Crossing Borders: Gender, Remittances and
Development
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entire conceptual framework, click
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Money earned by migrants while working abroad and sent home- constitute the
most noticeable aspect of this constant circulation between migrants and
their countries of origin. In the last decade, remittances have emerged as
the second largest source of external funding for developing countries. and
its volume continues to grow. Their large volume, and expectations of
increasing growth, have awakened the interests of governments and
international organizations that are starting to include remittances in their
development and poverty eradication strategies.
Remittances
are a reflection of the strong ties of solidarity and reciprocity that
migrants maintain, even at a distance, with their families and communities in
their countries of origin. These networks of transnational solidarity have as
one of their distinct characteristics the increasing presence of women who
migrate as economic providers. There are abundant literature showing as
gender roles impact the migratory experience of men and women, both in
relation to their motivations to migrate as well as to the impact of the
movement on their lifes.
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However, and despite the growing
number of women migrants and the importance of remittances for the material
wellbeing of many families in developing countries, there are very few
studies that analyze the relationship between gender and remittances.
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Thus, little is known about gender differences in the sending patterns, use
and impact of remittances; the contribution of migrant women to local
development in their countries of origin; and how the migration of women as
bread-winners is producing changes in gender roles in households and
communities. Most research has focused on the purely economic dimension of remittances
to the exclusion of social considerations, as well as the gender aspects
underlying any economic, political and social reality. This neglect is of
particular concern in view of the evidence that the integration of gender
issues into international development policies and programmes increases their
effectiveness and sustainability.
INSTRAW
is convinced that the development potential of remittances cannot be
adequately analyzed without taking into account the fact that the sex/gender
system, as division establishing differences and inequalities between men and
women, operate at all levels of society. This means taking into consideration:
- Migrations, and therefore the sending, use and
impact of remittances, are gendered processes.
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The increasing feminization of the phenomenon of
international migration. This feminization can only be understood in the
context of the current phase of the global capitalism, characterized by an
international division of labour, where the divisions of class, gender and
ethnicity are even more deeply entrenched.
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Transnationalism is one of the main characteristics
of the current migratory phenomenon. Many migrant continue to participate
actively in the social, economic and political life of their communities of
origin. In that sense, transnational existence implies participation in
networks and interactions that stretch across geographical and political
borders.
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Households and migratory networks are two key units
of analysis to understand the gender dimensions of remittances.
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Because of gender inequalities the migration
experience is very different for men and women. The decision to migrate,
the networks utilized or their insertion into the labour markets in the
destination country, to mention a few factors, are all affected by gender.
In this regard, the money remitted, the frequency of remittances, the
mechanism used or the impact of remittances on development in the country
of origin are equally marked by gender.
·
As active actors of current migration flows, women
migrants are not only contributing to the well being of their households
but also to the development of their communities of origin. This
contribution can be an indirect effect of the remittances (productive
investments that generate employment, for example) or a direct effect
(migrants’ associations that finance social projects and infrastructure
projects, for example);
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Decision-making about how to put remittances to
use, which family members will benefit, and the short- and long-term
effects of remittances on family structure are not gender neutral.
·
The obstacles that women – especially poor rural
women- face in accessing financial systems and credit, land and property
ownership and participating in the labour market and income-generating
activities hinder their capacity to take advantage of the inflow of
remittances in their communities.
·
Women's needs are systematically ignored in the
local development projects financed with the remittances sent by migrants'
associations.
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Although there is agreement that the new role of
women as providers represent some gain over traditional gender roles, the
fact that these changes happens to a great personal cost of their own
development and autonomy can not be ignored.
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Remittances will be a tool for development as far
as, together with economic growth, they also promote gender equlity.
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Gender inequalities are common to all societies but
acquire particular characteristic upon the political, social and economic
context. For that reason, any measure or policy aiming to harness the
potential development of remittances has to be inform by a rigorous
analysis of the relationships and gender dynamics characteristics of the
particular context.
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Remitances
are much more than flows of money. They are the reflection of a complex web
of dynamics working at the micro-individual, social and macro-structural
level, within relationships of dependence and change. Studying remittances
from a gender perspective allows us to approach all these aspects simultaneously
and comprehend their mutual relationship of dependency and transformation. It
also allows us to understand how the gender dynamics established in a
particular social, political and economic context shape the behavioural
patterns behind remittances –both of the people who send them and of those
who receive them. In addition, it allows us to understand how the economic
and social roles that women acquire through the sending and/or handling of
remittances can catalyze transformations in gender relations, and in turn,
stimulate social, cultural, economic and political changes. The diagram above
presents remittances as a flow not only of money, but also of ideas, images
and discourses, affected by different factors in distinct spaces.
INSTRAW
wishes to contribute to the actual debate on the impact of international
migration on development by bringing a gender perspective into the projects
and studies related to remittances. We intend to offer the foundation that
will allow to answer
some fundamental questions, such as:
- How does the growing feminization of migrations
affect the flow of remittances?
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¿ How do gender roles influence the patterns of
sending and using remittances?
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How do the sending and management of remittances
influence gender relations?
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When it is said that remittances contribute to
development of poor countries, what type of development is meant? Does it
include meeting the different strategic needs and interests of men and
women?
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The emphasis on the productive use of remittances
has strong implications of gender. In each specific context, what is the
impact on the lives of men and women that mobilization initiatives of
remittances towards investments and activities that generate employment:
How can these initiatives contribute to gender equality?
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What are the most effective means for mobilizing
the Diaspora so that collective remittances contribute towards gender
equality?
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How can developed countries contribute so that
migration and remittances be a tool for the development of the sending
countries?
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In this
regard, some future
directions for research include:
- Analysis on how migration and work policies in
developed countries influence the access and mode of insertion of
women migrants into their labour markets and evaluation of the impact
that the different types of labour insertion have on remittances;
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- Analysis of the changes, breaks or continuities in
the gender dynamics and inequalities that migration supposes for
women, both in the countries of origin and destination;
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- Gender analysis of the initiatives, programmes and
policies for channeling remittances towards productive investment;
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- Realization of case studies to analyze remittances
and their impact from a gender perspective within specific social,
economic and political contexts;
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- Systematize and disseminate good practices and
experiences in the area of remittances and development with a gender
perspective;
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- Elaboration of guidelines and recommendations for
migrant sending and receiving countries for the integration of gender
perspectives into proposals for policies and projects that link
remittances and development.
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