Having worked within the humanitarian space for many years I have seen first-hand how women’s voices are often overlooked when navigating policy and applying practical approaches to inclusion and integration.

Women and girls often face a nexus of societal barriers within humanitarian spaces, and are often more vulnerable to disparate disaster risks, due to a lack of nuanced policy and women-centred practices within this space. However, NGOs and international agencies have started to push reforms in policy that recognise women as key agents for change, we have also seen community groups and networks across Malta and beyond, establish forums and advocacy campaigns that centre on promoting women’s voices and rights.

Maria Luisa Liotta-Catrambone

My work with MOAS, a Malta-based NGO has been committed to supporting refugee communities globally. We have seen how the process of integration for refugees and migrants within the host country is not one without challenges. Learning the host country’s language and accessing the labour market are key elements of this process. However, women face greater challenges often due to family and childcare needs which have to be balanced alongside factors like learning the new language and acquiring a job. From an intersectional perspective, the obstacles and barriers migrant women face in the integration process are fuelled by their gender and their position as migrants within society.

This is especially true if we look at the evidence suggesting that migrant women are often overqualified for the job roles they usually take on in the host country. Further, bureaucratic processes related to asylum claims are also a deterrent in the integration process of migrant women as they have to wait long periods of time in order to get permissions and documents needed to enter the labour market. Evidence also suggests that refugee women are far more disadvantaged compared to refugee men when it comes to working, as they often have part-time roles rather than full-time positions. Refugee women also take longer to learn the language of the host country due to the other obstacles they face. There is still a gap when it comes to policies focused on the integration of migrant women which specifically address the issue from a bottom-up perspective and provide pragmatic solutions. At this moment in time, NGOs worldwide are partially filling this gap but much more work needs to be done.

Informative webinars such as the one produced by the Girls2Leaders task-force is an inspirational collaboration between the Malta Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society and Business and Professional Women (Valletta). The next webinar will be on July 27 at 5pm and will be addressing the topic of inclusion. You can find us on Facebook at Girls2leaders.

To participate in this webinar register here.