There are indications that entrepreneurship can stand as an alternative strategy for female migrants to thrive in the region:
> The European Union (EU) Member States, have committed to increasing the economic contributions of migrant women through adopting the main international conventions and development frameworks in this regard.
> Evidence showed that business support policies that are explicitly open to all residents can increase cohesion between migrants and host communities, while generating job opportunities for locals and migrants alike. However, development interventions should recognise that women face additional, gender-related barriers to participation in business support programmes, and that these should be safe and apply Do No Harm principles in their approach.
> Various assets should be capitalised upon to support migrants’ entrepreneurship and create wealth at the local level: the resourcefulness, resilience, and skills of migrant women; the fact that many migrant students are interested in building bridges with their community of origin; and the unique positioning of migrant civil society organisations (CSOs).
> Migrants can bring to market new products and services linked to their culture, which will not compete with local ones, including in the creative, arts, and handicrafts sectors – in which many migrant women are skilled and interested.
> Developing migrant women’s entrepreneurship can also generate a new narrative and enhance social acceptance of migrants.
> Supporting migrant women as business leaders can encourage more women – both native-born and migrants – to enter the labour market, and in the long term enhance women’s status and recognition of their contribution to the local society.
In the new Agenda for the Mediterranean,42 gender equality remains a top priority of EU external policies and cooperation programmes in the NoA region, in line with the third EU Action Plan on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in External Relations. Initiatives to support women’s economic empowerment will be supported especially by the External Investment Plan. .
Some Recommendations for the European Commission
- Support Governments in their transition from countries of origin and transit to destination countries by supporting the training of public sector agents on migrant-inclusive entrepreneurship legislation and policies, including on existing business creation legislation that is open to migrants and intercultural communication.
- Include migrant women as a target of multi-country cooperation programmes focusing on women’s economic empowerment in the region (e.g. in projects supported by EU External Action/GAP III, UfM projects, etc.).
- Promote and develop entrepreneurship support programmes that are migrant and gender inclusive, including through awareness raising campaigns on migrant women’s rights to work, long-term support measures from business launch and incubation to business expansion, and participatory consultation mechanisms with migrant CSOs.
- Strengthen monitoring and evaluation systems to ensure that self-employment and business support programmes:
> Set gender indicators and collect data disaggregated by sex and country of origin; and
> Work with existing initiatives and networks set up with previous cooperation programmes, such as the North Africa Migration Academic Network (NAMAN), the Household International Migration Surveys in the Mediterranean countries (MED-HIMS), and the Arab Barometer, to supplement available data.
- Increase the visibility of entrepreneurship programmes and their achievements through reports and user-friendly communication materials that are accessible online and in several languages.
- Collect sex-disaggregated data and conduct gender-inclusive research on migrant integration into the labour market and on women’s potential for entrepreneurship (native-born and migrants).
- Promote a positive narrative on migrant entrepreneurs by recognising this group as champions of migration and documenting and disseminating success stories that can serve as models for native and migrant women and enhance social acceptance of migrants among local the community.
- Assist local CSOs working to promote migrants’ rights to economic integration and which commit to provide long-term support, beyond starting a business.
- Mobilise banks and microfinance institutions to provide services tailored to migrants’ needs, including through provision of information in relevant languages.
