Mr. President, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) appreciates
the opportunity to take part in this debate and would like to make
a few comments on the challenges that urbanization and migration
place on migrant families, particularly on women left behind, in
terms of social responsibilities and household tasks, as well as
the special problems posed by gender inequalities in the labour
market.

Mr. President,

First, countries of origin are increasingly dependent on the
significant amount of remittances being provided by migrants, and
see their overseas workers as of major value to their economic
development. However, for spouses and children left behind, the
absence of a parent from the day-to-day running of the family
brings social and economic problems of its own. These social
consequences have frequently been overlooked in migration and
development policies. International remittances to developing
countries, amounting to an estimated $283 billion in 2008, are
often the main income of a receiving family and are usually used
for day-to-day expenses including school fees and materials.
However, the long-term absence of a parent can undermine the very
objective that led to the migration in the first place –
undermining a family's prospects.

Studies among families of low and semi-skilled migrants in
source countries show that being a single head of household usually
entails a significant increase in workload and responsibilities,
including in care-giving. Whilst for women this situation can be
empowering, a husband's return often signals the resumption of a
traditional role. IOM's research in some East European and Asian
countries has found that wives left behind suffer from an increase
in health problems due to depression, loneliness and fatigue. Women
and girls are also more vulnerable to sexual abuse by male members
of an extended household or from within the community. The school
performance of girl children left behind is often compromised by
increased household responsibilities and obligations to care for
their younger siblings.

Mr. President,

a second challenge is due to the brain drain of health care
workers that siphons away nearly one quarter of the few African
doctors available in the poorest parts of the continent, according
to WHO and threatens the achievement of any of the three health
related MDGs by 2015. Endogenous "push factors" such as search for
better economic prospects, poor governance and professional
dissatisfaction, coupled with active recruitment efforts by
industrialized countries are draining health professionals from
their countries of origin. As a result, about 23 percent of doctors
trained in sub-Saharan Africa are working in industrialized
countries, attracted by better pay, working conditions and the
tools to exercise their profession. Wages for trained health
workers are about 15 times higher in wealthy nations. Since the
early 1970s there have been more Filipino nurses in Canada and the
United States than in the Philippines. There are now over 21,000
Nigerian doctors in the United States, while Nigeria's national
health system is acutely lacking in specialists. The number of
Beninese doctors in France now far exceeds the number in Benin.
This list could continue ad infinitum.

./..

Health is a labor intensive and labor dependent service. While
these nurses and doctors have helped care for the aging populations
in developed countries, the situation in their countries of origin
has become dire. The emigration of health care professions has
become a major impediment to the functioning of some national
healthcare systems, often leaving patients without the necessary
care and burdening family members and relatives with care giving
responsibilities they are not qualified to perform.

Finally, Mr. President, as the Secretary-General's report
states, "the gender-based division of labour and undervaluing of
care work in the household have been replicated in the public
sphere. Women do more unpaid care work than men, and they are also
overrepresented in the paid care sector, in both developing and
developed countries. Although the wages and working conditions of
paid care workers vary across employment categories and skills
levels, many care workers receive lower wages than workers with
comparable skills levels in non-care related occupations. The lower
status and pay of care work are influenced by the dominance of
women in the sector". This phenomenon of lower status and pay of
care workers is further amplified for migrant women, who represent
a significant percentage of care workers in developed countries. In
particular in the informal sectors, this care-giving work is done
primarily by migrant women. These women due to their increased
vulnerability as migrants, as females and as unprotected workers in
the informal sector are disproportionately affected by a variety of
risks and discriminatory practices. Poor working conditions as well
as risks of physical and psychological abuse is even greater for
domestic workers as their relative isolation further limits access
to health and social services or consular protection.

In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, it is crucial not to neglect these
migrant women, whether those left behind, or those migrating as
qualified nurses, or those migrating irregularly into informal
sectors who play such an important role in care-giving and yet most
of the time remain socially invisible. To ensure their protection
and breaking the cycle of violence against women, including women
migrants requires broad and active commitment of state and
non-state actors, including men and boys, as well as a change in
thinking among families, communities and societies: much remains to
be done for all of us.

I thank you, Mr. President.