OSCE launches book to help countries create gender-sensitive labour migration policies

ATHENS, 18 May 2009 - The OSCE launched a book today that aims to help countries adapt their labour migration policies to avoid gender-based discrimination. 

The Guide On Gender-Sensitive Labour Migration Policies, launched during the OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum in Athens, aims to raise awareness of the most pressing matters facing female labour migrants, to introduce gender-sensitivity in contemporary labour migration policies and to provide policy makers with a practical tool to consult when developing and implementing policies and programmes.

"Due to the lack of policies addressing the specific needs of female migrant workers, limited legal labour migration channels available to them and stereotyped labour roles for men and women, they are confronted with gender-specific disadvantages in the migration process and in their employment," said Goran Svilanovic, the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities.

"This often results in increased vulnerability to discrimination, exploitation and trafficking in human beings; irregular employment and loss of potential economic gains to the migrant as well as the society."

Eva Biaudet, the OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, said the book could be a useful tool for countries as they develop policies.

"At first glance, labour migration policy seems to be gender-neutral, but even among the most advanced immigration countries, one can see that the outcomes of policy may be contrary to the intended objective," she said.

"States bear the primary responsibility to address and foster a conducive environment in which the rights of female migrant workers are respected, so that individuals can enjoy the fruits of their experience and contribute to the well-being of their families and communities."

Free copies of the Guide can be requested from the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities, email pm-ceea@osce.org . The Guide also is available for downloading from the OSCE website: Guide on Gender-Sensitive Labour Migration Policies

The Guide was created in a joint project by the Office of the Co-ordinator of Economic and Environmental Activities, the OSCE Secretariat's Gender Section and the OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings. Greece, Finland and Slovenia financed the project.