Geneva – IOM Deputy Director General Laura Thompson, last week (21/11) participated in the launch of the new World Health Organization (WHO) report Women on the Move: Migration, Care Work and Health, which seeks to explore the global paradox in which care workers, largely migrant women, make a considerable contribution to public health in many countries but are themselves exposed to many health risks.

Women account for 48 per cent of the 244 million international migrants, and for 80 per cent of international migrant domestic workers and health care.

Joining the IOM DDG were high-level representatives including WHO’s Assistant Director-General for External Relations, Ambassador Michèle Boccoz; WHO’s Assistant Director General for Family, Women’s and Children’s Health Cluster, Dr. Princess Nothemba Simelela; the United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Kate Gilmore; the Director of International Health, Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine of Sri Lanka, Dr. Alan Ludowyke; the Director of International Relations of the Ministry of Health in Mexico, Hilda Davila; the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Office of the United Nations and to the other International Organizations in Geneva, Ambassador Antje Leendertse; and the host, Director of the Graduate Institute’s Global Health Centre, Prof Ilona Kickbush.

IOM contributed significantly to this report through its Migration Health Division and Gender Coordination Unit, bringing the perspective of the determinants of women’s migrant health and the role of migrants as drivers of development for countries of origin and destination.

“Migrants’ health needs and rights must be mainstreamed into global health, migration and development agendas. We applaud WHO for this report that raises awareness and helps in advancing this dialogue,” said Ambassador Thompson.

“The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration offers a unique opportunity we cannot miss. It is expected to provide a framework of common principles, commitments and understandings amongst Member States on all aspects of international migration, including the humanitarian, development and human rights-related dimensions. The health of migrants, of these women migrants, must be there,” added Ambassador Thompson.

Grounded in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the report provides key messages on the state of evidence on this population group, the emergence of global care chains and transnational families, including those left behind, the legal and policy frameworks which affect their lives, and what needs to change.

 “An important point that has received limited attention is that these women often leave their children behind with potential mental and physical health implications, as negative influences arise from parental separation and breakdown of the family support system,” stressed Ambassador Thompson.

Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the theme of this report can be traced back to the G7 Forum for Dialogue with Women, hosted by Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin in September 2015, and noted discussions at the 42nd G7 meeting in Japan in May 2016 which called for more attention to migrants and their role in paid and unpaid care work. The report aims to advance discussions on how to achieve the 2030 Agenda. 

For more information, please contact Jacqueline Weekers, IOM HQ, Email: jweekers@iom.int, Tel: + 41 22 717 93 55.