[Brussels, 8 April 2014] Tuesday 8th April marked a key milestone in the evolution of the European Network of Migrant Women (ENoMW). Their first-ever event at the European Parliament, “Migrant Women: Essential Contributors to the EU Labour Market”, was a very well-attended lunchtime briefing that marked the culmination of ENoMW’s 2013-4 advocacy campaign promoting the empowerment of migrant women in the EU. MEP Jean Lambert (Greens/EFA, UK) chaired and hosted the session, and brought valuable insights, thanks to her ongoing work on migration and asylum issues, her membership of the Parliamentary Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, and her consistent championing of women’s rights causes.
The ENoMW members leading the network’s working groups on access to employment were panellists, and other speakers included Eva Schultz from DG Home Affairs’ Immigration and Integration Unit and Thomas Huddleston from Migration Policy Group. The ILO’s Maria Gallotti addressed the event via a video message from Geneva, in which she explained the situation of migrant women domestic workers.
Mary Collins of EWL spoke from the floor to elaborate on how the European Semester’s Country Specific Recommendations need to start addressing the socio-economic exclusion of migrant women more concretely.
At the event, ENoMW distributed paper copies of their pamphlet series on access to employment: these pamphlets, on qualification recognition, deskilling prevention, and access to employment, contain recommendations for national and European policymakers, and will shortly be available online.
