Wednesday 06 September 2006

                                                      
Remittances to the Dominican Republic

MONEY YIELDS POWER, BUT NOT EQUALITY

FOR DOMINICAN WOMEN

A new research study highlights the importance of analyzing migration and remittances from a gender perspective

  [Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic] The United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (UN-INSTRAW) released today the case study “Gender, remittances and development: The case of women migrants from Vicente Noble, Dominican Republic”. The report uncovers that the money earned and sent by Dominican women migrant workers has empowered them as decision-makers; however, traditional gender roles persist at home.

The central objective of this study is to identify the often-overlooked ways in which gender dimensions impact on migration experiences in general and on the flows of remittances between the Dominican Republic (D.R) and Spain. Much of this research is based on information obtained through dozens of interviews with the women of Vicente Noble, a community in the southwest of the Dominican Republic, who regularly migrate to Madrid, Spain. The field work importantly focused on the experiences of women, who represent 3 of every 5 Dominican migrants to Spain.

“Women who have migrated have greater autonomy and decision-making capacities, but within a system of inequalities and at great personal costs and sacrifices”, concluded the research study. INSTRAW’s study shows that remittances, the main source of household income in most of the cases documented, have an important empowering effect due to the emerging status of Dominican women as primary economic providers and heads of the household.

“Women acquire greater decision-making power, for example, in the use of economic resources: which school the children will attend, who migrates, if a house will be built or the money invested in a business, how much money will go for the purchase of food, etc.”, pointed out Denise Paiewonsky, one of INSTRAW’s researchers. “However, this does not mean that there is a significant transformation in gender ideologies. When the woman migrates, the man does not take on the household tasks such as social reproduction, child care or household management. This traditionally feminine role is passed on to another woman, usually her mother or sister”, Paiewonsky added.

In the interviews, the Dominican women, whose remittances represent half of the total amount received by the Caribbean country, indicated that they regularly send between 25% and 33% of their monthly income to their families each month. According to INSTRAW data, 4 out of 5 migrant Dominican women interviewed placed greater trust in other female family members (usually their sisters or mothers) versus their husbands for receiving and managing the money according to their wishes.

Just as in many other developing countries, the financial volume of remittances sent to the Dominican Republic has quadrupled in the past ten years and now represents 13% of the Gross National Product (GNP), equivalent to 4 times the amount of direct foreign investment to the Caribbean country.

In addition, the INSTRAW study reveals that despite the fact that remittances contribute to the alleviation of poverty, the potential for local development continues to be limited. Most of these small businesses that women launched on their own upon their return to the Dominican Republic are characterized by very low levels of productivity and profitability, due to the lack of access to credit and technical training programmes.

The study also includes some recommendations to help in the design of public policies for the sustainable, equitable and productive use of remittances. “Only by examining the entire migration process from a gender perspective can we draft pertinent initiatives aimed at optimizing the benefits of remittances for development and reducing their negative impact”, stressed Carolina Taborga, INSTRAW Social Affairs Officer.

This case study focused on Dominican migration to Spain and was carried out with financial support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). It is the first in a series on “Gender, remittances and development” that INSTRAW has been implementing in several parts of the world in order to better understand gender dynamics and make women’s contribution visible in the migratory processes.

As an INSTRAW contribution to the current discussion on the impact, benefits and costs of international migration, this case study is published on the eve of the High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development that will take place on 14-15 September at UN headquarters in New York. At the global level, the 191 million migrants sent a total of 232 billion US dollars in remittances during 2005; 54 billion were sent to Latin America and the Caribbean.

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Mr. Laurent Duvillier
Media & Communications Specialist
Tel: 809-685-2111 ext. 227
E-mail: Laurent Duvillier - lduvillier@un-instraw.org

http://www.un-instraw.org/en/