WIDE+ is pleased to launch this review paper Marginalizing Migrant Women’s Associations in EU Policies Tracking EU Funds.
This review paper is the result of an EU-level funds tracking exercise carried out by the WIDE+ network. WIDE+ made this review as the issue of funding for women’s organizations, particularly for migrant women associations, is a recurring topic amongst members of the network. While there is available EU-level funding to advance gender equality, the financial flows simply do not reach civil society, women’s organizations, and migrant women associations. Since there is limited gender-related data to fully assess EU’s budget allocations, this paper reviews several sources that have looked at EU-level funds. This paper thus synthesizes the key findings that are relevant for understanding financial flows reaching, or not reaching, migrant women associations. Here, we present the main conclusions of the paper.
Overall, there is a lack of funding going to civil society organizations. A report by the European Court of Auditors found that only 1.7% of EU budget allocation goes to NGOs, and most of these funds are for external action. With the shrinking of civil space and the rollback on women’s rights, CSOs need financial support to continue the work that they do to support marginalized communities.
Secondly, despite EU’s existing Strategy for Gender Equality, a report by European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) showed that less than 1% of the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF), which is the main financial instrument to translate EU’s policies, goes to gender equality. The upcoming EU recovery fund meant to aid member states cope with the impacts of COVID-19 is also found to be gender blind. Despite numerous evidences showing how the pandemic has gendered impacts, the recovery funds are mostly targeted for male-dominated sectors, like the construction and energy industries.
The final takeaway is that there is a weak policy focus on migrant women. This is a big concern as migrant women suffer multiple layers of discrimination, making them one of the most vulnerable communities in EU societies. Most EU policies for migrant women are focused on labor integration and do not address many other difficulties that they face.
For questions on this review paper, kindly contact Nurhidayah Hassan at hassan@wideplus.org.