenueMakati City, Philippines 1226Tel: + 632 9010100 Fax: +632 9010200Website: w ww.undp.org.ph

Senegal

Lead researcher and report author: Fatou SarrReport edited by: Elisabeth Robert (UN-INSTRAW)Translated from the French by: Anna Ki

UNDP SenegalImmeuble Fayal, 19 Rue Parchappe154 Dakar, SenegalTel: +1 221-33-839-9050 Fax: 1+ 221-33-823-5500Website: w ww.pnud.org.sn


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Preface.................................................................................. 1

Introduction........................................................................ 3

Albania Executive Summary.................................................... 5

Dominican Republic Executive Summary............................ 9

Lesotho Executive Summary............................................... 13

Morocco Executive Summary............................................. 17

Philippines Executive Summary.............................................. 21

Senegal Executive Summary.............................................. 25

Conclusion......................................................................... 28

Table of Contents


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The eminization o migration is a phenomenon that stresses not only the moderate increase in thenumbers o women migrating, but also the ways in which women participate in migratory processes.In the past, most emale migrants moved as dependants o husbands or amilies, whereas todaya greater variety o women are leaving autonomously to work and live abroad as primary incomeearners. Growing interest in the study o the eminization o migration has created a knowledgebase o experience and tools that lend themselves to the integration o gender equality into migration-related interventions.

Meanwhile, remittances another signicant eature o migration are gaining international attention.The monies sent rom migrants in destination countries to amilies and communities in countries oorigin are an important motivator or working abroad. Although individual migrants generally sendrelatively small sums o money, the accrual o remittances amounts to considerable nancial ows.

Recognizing remittances impact on national economies and the global nancial world, governmentsand international organizations have taken interest in their potential to aect development. However,this potential to support and enhance human and local development has yet to be ully understood.A gendered approach to studying this phenomenon highlights how gender aects migrants experiencesand how migrant women in particular can contribute to dialogues, policy planning and interventions orsustainable development.

The study o remittances is an important aspect o the United Nations Development Programmes workon human development and poverty reduction, as well as its work in assisting governments to seeknovel ways to harness remittances development potential in achieving the Millennium DevelopmentGoals. Remittances are the only means o survival or millions o poor households worldwide; remittancesallow them to aord not only the basic necessities that are otherwise lacking or inaccessible, but also adegree o economic empowerment. Building on this topic, UNDP dedicated its 2009 Human DevelopmentReport, Overcoming barriers: Human mobility and development, to applying a human developmentapproach to the study o migration. While not a substitute or broader development eorts, migration canbe a vital strategy or households and amilies seeking to diversiy and improve their livelihoods.

Since 2004, the United Nations International Research and Training Institute or the Advancement o

Women (UN-INSTRAW) has sought to understand the gender dimensions o migration, remittancesand their potential or development. The Institute utilizes a gender perspective to analyze how actors suchas gender inequalities in access to work and divisions o labour determine the relationship betweenmigration and development. Within this ramework, remittances serve as a key component to comprehendingand acilitating sustainable solutions.

This series o studies, Migration, Remittances and Gender-Responsive Local Development, ocuseson the sending, transer, receipt and utilization o remittances, and afrms that gender inuences andshapes the movement and experiences o migrants and their communities in both origin and destination

Preface


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countries. The mapping o key actors and the discussion o historical and current migratory patternsand remittance practices in each country provided a useul background that allowed or an analysiso collective and social remittances. Utilizing a gender perspective and an emphasis on humandevelopment, this project adds another layer o necessary investigation that builds on the migration-development nexus.

With this publication, UN-INSTRAW and UNDP are committed to producing applied research thatpromotes the acilitation o gender-responsive policies and practices related to migration anddevelopment. The recommendations generated rom the research serve as key guides or nationallevel policy dialogues attended by key stakeholders, including migrant organizations, governmentagencies, nancial intermediaries and NGOs. These dialogues are important platorms where researchresults can be translated into action plans that highlight co-development. Over time, the inclusiono gender analysis into the ormulation o eective and sustainable migration and developmentstrategies will contribute to the achievement o the Millennium Development Goals.

UN-INSTRAW and UNDP present this global series on gender, remittances and development in order toacilitate the development o policies and practices that incorporate the needs and contributions

o migrant women, their households and communities into development agendas, thus bringingabout gender responsive local development and sustainable livelihoods and utures.

Amaia Prez Winnie ByanyimaSocial Aairs Ofcer / Ofcer-in-Charge Gender Team Director

UN-INSTRAW UNDP Gender Team

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The complex links between globalization and development have made contemporary migration a keyarea o investigation.It is estimated that over 200 million women and men have let their countrieso origin to live and work abroad. Occurring simultaneously are equally intensive internal movements,primarily rom rural to urban areas. Demographically, many country-specic ows have changed, bothin terms o numbers and composition by sex. Studies on the eminization o migration2 have revealedwomens signicant role and impact as actors in the migration process. Despite the rapid increase in thevolume and diversity o knowledge on the migration-development nexus, research and debate on the

gender dimensions o this issue, including the role o women within migratory ows, continues to be scarce.

In 2007, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations InternationalResearch and Training Institute or the Advancement o Women (UN-INSTRAW) began a joint projectentitled Gender and Remittances: Building Gender-Responsive Local Development. The project hassought to enhance gender-responsive local development by identiying and promoting options orutilizing remittances or sustainable livelihoods and or building social capital in poor rural andsemi-urban communities. The research phase o the project has been implemented in six countries:Albania, the Dominican Republic, Lesotho, Morocco, the Philippines and Senegal.

The strategic aim o the project is to generate action-oriented research that will be used to:

1. Increase awareness and improve access o women-headed, remittance-recipient households toproductive resources, while augmenting their assets and strengthening their capacities;

2. Provide relevant inormation to local and national governments to identiy and ormulate policies thatwill optimize remittance utilization or sustainable livelihoods and or building social capital; and

3. Contribute to enhancing key stakeholders capacities to integrate gender into policies, programmes,projects, and other initiatives linking remittances with sustainable livelihoods and buildingsocial capital.

The six case studies aim to narrow the knowledge gap on the gender dimensions o migration andremittances through an interlinked analysis o migration and development. Particular attention is paidto the impact o remittances (inancial, in-kind and social) on gendered development processes incountries o origin and amongst transnational households spanning the origin and destination countries.

Introduction

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1. To access the ull reports, visit: www.un-instraw.org/en/publications/gender-remittances-and-development/3.html.2. In addition to the net increase in the proportion o women among migratory ows, primarily to highly-developed countries in theNorth the term eminization denotes an important qualitative change in the composition o these ows, that is the sustained increasein the proportion o women migrating independently in search o employment, instead o as amily dependents that travel with theirspouses or reunite with them abroad. In other words, over the last two decades, a signicant amount o women who now migrateindependently, assuming the role o economic provider have joined the migratory ows that were previously dominated by men(Perez et al 2008:36).

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This case study research examines the genderdimensions o migration and remittances in thecontext o Albania and the destination country oGreece. This report reects two research components.First, a critical review o relevant literature on Albanian

migration, remittances, development, gender and adiscussion o the key policies and practices o nationaland international development actors orm thebackground to this report. Second, empirical datacollected through a combination o quantitativeand qualitative methods constitutes the hearto the analysis. The transnational aspect omigration has been incorporated by integratingdata collection and analysis in an area o origin(a cluster o three villages in the region o Kor,south-east Albania), and an area o destination(the city o Thessaloniki in neighbouring Greece).The ndings are based on 350quantitative questionnaireswith remittance-receivinghouseholds in rural Albania,45 in-depth interviews,two group discussionswith remittance-receivinghouseholds in Albaniaand remittance-sendinghouseholds in Greece, and 14in-depth interviews and twoocus group discussions withlocal, regional and national

stakeholders both in Albaniaand in Greece.

Albania represents themost dramatic instance opost-communist migration:around 1 million Albanians a quarter o the countrystotal population now

live abroad. Most migrants live in neighbouringGreece and Italy, with the United Kingdomand the United States becoming increasinglypopular destinations since the late 1990s. ManyAlbanians also moved internally during this time,

principally rom the northern and southern ruralhighlands to the urban coastal areas.

Remittances particularly rom abroad havebeen one o the most important aspects o thismigration, not only or individuals and households,but also or the country as a whole. Reports rom theCentral Bank o Albania on total annual sums indicatethat between 1992 and 2003, remittances rose romUS$200 million to US$800 million annually. WorldBank gures indicate that remittances totalled $1.48billion in 2007. Representing between 10 and 22

Executive Summary

ALBANIA

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Mountain pass to Greece rom South-east Albania. Throughout the early and mid-1990s,small groups o young males walked or several days, sometimes the whole length o Albania,beore crossing the border clandestinely via mountain paths in remote places like this one.


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percent o the countrys GDP, they have surpassedthe amount o oreign direct investment, as wellas the amount o aid received rom internationalinstitutions. In 2004, remittances amounted tomore than twice the revenue rom exports. At thehousehold level, remittances have been crucialto economic survival and poverty alleviation, andhave ensured a necessary supply o capital or small

businesses. However, very little attention has beenpaid so ar to the intra-household and country-wide gender aspects o these signicant monetarytransers.

In the Albanian context, international migrationgenerally represents a male-led typology, i.e., menmigrated rst and women ollowed as dependents.The rst post-communist migrants o the early 1990swere overwhelmingly men; women especially romrural areas generally stayed behind. Even whenwomen migrated, their accounts and experiences

o those early migration years have received littleattention. However, by 2001, Albanian migrantwomen in Greece constituted around 40 percent o allAlbanian migrants there. A maturing o this migration ater the amily reunication process throughwhich most Albanian migrant women arrived inGreece has been relected in the considerablepresence o children.

Given that Albania has astrong patriarchal society,how have migration and itsaccompanying monetary

and social transers aectedgender relations androles in rural areas, aswell as the processes olocal development? Theinterconnections betweenmigration, remittancesand gender aect localdevelopment and areshaped by it in severalways. First, the gendernorms o the origin societyand the type o migrationoptions available toAlbanians in the 1990savoured the migration omen to Greece over that

o women. Female migration to Greece increasedrapidly through amily reunication, particularlyollowing male migrants regularisation starting in1998. This increase was also aected by the crisisin the Greek care sector, as more Greek womenentered the labour orce while the Greek welarestate did not provide alternative substitutes ortheir domestic and care work. This was taken over

by Albanian migrant women, a situation reectedalso by the study data, according to which themajority o women were employed in the domesticand care sectors. Men, on the other hand, workedoverwhelmingly in construction, agriculture, andmanuacturing. They had also secured highershares o semi-skilled work.

Second, Albanian migrant men (particularlyhusbands and sons), continue to be the primaryremitters rom Greece (almost 99 percent o thesample). This reects not only their numerical

dominance in this migrant community, but alsothe patriarchal norms o the Albanian society.In Albania, migrants wives were the primaryremittance recipients/administrators in nuclearhouseholds; in amilies that included theparents o migrant sons the remittance recipient/administrator was more oten the ather (around 40percent o the sample).

Albanian women who remain in the villages perorm many productive and reproductive tasks.Here, a woman in pojan is shown weaving.

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Given that gender relations in southeast Albaniahave been generally more egalitarian than inother parts o the country (such as the north orthe northeast), and reecting a certain degree ochange due to migration, a rather nuanced picture

results rom this research. For example decision-making about the use o remittances generallyinvolved women and men, but women were otende facto in control o the nances. Particularly inde facto emale-headed households, womenhad gained a certain degree o empowermentthrough the day-to-day administration o nances.However, the husbands continued to exercise astrong inluence in strategic intra-householddecision-making processes.

Many women also earned money locally, usually

through work on their own small arms. In spite othe opportunities migration and remittances hadcreated, many rural women elt overburdened bythe volume and diversity o tasks and responsibilitiesthey had to ace on their own, especially dealingwith the emotional and developmental needso their children. Furthermore, not much changehad taken place with regards to reproductivetasks such as caring or children and the elderly,which are predominantly perormed by women.Similarly, the research results suggest that thoughAlbanian migrant women are empowered by their

strengthened household economic roles rom theirown earnings, they continue to be disempoweredby the Greek immigration policies that perpetuatespatriarchal patterns o dependency and genderdiscrimination.

Though most remittances are generally used tonance the households basic consumption, theyalso und the health and education o amilymembers and pay or improvements in livingconditions through better accommodations. Inaddition, signicant sums have been invested in

agriculture, particularly in creating and expandingapple orchards, livestock arms and large-scalevegetable cultivation. These investments notonly generate income or remittance-receivinghouseholds, but also provide local employmentopportunities or other amilies in the origincountry. In addition, skills and knowledge relatedto the investments contribute to a growth in thecommunitys capacities. However, these processes

are strongly marked by gender: most skilled tasksare perormed by men, who generally also ownthe land and the arming enterprises. Most localbusinesses are also registered as being owned bymen, even though women may be perorming the

majority o administrative and operative tasks.

The research results also suggest that those who arebecoming bridges o transnational entrepreneurialactivities are also primarily men; womens positionsare not prominent in these public arenas o powernegotiations and opportunities. The situation issimilar in migrant organisations, where decision-making is generally concentrated in the hands omen while women perorm secondary supportiveroles. Similarly, most associations in the rural areaso origin were comprised o men, a situation that

was taken as a given considering their rm roleas heads o households. Any uture project thatincludes women in local development needsto consider these gendered power dynamics asthey maniest themselves in private and publicspaces. A gender-sensitive approach would rstand oremost need to address the womens limitedparticipation in public spaces o political powerand decision-making. Second, it would avoidinstrumentalizing women by increasing theirburden o tasks, and would instead seek to providewider spaces or their political participation and or

their voices to be heard. Third, it would also avoidthe risk o reinorcing gender stereotypes.

There were no signicant signs o locallyimplemented co-development policies orpractices between Greece and Albania in thestudy area. As with most init iatives in the region,migration-related development initiatives stronglyaddressed the immigration agenda o Greecerather than the development agenda o Albania.Furthermore, Albanian migrant organisationswere oten excluded in such programmes, or were

the token consultative partner with a signicantlylimited role. Truely co-development policiesshould aim at local development as an end in itsel,not as a tool to stem urther irregular emigration,which has generally been the case so ar.

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Sustainable development should address all aspectso human development, i.e. conditions where womenand men can exercise reedom, equality and socialempowerment, including but not onlythroughpursuing the option o migration. Co-developmentpolicies and initiatives that consider migrantwomen and men as actors o developmentshould be based on the recognition o their role asstakeholders in host societies. This is relectedin the access they have to citizenship rightsthrough enabling their regularisation in the hostcountry and their equitable incorporation therein asdignied citizens with rights and responsibilities.

Similar to previous research, the study ndingsemphasize the importance o policies and theireective implementation creating a viable and

sustainable business environment and achievinga higher quality o human development.Responsibility or such provisions rests primarily withthe Albanian national and local governments. Gender-responsive local development, through the inclusiono migrants remittances are not a panacea or ailingrural societies. Migrant women and men are alreadybearing the heavy burden o substituting ragmentedand inadequate social and labour policies and systemsin origin areas like rural Albania through nancing thesurvival, health and education o their amilies. Itis the responsibility o governments to provide

adequate structures wherein urther investmentcan lead to growth and improvement o reedomsand capabilities.

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This case study research examines the genderdimensions o migration and remittances inthe context o the Dominican Republic and thedestination country o the United States. Thequalitative research carried out in the Dominican

Republic ocused on the community o Las Placetas,in the municipality o San Jos de las Matas. LasPlacetas receives the second largest percentage oremittances per capita in the Dominican Republic.This indicator, together with more than ourdecades o migration to the United States (mainlyNew York and New Jersey), were important inselecting this migration corridor or study.

Las Placetas combines the structural elementso rural Latin America and the Caribbean withtransormations due to modernization processes.That is, the communitys agricultural culture hasa particular amily-land relationship, in which thedomestic unit combines strategies o productionor their own consumption and or the local market,and in which relationships o dependency keepthe domestic unit on the extreme periphery o theworld system. At the same time, members o thecommunity are implicated in globalization, at boththe macro and micro levels, with opportunities todiversiy production into non-agricultural areas(e.g., transportation, tourism, trade). Nevertheless,this change to new productive options has notimproved the communitys structural deciencies,

among them scarce public services, poor qualityeducation, uneven distribution o land, and theabsence o mechanisms to participate in decision-making. It is important to note that patriarchaltraditions persist despite womens agency at thedomestic and community levels.

This overview allows the identication o elementsin Las Placetas that, rom a human development

perspective, deprive community members osustainable livelihoods and access to services suchas education and health, and that reinorce patternso social and gender inequity, inefcient resourcemanagement, and weak social empowerment in

both individual and collective terms. These actorslead to international migration being one o theew options or social mobility, not only in LasPlacetas but across the Dominican Republic.

Migration patterns between the community oLas Placetas and the United States are created byand through transnational networks o extendedamilies. Migratory processes through amilynetworks are oten led by the male migrating rst;but the women let behind also play an activerole in promoting amily reunication in their rolesas mothers, wives, sisters, daughters or aunts.

This migration pattern has changed amily structuresto single parent households that are headed by thewives o migrants, but whose husbands continueto exercise power rom a distance as the principalamily provider. The transnational nature omigratory processes illustrates the importance ohere and there in migration logic; the transnationalmarital relationships that result rom migration aremaintained by strong internal social cohesion thatis strengthened, despite the distance, by amilynetworks in the migrants community o origin.

These traditional social and amily networks upholdunequal power relations between men andwomen in transnational nuclear and extendedhouseholds through social control and by assigningreproductive roles to women. Wives who live inthe Dominican Republic tend to be overburdenedwith tasks: they are required to manage theirhouseholds by themselves, perorm all domestic

Executive Summary

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

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chores, take in new amily members who moveto their household as a result o migration (e.g.,in-laws, siblings-in-law, other relatives o themale migrant in vulnerable situations), attend tosubsistence agriculture or other income-generating

activities, and actively participate in social andcommunity lie. In addition to their householdresponsibilities, women who have migrated to theUnited States also have the burden o maintainingoutside employment. This double day exacerbatestheir subordination to men.

The possibilities or empowering migrant womenresiding in the United States are minimal, evenwhen women enter the labour market and theirremittances make signicant contributions totheir households o origin. Income does not

change existing patriarchal cultural patterns,and the second generation, despite living in theUnited States since childhood, oten sustainsand replicates gender roles. Second generationdescendants display mixed and ambivalentcultural patterns, showing cultural attachmentand detachment with regards to their parentshomeland. This strong transnational relationship,coupled with the racialized social system o theUnited States, reinorces their identity as a minoritygroup (Dominicanyork), who in the DominicanRepublic are reerred to as absent Dominicans

(dominicanos ausentes).

Young Dominican descendants living in theUnited States experience, to a lesser extent, someo the same problems experienced by adolescentsin the Dominican Republic teen pregnancy,gender and domestic violence, dropping out

o school, or having to repeat grades aswell as the reproduction o patterns o emalesubordination. Parent-child power relations aremarked by social tension and cultural conlictlinked to generational, educational and culturalgaps, and to difculties integrating themselvesinto American culture. The relevance o these topicsis evidenced by how the issues are prioritized bydiaspora organizations that oer integration supportto Dominican migrant populations.

The social integration o migrants has translated

into important changes in their nutrition habits,personal relations, social interactions and everydaylie. The most startling social transormation is thatworking becomes more important than living,and there is a reduction o social interaction withneighbours, riends, and amily. Migrants understandtheir migration as an income-generatingactivity; their salary, working shits, promotionopportunities and social relationships at workbecome the centre o lie.

The migrant population rom Las Placetas in the

United States has three dierent socio-economiclevels that correspondwith the migrants level oeducation. Higher levels oeducation (e.g., a universitydegree) tend to correlatewith better socio-economicconditions. Nevertheless,despite education level, theowners o ethnic businessessuch as supermarkets andbodegas (convenience stores)

have ascended socially andeconomically, becomingimportant job generators orthe ethnic group.

It is important to note thatthe work niches available towomen ollow traditionalgender patterns. Typical jobs

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Wives who remain in the Dominican Republic tend to be overburdened with tasks: man-aging the household, caring or amily members, attending to subsistence agriculture,and participating in social and community lie.


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o Dominican women include seamstress,babysitter, cook, teacher, textile worker anddomestic employee. In addition, many womenbecome domestic helpers in relatives homes, wherethe remuneration is a token gesture (oten between

US$150 to US$300 a month). Although men are alsopresent in eminized work niches (e.g., restaurants orcleaning), they quickly move to more masculine,better paying labour niches (e.g., transportation,construction, management or administration).

Taking into account that income is an essentialelement o migration dynamics, it logically ollowsthat remittances are an important outcome omigration. Thus, an analysis o the patterns osending and receiving remittances rom a genderperspective calls or special attention to the

characteristics o both the sender and the recipienthouseholds. The inormation collected throughinterviews, ocus groups, and lie stories revealsthat remittances have contradictory impacts onthe community o Las Placetas. On one hand,socio-economic conditions have improved interms o ood security, access to cash ows and theability to meet everyday expenses. On the otherhand, patriarchal power over women who receiveremittances has increased. Family networks withinthe rural community act as a barrier to culturalchange and ensure that the patriarchy remains.

Mothers- and sisters-in-law play important rolesin sustaining the power o migrant husbands overtheir amilies, making it impossible or the wie toassume an empoweredposition within thehousehold. At the sametime, the socializationprocess o childrenis deeply marked bytraditional gender norms,irrespective o the actthat young women now

oten attain greater ormaleducation than men.

The majority o wiveswho receive remittancesdo not participate inorganizational processeswithin the community,as they are rightened o

their husbands reaction to their breaking away romtraditional domestic roles. The double workload othose women who maintain traditional eminineroles while also assuming masculine roles oauthority within the amily aects them emotionally

and restricts their mobility.

In the community o Las Placetas, remittanceshave had little impact on generating sustainablelivelihoods, promoting savings, creating businessesor increasing agricultural production. Familyremittances have weak development potential,since the regular amounts received are barelysufcient to cover amilies basic monthly needs.Remittances make up or existing weaknesses inlocal social security systems and poor or non-existentpublic policies or children and ageing populations,

given that households are used to paying orthese services out o pocket. There is a signicantgroup o remittance-recipients in Las Placetas,mainly women and ageing men, who cover theirbasic domestic and health needs with their sonsand daughters remittances.

The majority o remittances sent by independentmigrant women support parents and siblings; thelatter, who depend only in part on the remittances,generally receive less money. These represent thelargest percentage o investments in activities that

allow economic independence or women. In-kindremittances, such as clothing or sale or personaluse, involve a considerable investment rom the

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Girl etching water near Las Placetas. Poor public services continue to limit local economicdevelopment and to overburden girls and women.


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sender and allow other women in the communityo origin to have an income. The acceptance o therole o women as providers in the case o thosesending remittances to their parents represents achange in gender roles within those householdsthat receive remittances.

At the same time, migration has strengthenedrelationships between social networks and existingsocial capital in Las Placetas, and has generatednetworks o care, solidarity and support in bothdirections. One important aspect o social capitalover which migration has had an impact is thecare network or older persons and children. Thesegroups benet the most rom the remittances sentby their relatives, as well as rom the social networksthat are created among women. However, migration

has weakened the organizational social capital andcommunity leadership, leading in some cases tothe disappearance o important organizations(e.g., the association o coee producers).

Economic and social development projectsdirected at women in Las Placetas should ocuson strengthening existing social structures, suchas the Mothers Club (Club de Madres), and onchallenging subordinating roles or women whoare insecure and araid to manage projects. At themoment, the Mothers Club is the most important

organization in the community and can beconsidered a seed o empowerment, as it includesan important portion o the emale population andhas signicant experience implementing projects(e.g., micro-credit, revolving unds, training). Thisexample illustrates the important bond that iscreated between migrant and non-migrant womenthrough solidarity and support networks. Inaddition, interventions should ocus on changingcultural patterns o land ownership thattraditionally exclude women, due to the actthat in the Dominican Republic agricultural work

is not considered an appropriate productiveactivity or women.

The impact o remittances on development shouldbe promoted through collective remittances. Thetransnational community and organizations abroadcan collaborate directly with local communitiesto establish a solid and trustworthy relationshipto acilitate investments. Thereore, i remittances

are to be mobilized as a socio-economic actor toacilitate human development in Las Placetas, thetransnational community should utilize collectiveremittances towards investing in social developmentprojects that reect the needs o migrants abroad

and their amilies in the area o origin. At thesame time, these types o initiatives strengthenorganizational capacity, social movements and thecreation o social capital while also increasingmulti-level cooperation and negotiation.

Transnational Dominican organizations haveexpressed their interest in supporting localdevelopment projects in the Dominican Republic,as long as reliable and trustworthy institutionsthat are not related to the government or topolitical parties administer the projects. Within

the Dominican diaspora, educated migrantshave organized themselves in order to engagein such transnational initiatives through a civilsociety oundation that conducts charity work.However, the majority o community activities ledby such organizations are based on solidarity tiesto communities o origin. Their relationship ismostly assistentialist, and has led to neither socialempowerment nor improved joint organizationalprocesses with the community.

Social intervention or rural development rom

a human development perspective in Las Placetasshould be implemented in such a way that itincludes both agricultural and non-agriculturalprojects. Agreements should be established withthe government to appeal or investment in localinrastructure and to create better conditions orcommerce and production. Social capital createdby local organizations with the ability to mobilizeothers should be supported. One example couldbe the Mothers Club, which maintains certainleadership and credibility within Las Placetas, yetit must also be strengthened at the institutional

and administrative levels. Women who belong tothe Mothers Club, along with other non-organizedwomen, should be involved in capacity-buildingprocesses that put an end to patterns osubordination that instil insecurity in administeringand managing projects. Finally, an importantstep to increasing womens access to productiveresources is helping them to acquire land.

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Executive Summary

LESOTHO

This case study research examines the genderdimensions o migration and remittances in thecontext o Lesotho and the destination countryo South Arica. The research methodology orthis report involved several components: a desk

review, analysis o quantitative data, collection oqualitative data (ocus groups and interviews), anda mapping o key stakeholders. The quantitativedata was drawn rom a nationally representativehousehold survey o migrant-sending householdsthat the South Arican Migration Project conductedin Lesotho in 2005. In-depth case-study researchwas conducted in villages o the Lesotho lowlandsin the areas o Ha Maeooane and Mahuu inDecember 2008 and January 2009. Five ocusgroups were conducted during this time, as well asinterviews with a selection o stakeholders and keyinormants in South Arica and Lesotho.

Lesotho is one o the most migration-dependentcountries in the world. Out o a population oaround two million people, over 240,000 areestimated to be outside the country. Migrantsremittances are the countrys major source ooreign exchange, accounting or 25 percent oGDP in 2006. They have risen rom an estimatedR1,193 million (US$156.5 million) in 1993 to R1,939million (US$254.5 million) in 2004.3 Lesotho is alsoone o the poorer countries in the world, with highdomestic unemployment, declining agricultural

production, alling lie expectancy, rising childmortality and hal the population living below thepoverty line. Poverty continues to be the majordriving orce behind internal and cross-bordermigration in Lesotho. South Arica completely

surrounds Lesotho and is the primary destinationor the Basotho people, who comprise the dominantethnic group o Lesotho. Thus the development oSouth Arica and Lesotho are inextricably linked,and co-development o these two countries, albeit

in highly unequal orm, describes a long-standingreality. The South Arican economy has benetedrom Lesothos migrant labour, while the Lesothoeconomy is highly dependent on remittances romSouth Arica.

In Lesotho, interregional mobility has been botha cause and a consequence o the HIV/AIDSepidemic: currently, 24 percent o the populationis inected. The spread o HIV/AIDS has notsimply been uelled by migration. Migration, byits very nature, acilitates high-risk behaviour andmakes migrants more vulnerable to inection. Asincreased economic vulnerability shits patternso employment and migration, the epidemic hasaected household structure, division o labourand livelihood strategies.

Lesotho is a highly patriarchal society, inwhich women have lower socio-economicstatus, experience signicant gender-baseddiscrimination and lack equal rights. There is astriking contradiction between womens growingsignicance as economic actors, including aslabour migrants, and their continued second-class

social, political and legal status.

Historically, young men o Basotho householdshave migrated across the border to work in theSouth Arican gold mines; women and children

3. Throughout the document, all calculations in dollar equivalents have been made at exchange rates rom 2010. However, this exchangerate may vary rom that o the time o data collection.Thereore, equivalents are approximate gures and may not represent the realvalue. As o 27 January 2010, the exchange rate was US$1=R7.62.

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were barred rom accompanying migrant minersto the place o work. Some emale migrants didstill migrate to work, but they were ew in number.These women generally came rom householdswithout a male migrant wage-earner and were

typically younger women or widows escapingpoverty at home. Migration or men is thus anentrenched and accepted social norm, while orwomen it remains controversial, considered bymany in Lesotho to be a departure rom what isregarded as proper behaviour.

Since 1990, migration patterns between Lesothoand South Arica have changed dramatically.First, cross-border movement between Lesothoand South Arica (legal and irregular) hasincreased substantially, with legal border

crossings rising rom 240,000 in 1991 to nearly2 million in 2008. Second, mine labour, whilestill the dominant employment sector or malemigrants rom Lesotho, has been considerablyreduced in scale, replaced by employment inother sectors such as construction or malemigrants and domestic service by the increasingnumber o emale migrants.

A third signicant trend is the eminizationo international migration rom Lesotho. Thisinvolves an increase in the absolute number o

emale migrants, an increase in the proportion omigrants who are emale, and a qualitative changein the character o emale migration. Severalactors explain the increase in emale migrationto South Arica. First, womens migration is partlya compensatory ow or the reduction in malemigrant employment in South Arican mines.Second, the collapse o apartheid lessened thethreat o harassment and deportation by thestate, making it easier or women to migrate andto nd work. However, most women are connedto low-paying, exploitative jobs by their irregular

migrant status. Third, womens wages in SouthArica are better than in Lesotho, though stilllower than those o men. Finally, and perhapsmost signicantly, there has been a rise in thenumber o emale-headed households bothby delaying or avoiding marriage and by risinglevels o widowhood, divorce, and abandonment rom which women migrate as the primary oronly income-earner.

Male migrants, who constitute 80 percent omigratory ows, are mainly older married menwhereas emale migrants are, or the most part,without husbands. Women who migrate to workin South Arica all into three broad categories: the

daughters or nieces, some o them widowed,divorced, or single mothers, rom householdswhere a parent, uncle or aunt is the householdhead (51 percent); the wives o unemployed men,many whose husbands are ormer mineworkersor who no longer work due to disease (especiallytuberculosis and HIV/AIDS) or disability (18percent); and women who are themselves the heado households without an adult male member,many o them widows or divorcees but includingwomen who are simply unmarried (24 percent).The gender dynamics and power relations within

individual households reect this variety andcomplexity o migrant household orms.

In 2005, the average annual cash remittance receiptreported by households was M7,800 (US$1023).

The average amount o money remitted byemale migrants overall (M4,825 or US$633) issigniicantly lower than that o male migrants(M11,162 or US$1,465). Womens employmentand livelihood strategies (e.g., as inormal sectortraders or domestic workers) compared to wagedmine labour mean lower earnings overall and less

regular or reliable remuneration than their malecounterparts. Women, however, generally remit alarger portion o their earnings.

The primary ormal channel o remittance ows isthe compulsory deerred pay system o the SouthArican mining industry. Outside this system, themost popular ways o remitting are inormal innature. Migrants bring the money themselves (54percent) or send it via a trusted riend or co-worker(33 percent). Without access to the ormal bankingmechanisms o the mines, the majority o migrant

women use inormal means to remit. On theirrequent return visits to Lesotho, migrant womengenerally bring money and goods home themselves.

Migrant-sending households in Lesotho spendthe greatest portion o total income on basicnecessities. Food and groceries are by ar the mostimportant expenditure, ollowed by uel, clothes,transportation and medical expenses. Less than 10

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percent o households saved any unds, investedin arming, or spent on education.

Analysed rom a gender perspective, what is moststriking is the enormous signicance o migrant

remittances to household subsistence and basicmaterial needs, irrespective o migrant gender.Nevertheless, signiicant gender dierences didemerge in the reported monetary expenditurein various categories. Expenditure was ound to behigher in almost every category or male comparedto emale migrant-sending households, includingessentials such as medical costs and luxuries suchas alcohol. Households with male migrants werealso more likely to be able to save. Male migrantshigher remittances translate into more moneyto spend, so that even when such expenditure

is on basic goods such as ood and clothing, thequantity and quality o purchases is greater orhouseholds with male migrant members. Thesegender dierences suggest that householdswith emale migrant members (many o whichare also emale-headed) are indeed poorer andorced to go without more oten than householdswhere the migrant members are men.

Irrespective o the sex o the remittance sender, it wasgenerally the remittance recipient who decided howthe money would be spent. For male remitters, in

most cases this was the emale spouse. For emaleremitters, it was either a parent, spouse, child orother relative. At times when both sender andrecipient are at home, decisions are usually taken

jointly. Control o remittance expenditure by theremittance recipient is unsurprising given thebasic needs nature o remittance usage. However,some disagreements were reported, particularlyin cases where a spouse elt that her husband waswasting remittance money on non-essentials and/or being less than honest.

Being the de facto heads o household in the absenceo their husbands gives women greater power inthe domestic sphere than they would wield i theirhusbands lived at home; but this power and theeconomic advantages o remittances come withadditional burdens o responsibility and labour.Caution must also be exercised in assuming thatmigration is inherently empowering or emalemigrant workers. Their positions as head o household

or principal wage-earner are oten not by choice butby necessity or emergency, and their migration isitsel a strategy to avoid their own and their childrensdestitution. It also comes with associated stigma anddisapproval rom amily and community members.

Womens empowerment through migration andrelated earning is thus an ambiguous gain.

The proportion o migrant-sending householdsinvesting remittances in income-generatingactivities in Lesotho (e.g., arming or in ormal andinormal businesses), is extremely low. However,the research identiied a ew respondents whouse remittances or entrepreneurial activities.Several emale entrepreneurs had opened smallshops or other enterprises, while some menhad established a local taxi business. Migrants

remittances also go to employ agriculturallabour or to hire shop assistants and are thus animportant, i small, source o local employment.

Pooling, lending and borrowing money are otherimportant aspects o remittance use and the localcirculation o capital. In Lesotho villages, burialsocieties and grocery associations eectivelypool a portion o remittance receipts (thoughnot primarily or entrepreneurial reasons) tomeet additional expenses such as uneral costs.These associations comprise an important orum

in which women exercise control over resources,and could serve as a mechanism to spread thebenets o remittances beyond the immediatehousehold. However, more research is needed asto their operations, beneits, and potential orimproving the development benets o migrationthrough collective organization and action.

As or remittance usage in general, gender combineswith age, generation, household size and householdtype to inuence the relationship between migrantremittances and income generation. The most

successul households are those with a malemigrant mineworker and a emale spouse runninga small business at home in Lesotho, and where thesize o the household does not mean that the entireremittance package is spent on basic needs.

Female migrants remittances can support localbusiness and arming activities, but mainly in caseswhere a male spouse (or parent) is at home to provide

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the skills and labour required. Migrant womenslower earnings, and thus lesser remittances, limittheir potential or income generation or investment.Least likely o all to generate business or agriculturalinvestment in Lesotho are remittances rom emaleheads o household without a male partner or adultamily member to operate a business activity athome. Such women may, however, be entrepreneursin their own right, or example as inormal cross-border traders. It is probably air to characterize malemigrants remittances as more developmental, in theeconomic sense o promoting growth and investment,than emale migrants remittances, which are moresurvivalist in their character and impact. This shouldnot be understood as a simple gender dichotomy, butrather as an illustration o the eminization o povertyand womens adoption o migration as a rational

response to the threat o destitution.

Seven obstacles to entrepreneurship were identiiedin this research:

1. The small size o the remittance package and theact that most o it is consumed on basic needs;

2. The lack o capital and loan nancing or thosewho wish to develop a business;

3. The considerable reduction in net worth oremittances through transaction costs, doubletaxation, and corruption;

4. The absence o the type o diaspora associationsthat are emerging in other international contextsand that are used to support community-scaleprojects rather than simply household-scaleactivities;

5. An inhospitable regulatory ramework governingmovement between Lesotho and South Arica;

6. The structural development constraints inherentto Lesotho; and

7. Gender discrimination and gendered patternso poverty and deprivation, which presenturther structural constraints impeding the

development potential o remittances.

Migration needs to be reconceptualised in publicpolicy discourse, not as a threat to the interestso South Aricans but as something that is (andcould be even more) mutually benecial to bothcountries. Evidence rom this research indicatesthat the acilitation o legal residence and labourdocumentation to Lesotho citizens in South Arica

would in all likelihood encourage not permanentrelocation but reduction in the length o time thatpeople would have to spend working in South Aricabeore being able to return home to Lesotho. This hasimportant implications or their ability to return andcontribute to development initiatives in Lesotho.

Mobilizing remittances in order to achieve gender-inclusive, sustainable development requires bothstrategic and practical interventions. At the strategiclevel, there needs to be reorm o policies, laws andemployment practices in both Lesotho and SouthArica in order to eliminate gender discrimination inmigration and employment. Protection o womensand workers rights, especially migrant workersrights, is an essential rst step. National-level policyinterventions to reduce gender discrimination include:

acilitating cross-border movement or men andwomen; regularizing Basotho womens employmentin South Arica; protecting the rights o all migrantworkers; and allowing male and emale citizens oLesotho to open bank accounts, own property andreely invest in businesses in South Arica.

Changes are also required in Lesotho i womensmigration and remittance contributions are to beoptimized in terms o their development potential.The 2006 act that aimed to remove genderdiscrimination must be enorced and areas where

it conicts with customary law must be claried, sothat women are no longer regarded as minors andcan exercise greater control over their lives andsecure more equitable access to property andresources. Counselling, support and skills trainingor retrenched mineworkers and their amilieswould reduce retrenchments negative developmentimplications. Providing health care and supportservices or individuals and amilies aected by HIV/AIDS also has to be part o this wider strategy andshould specically target migrant women and menand their sexual partners. Broader socio-economic

development in Lesotho, including expansion oemployment and livelihood opportunities, wouldlessen the burden on migrants, both male andemale, whose remittances are thinly stretchedamong many amily members. This would includesupport or agriculture, access to micro-credit, andskills training and assistance with small businessstart-ups, each incorporating sensitivity to genderedneeds and capacities.

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Executive Summary

MOROCCO

This case study research examines the genderdimensions o migration and remittances in thecontext o Morocco and the destination countryo Spain. Morocco has been the source o dierentmigratory movements to Europe, both through

recruitment and labour migration, and throughreunication and autonomous migration. Moroccanmigration to Spain began at the end o the 1980s,and was one o the rst groups o migrants in thattime period to lead Spains transormation rombeing a sending to a receiving country.

Traditionally, the Moroccan migration modelconsisted o low-skilled male workers rom ruralareas who migrated rst and were later ollowedby their wives and children. This pattern began tochange in recent years with the gradual growtho autonomous emale migration. Taking intoaccount these changing models, this studyaddresses the impact o migration and the receipto remittances rom distinct but complementaryviewpoints. One perspective explores thecontext, logic and repercussions o migration onEl Bahraouiyine and Beni Gorett, rural Moroccancommunities with a signicant level o emigrationto Spain. El Bahraouiyine is located near Tangiersin the province o Fahs-Anjra. Beni Gorett is inthe province o Larache. Another aspect exploredis the phenomenon o autonomous migrationo women, who, once settled in Spain, send

remittances to their households in the urbanareas o Tangiers and Larache. The variation o thepopulation studied shows that it is necessary toadapt the analytical categories employed in themethodology to the realities o migration between

Morocco and Spain rom a gender perspective.Thereore, analysis o migration rom a ruralpoint o origin is related to migratory projectsundertaken as a amily project, while migrationrom urban areas is perceived to be based on

individual motives.

The bulk o emale migration rom Morocco takesplace as part o household migration projects.According to Spanish sources, such as analysis othe national survey o immigrants conducted bythe Io Collective,4 70 percent o Moroccan womenin Spain arrived under ormal or inormal amilyreunication processes, while only 20 percento men arrived in Spain through these means. Incontrast, 70 percent o males and only 20 percento emales reported that they migrated with theintention to work.

The same survey conrmed the data gatheredthrough eldwork and interviews, which demonstratethat Moroccan males tend to be concentrated inlow-wage sectors such as construction (39percent), agriculture/ishing (18 percent), andindustrial work (14 percent), sectors hardest hit bythe global economic crisis. For women, the rate owork in origin communities is considerably lower(27 percent), since the social model o the amily isbased on the male household head providing orthe amily while the emale serves as the mother

and housewie. Nevertheless, the processo migration and the economic reality o thedestination country contribute to the considerablerise (49 percent; a 22 percent increase) in thepercentage o employed women.

4. Colectivo Io, (2008) La situacin de la inmigracin en Espaa a partir de la explotacin de la Encuesta Nacional de Inmigrantes de2007. Ministerios de Trabajo e Inmigracin (at press).

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Like other women, Moroccans, upon becomingimmigrants in Spain, tend to work in the serviceindustry, mostly in domestic service (17 percent),hotels (19 percent), retail (19 percent), with theremaining 45 percent employed in other sectors.De-skilling is common, as Moroccan womenoten nd themselves in employment sectorsdierent rom the ones available to them in theircountry. Unlike in Spain, the dominant industry or

Moroccan women is actory work. Yet unlike othergroups, Moroccan women are not as concentratedin areas o domestic work. In act, the Moroccansocio-cultural model contributes to the low insertiono women in domestic work, since it oten requiresthat they reside within employer households,which neither the women themselves nor theirpartners accept.

Marriage continues to be a undamental goalor Moroccan women in most social groups,particularly or rural women and those o lower

social status. In Morocco, there is a general beliethat amilies must marry o their daughters earlyin order to avoid their becoming a burden to theirparents. The growing difculty or young men tond work in the communities studied has promoted

i n t e r n a t i o n a lmigration as a survivalstrategy. The absenceo these young menhas aected the

number o availablemen o marriageableage, which has causeda gradual delay inthe age o marriage,making it impossibleor some to marryat all. These women(singles over 25 yearso age or divorcees) aremore inclined to lookor alternatives such

as internal migrationand nd work in textileworkshops (mostly

clandestine), or in actories in the ree trade zonein the port o Tangiers. It is evident that mensemigration is a driving orce o womens emigrationrom rural areas and that their internal migrationpotentially triggers international migration.

Beginning several years ago, Spanish agriculturalcompanies started to carry out temporary migrationprogrammes or arm work. The company owners

and the Spanish government have attempted toensure return; that many workers are women issalient, given that 95 percent o them do return.The requirement that emale employees bemothers who must leave their children behindurther reinorces return. According to the heado Fundacin Hassan II,5 this type o recruitmentcauses domestic problems because it bringsabout an important change in household roles;this is then negatively perceived within communities,as the absence o women is not consideredacceptable within the Moroccan social structure. In

addition, government leaders consider temporarylabour migration o little use or the productiveinvestment o remittances, since the short workperiods do not generate savings sufcient orinvestment.There are marked dierences between the

5. Interview in Rabat, April 2008, identied in the study as MICV10.

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Bahraouiyine, a rural Moroccan community, was one o the case study sites.


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remittance sending patterns o men and women andalso between the patterns o Moroccans and otherimmigrant groups. Close to 40 percent o Moroccanimmigrants send remittances to Morocco, o whom80 percent are men and 20 percent are women. The

monthly remittances sent by men average between100 and 150 Euros (US$135-$203)6, while women sendbetween 50 to100 Euros (US$68-$135) each month(or every two to three months). In these cases,the unstable labour market, their irregular legalstatus and the impact o the crisis all have a strongimpact on the unds transerred.

Extended amilies with multiple membersin Spain utilize dierent strategies, such asalternating sending between amily membersor combining remittances to be sent. Regarding

remittance channels, banks are the most commontranser mechanism, ollowed by money orders andcash However, interview data indicates that migrantsalso carry large amounts o money with them whenthey come home or holidays and special events.

Regarding remittance sending patterns, theindings o the study are similar to the results othe National Survey o Immigrants; 77 percent omigrants send remittances to their parents, 26percent to their siblings, 15 percent to their spouse,10 percent to other amily members, and 9 percent

to their children. With theexception o wives, themajority o recipients aremales. This distributiondemonstrates the extento amily reunicationand the re-constitution oamilies in the destinationcountry, since the transersbetween nuclear amilymembers are relatively lowin comparison to other

immigrant groups.

Within the genderstructure, the husbandis considered to be thebest person to maintainthe household. This also

implies that as soon as the emigrant husbandmakes a reasonable salary and sometimeseven i he does not the woman will leave her

job outside o the household and will no longerearn her own salary. Within the social groups who

uel emigration to Spain, a sense o shame existswhen women must work outside o the home tohelp sustain the household. This situation limits theremitting potential o Moroccan women vis--visother immigrant groups, and conrms that theirsocial and work-related behaviour as immigrantstends to resemble that o Morocco beore they let.However, this is changing slowly throughout themigration process or many women as they beginto value their own salary or the intra-householdbargaining power it aords them.

The inormation collected conrms the resultso other reports rom the last three decades:remittances are utilized to cover household needsand construction or renovation o a home. Theycontribute to the satisaction o basic needsand to improving the quality o lie. In particular,remittances are mostly used to cover the costs oood, housing (e.g., electricity, rent), health andeducation, and specically to attend to the needso dependent amily members (e.g., elder parents,those without pensions or health insurance,disabled siblings, and children). They are also

6. As o 4 March 2010, the exchange rate was US$1= 8.23520 dirhams

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Beni Goret, a rural Morrocan community, was one o the case study sites.


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used to maintain other adult amily members whorequire assistance (e.g., due to unemployment,excessive number o children, or illness).

Regarding investment in property or in productiveactivities, one survey conducted by INSEA in 20007showed that Moroccan immigrants investments intheir country o origin were increasing, particularlyin real estate (84 percent), agriculture (8 percent),

and in other sectors such as tourism and smallbusiness. Recently, educated migrants haveexpressed interest in investing in new technologiesas well.

The inux o remittances also has brought negativeeects such as ination (which also aects realestate and land), dependency on remittances,an increase in inequality among recipientand non-recipient households, promotion omore out-migration, and growth o internalmigration which accelerates urbanization and

the abandonment o rural areas. These trendscompound what are already difcult conditionsdue to gradual environmental degradation, includingmore constant drought and aridity.

Given that it is not customary or couples to be

separated or or children to livear away rom their parents,amilies tend to regroup in thedestination country. Thus, thecharacteristics o the Moroccan

amily structure do not changesignicantly throughoutthe migratory process. This,together with the constantinteraction with traditionalcommunity organizationsboth in origin and destinationcountries, contributes to themaintenance o traditionalgender roles in the destinationcountry. In addition, Moroccanimmigrants are quite reluctant

to set up transnationalorganizations. This reducesthe eectiveness o both

Spanish and European development cooperationproposals, whose promoters nd it difcult to adapttheir methodologies to the working environmentgiven that migrants associations are critical tomost co-development programs and eorts tointegrate and strengthen the social abric in thedestination country.

Two co-development initiatives in Morocco

were evaluated as part o this research; it wasound that gender, while present, had not beentaken into account, much less made central tothe programmes. That is, gender has not beenmainstreamed, despite the discourse surrounding it.The Moroccan diaspora, including Spain as adestination country, so ar has not generatedany emale networks that could potentiallyconsolidate into transnational associations thatinitiate interventions in their community o origin.Traditional attitudes that still maintain the roles owomen in private spaces and men in public ones

limit the physical and organizational capacity opotential emale Moroccan leaders in Spain.

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Bahraouyine: remittances are utilized to cover household meeds or contruction or renova-

tions o a home.

7. INSEA (2000), Les Marocains rsident ltranger. Une enqute socio-conomique, El Maari EL Jadida.


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PHILIPPINES

This case study research examines the genderdimensions o migration and remittances in thecontext o the Philippines and the destinationcountry o Italy. The Philippines long historyo migration has contributed to its status as one

o the largest labour exporting countries in theworld. Government policies, the lack o local availablejobs, and a culture o migration have promptedabout 10 million Filipinos to work abroad. Theeminization o migration is evident in the growtho the number o Filipino workers that have letand continue to work abroad.

In 2006, Filipino emigration to Italy ranked secondto the United Kingdom with the biggest numbero overseas Filipino workers in Europe. Figuresrom the Commission on Filipinos Overseasestimated that o 128,080 Filipinos in Italy, 23,108are permanent residents, 84,972 are temporary/documented workers and 20,000 are irregulars ormigrants without valid residence or work permits.Filipino emigration to Italy was acilitated throughconnections with the Catholic Church rather thanthrough sponsorship o recruiting agencies orby the endorsement o Philippine governmentalagencies. In 2006, Caritas di Rome estimated thato the 26,000 Filipino migrants living in Rome, 61percent, or 16,000 were women.

The large percentage o migrant women results

rom the great demand or domestic helpersand caregivers due to Italian womens increasingintegration into the local labour market. Filipinamigrants also tend to be concentrated in thedomestic service sector in Italy due in part to the

difculties involved in achieving ofcial recognitiono their studies and proessional credentials, aswell as the well-established roots o the Filipinotransnational community in the domestic serviceand care-giving sectors. While work opportunities

in these sectors acilitate their migration process,they simultaneously limit their participationin other types o activities. Thereore, Filipinawomen essentially have taken over the domesticresponsibilities among middle-class Italianhouseholds as domestic helpers, cooks, nanniesand gardeners. It is important to acknowledgethat Filipino men are also involved in similar work(i.e., as gardeners, delivery men and caretakers).

In subsequent years, Filipina domestic workersacilitated the entry o their children, spouses andother amily members. In the 1980s and 1990s,with the implementation o Italian immigrationpolicies supportive o amily reuniication, theFilipino migrant communities grew signicantly.

Qualitative and quantitative methods were used toconduct 402 household surveys in 23 barangays8 inLemery, Batangas. All households surveyed receivedremittances rom Italy, mostly rom Rome andMilan. The case study area o Lemery is an ideallocation because generations o the towns peoplehave emigrated to Italy. Lemery is considered oneo the astest growing municipalities in Batangas

with 46 barangays, and a population o 72,790 in15,417 households. One barangay, Ayao-Iyao, isestimated to have the greatest number o overseasFilipino workers in Italy, with about 40 percento its total household population (200 out o

8. A barangay is the smallest administrative division or political unit in the Philippines; basically it is a village.

Executive Summary

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500 households). A large number o overseasFilipino workers have also been joined by theiramilies. The local government revealed in ocusgroup discussions that Barangay Ayao-Iyao hasa decreasing population, since a high number o

its residents have already migrated to Italy. Thesemigrants have even ormed a small community inVicenza, known as Barangay Lemery.

Decision-making regarding migration happensthrough a household discussion that centers notonly on economic needs, but also on social andcultural actors. The Filipino migratory ow to Italyis primarily comprised o women who are marriedwith children. They usually migrate rst because itis easier or them to nd employment. Consequently,they are the main providers o their households

and later also become the anchor o a couplesmigration as they utilize reunication policies tosend or their spouses. Although proportionallysmaller in number, young single women tend tomigrate as daughters o their households. Theymaintain a strong commitment to their householdsin the Philippines by contributing to daily nancialneeds as well as to the tuition ees o their siblings.Their contributions are viewed as a sign o gratitudeto their parents, a cultural expectation o children inthe Philippines. As a household strategy, the eldestchild, regardless o whether male or emale, is given

priority to decide which member to send abroad.I parents do not initiate discussions on migrationrst, the children are still supposed to obtain parentalconsent or reasons o respect but also becauseunmarried migrants oten need the nancial supporto their parents to process their paperwork. Lastly,there is a small number o single mothers whomigrate to secure a better uture or their children.Their decision to migrate is usually unilateral.

When a migrant leaves, households oten reorganizeand redistribute o roles and responsibilities among

the amily members who remain. The genderedways in which household roles and responsibilitiesare assigned produce important challenges duringthe reorganization. Married migrants and singleparents require large adjustments, and measuresmust be taken in order to reassign the duties ohousehold head and/or primary caregiver. Themajority o migrant workers in Italy are women,and their new role as the primary income earner

produces positive and negative eects thatchallenge traditional gender roles. Their majorcontribution to their households survivalthrough remittances aords them greaterdecision-making power and respect. However,

conicts can arise as a result o their absenceas migrants, particularly women, are urtherscrutinized by cultural perceptions o amilystructures.

The transormations and challenges o powerdynamics in households are highly visible inmarried couples. The study reveals how men dealthe dependence remittances sent by their wives.A non-governmental organization worker in Italydescribed how husbands o migrants engagein extra-marital aairs in the Philippines due to

eelings o inadequacy because they do not possessthe same economic power as their wives. Other menrespond well to new responsibilities by increasingtheir participation in the reproductive tasks o thehousehold, such as taking care o children andperorming domestic work both in countries oorigin and destination. The relationship betweenmarried partners can be constrained or positivelytransormed by the migration o women and theinevitable rearrangement o decision making,inancial and social power.

In cases where the redistribution o work cannotbe done within the household, a local nanny ordomestic worker is oten hired to assist with ortake over care tasks when a emale adult migrates.This tends to reinorce pre-existing gender normsand intra-household power relations based on ageand sex. This also implies the transer o genderinequalities between women. A portion o theremittances are sent to cover the costs involved inhiring a woman rom outside o the amily to takecare o children and other dependent householdmembers. Given the difculties surrounding the

generation o employment or women livingin rural areas, this phenomenon can be seenas an increase in the number o employmentopportunities or non-migrants. However, it isboth poorly paid and inormal in nature.

In the survey undertaken in Batangas, 77 percento remittance senders were women, 90 percent owhom were domestic helpers and/or household-

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related service workers. Most migrants receiveregular income, but due to the oten-inormalnature o their jobs and their immigration status,some do not have a steady income, particularlymen who oten have a harder time securing jobsbecause Italian households typically preer to hirewomen or domestic service.

The preerence or women as remittance managersis urther validated in this study; 65 percent oremittance managers are emale. As previousstudies have indicated, womens traditional role asdomestic administrators gives them the advantageo knowing the amilys and households basicneeds better. There is also a perception that womenare more judicious in handling nances, requentlyacting as the treasurer in many households. Some

key inormants revealed that there have been caseswhere the husband squandered the remittanceson his riends and his vices, orcing his wie torequest her mother to manage and budget theuse o the remittances in his stead. O the surveyedremittance managers, 27 percent are mothers ooverseas Filipino workers and 18.5 percent are themale spouse.

Remittances are used mostly or household expenses,e.g., ood, clothing, rent, water, electricity,telephone, and childrens and other amily

members education. Most (9 out o 10) are notable to save or invest in any kind o business; only5 percent o the respondents indicated a plan toinvest. Based on the survey conducted in Lemery,seven out o ten households have no income apartrom the remittances they receive; the majority othe households o migrant workers are remittancedependent. This was also conrmed when eight outo ten households said that remittances comprisemore than 76 percent o the total householdincome. The remaining 24 percent o income isusually derived rom small commercial activities,

such as running stores or inormal lending.

This dependence on remittances indicates anextreme reliance on one or more migrants to provideor households. It is quite common to see multiplegenerations or siblings who have migrated. In onecase, a emale migrant was the rst to leave or Italyrom her amily. She supported her three siblingsthrough university, yet local unemployment and

low wages prompted each sibling to ollow herto Italy as domestic workers. The large dierencebetween wages abroad and in the country oorigin is enough to encourage migration in order tosufciently maintain a household, especially in caseswhere those at home do not or are unable to work.

Savings and investment patterns are not prominentduring the rst ew years o work abroad becauseremittances are usually used to stabilize theamilys condition or debt repayment. Remittancesduring the rst ew years are mostly spent onbasic household necessities which include ood,clothing, payment o rent and utilities, expendituresrelated to education o children and to some extentmedication o sick household members. Investmentsand savings only ollow ater several years o work

abroad because by then migrant workers have setaside savings or uture investments, which are seenas preparation or their permanent return.

Local community development is not a priority othe study respondents, which speaks to questionsand critiques o remittances role. While the potentialto increment their contribution to developmentexists, the actual expenses, conditions o the localeconomy and the liestyle preerences o migrantamilies present several serious obstacles. Theuse o remittances by migrants and their amilies

conrms that they are or personal use. This isreected in the investment choices made bymigrants and their amilies, which include homeimprovements and purchase o property. Migrationto Italy is generally conceived as a short-termendeavour, where migrants have established goalsto work abroad in order to secure better utures orthemselves and their households. While an interestin establishing businesses is expressed, it wasnot the main objective o the people in the study.Nonetheless, Filipino migrants have extended theirstay in Italy or multiple reasons, which include the

repayment o debt in the Philippines, the totaldependence o their households on remittances,or decisions to permanently settle in Italy withtheir amilies.

In terms o investment, the potential use oremittances in Lemery or generating businessenterprises that will beneit the community hasyet to be realized. Almost all respondents said that

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no members o their respective households planto use remittances to establish a business.A small number o households surveyedparticipated in the inormal economy sector.Many own small businesses that include small

retail stores (sari sari stores), arming, ishing,selling cell phone load credits, or inormallending; others work as vendors oeringagricultural produce or other inexpensiveproducts or provide services to the community.

There are several ways o interpreting this data.However, it is important to consider that people arenot oten willing to disclose inormation regardingremittances and their savings out o ear o beingtaxed by the government or alling victims to crime.In addition, people understand the term business

to reer to large-scale entrepreneurial activity, notjust any commercial activity. Thus, even whenpeople are engaged in small-scale businesses theydo not consider them to be businesses. Even thetilling or developing o their own agricultural/armlands is not considered a commercial investment.These activities are part o their day-to-day living,and the produce o the lands is not necessarilyintended or commercial activity but or their ownconsumption. Although a ew amilies o migrantworkers had ventured into small-scale businesses,most o them were unable to sustain the business

or maximize its benets. One reason or this is theirlimited knowledge and skills in eective businessmanagement.

A successul relationship between migration

and local development is dependent on therestructuring and re-evaluation o existing limitationsor the productive use, savings and investmento remittances. A gender analysis o migration,remittance and development in the case o thePhilippines and Italy points to existing inequalitieso the migratory project in terms o gender, class,migrantion status, years abroad and other actors.The potential o migrant investment in sustainabledevelopment in Lemery exists. However, signicantobstacles exist lack o social services rom thegovernment, lack o a avourable environment

or investment, lack o knowledge and businessmanagement skills, and household debt andconsumerism. Co-development policies or practicesdo not exist between the Philippines and Italy (orbetween the Philippines and any other country).

As a major labour export country, the Philippines lackssufcient bilateral agreements that address pensionsand the rights and protection o migrant workers.Consequently, there is a need to develop returnmigration policies that address reintegration,inancial investment, savings opportunities and

education. Mechanisms andinitiatives regarding migrant-specic policies, whichparticularly acknowledgethe intersectional inequalities(based on actors such as gender,education, age and occupation)o migrants must be producedand implemented. A holisticapproach migrants needs onindividual, household andcommunity levels is a necessary

prerequisite to addressing thejoint contribution o migrantremittances and governmentinvolvement in sustainabledevelopment practices.

Some remittance recipient amilies run sari saristores (neighborhood convenience stores),

which are attached to or inside the shopkeepers home.

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SENEGAL

This case study research examines the genderdimensions o migration and remittances in thecontext o Senegal and the destination country oFrance. This study is based on a literature review,a mapping o actors involved in the migration

process, and eld surveys conducted in Senegaland France rom both a quantitative and aqualitative perspective. The selected survey areain Senegal straddles two administrative districtsthat once ormed the single territorial unit oSaint-Louis and Matam. The areas studied in Francebelong to lle-de-France and include Mantes-la-Jolie, tampes and Montreuil. Data collection inboth France and Senegal took place rom Mayto August 2008. Quantitative data was collectedthrough a questionnaire that was administeredin ten villages o the River Valley to 401 memberso households that have at least one migrant inFrance and that receive remittances. The sampleincluded 256 women and 145 men. The qualitativedata collection which consisted o interviews,lie stories and ocus groups was conducted inSenegal rom 20 to 25 July 2008 and in France rom8 to 18 August 2008.

Migration rom the River Valley rst began withthe onset o the World Wars: the Senegalesemigrated in support o Frances war eort.Migration irst occurred on a large scale in the1970s as a result o drought and poverty in rural

areas. This trend continued in the 1980s dueto structural adjustment policies that let manyunemployed; unemployment due to economicliberalization still aects the country today.Migration was and is predominantly male. Untilrecently, Senegalese society, notably the Haalpularculture, was an impediment to the movement ounaccompanied women, particularly to distantdestinations. International migrants rom the

valley generally have little or no education: 85percent o emale migrants and 77 percent o malemigrants interviewed had no schooling. Migrationis primarily labour-oriented; the rst migrantworkers were salaried employees, mainly in the

automotive industry. Although migrants rom theRiver Valley are increasingly creating their ownbusinesses, they are still primarily employed assalaried workers. Some women work in catering,hairdressing or selling jewellery.

Migration has led to signicant changes both inthe country o origin and destination, improvingliving conditions and social relations. The studyreveals that as a result o migration, householdsare relatively well-equipped with basic services: 90percent have telephones, 96 percent have accessto drinking water, and 86 percent have access toelectricity. However, communities oten lack theinrastructure to reduce

migration, remittances and gender-responsive local development - 2010

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