Discover documents, reports and training manuals grouped by theme.

Gender responsiveness refers to outcomes that reflect an understanding of gender roles and inequalities and which take action to encourage equal participation and equal and fair distribution of benefits. Gender responsiveness is accomplished through gender-based analysis and gender inclusiveness. As seen in the Levels of Gender Responsiveness graphic, it goes beyond acknowledging inequalities, in order to design policies and programs which respond to the specific needs, constraints, and opportunities of girls, women, boys, men, and gender diverse individuals. Gender responsiveness is transformative because it addresses the structural causes of gender discrimination and works to transform systems, policies, and norms. Learn more

Gender affects all stages of migration. Decision-making about whether and who should migrate; experiences while in transit or working and integrating in the destination country; as well as reintegration in the origin country upon return are all influenced by gender roles and structural forms of inequality. In addition to gender, the lived experiences of migrants are influenced by identity markers, such as race, ethnicity, nation, religion, class, sexual orientation and/or gender identity. Women and gender diverse migrants may face multiple forms of discrimination at various stages of migration. The legal channels available for their movement are of vital importance to prevent violence and promote the fulfillment of migrants’ human rights. If migration is a highly gendered experience, then governance can be made responsive to address and redress the conditions in which it occurs. How well do you understand gender and migration? Click here to take the quiz.

For migration to be governed in a gender-responsive way, gender differences in experiences and needs will be recognized and responded to through policy and programming.

In other words, gender-responsive migration governance refers to the ways in which laws, policies and programs recognize and address the different realities faced by women, men, non-binary individuals, girls and boys at all stages of migration, while upholding their human rights, promoting their empowerment and advancing gender equality.

Gender-responsiveness is one of the cross-cutting and interdependent guiding principles of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM). The different aspects of gender-responsiveness are clearly described in article 15 of the GCM:

Gender-responsive: The Global Compact ensures that the human rights of women, men, girls and boys are respected at all stages of migration, their specific needs are properly understood and addressed and they are empowered as agents of change. It mainstreams a gender perspective, promotes gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, recognizing their independence, agency and leadership in order to move away from addressing migrant women primarily through a lens of victimhood.

This portal offers a number of ways to learn how to do this. You are invited to:

  • Explore the interactive map of gender-responsive practices around the world
  • Build your capacity through the resources on this page
  • Evaluate your gender-responsiveness through the interactive quizzes and other tools

Want to reflect on how gender-responsive migration governance is in your country? Click here to take the quiz.

In addition to featuring as a guiding principle in the GCM, gender-responsive migration governance is called for in the:

  • Sustainable Development Agenda: SDG 5 aims to achieve gender equality by 2030. The elimination of gender inequalities is a cross-cutting theme that underlies all the SDGs. Particularly relevant are Goals 5 and 16 on elimination of trafficking and violence against women, Goal 8 on safe environments for migrant workers, and Goal 17 (data collection on migratory status). The implementation of gender-responsive migration governance is key to the realization of gender equality as called for in the 2030 Agenda.
  • Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW): CEDAW is the main international instrument for protecting women’s rights and it applies to all women regardless of citizenship or migration status. The CEDAW Committee’s General Recommendation No. 26 (GR 26), issued in 2008, is the most comprehensive international instrument relating to women migrant workers specifically.
  • Other special protections for migrant women

Featured Resources

Checklist

Checklist for Gender-Responsive Migration Governance

Actors: Gender + Migration Hub
Year: 2021
Type: Document

Gender-Based Analysis

GBA Plus

Introduction to Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus)

Actors: Government of Canada
Year: 
Type: Online course

Canada Flag

Government of Canada's approach on Gender-based Analysis Plus

Actors: Government of Canada
Year: 
Type: Website

Canada-2

Canadian Gender Budgeting Act

Actors: Government of Canada
Year: 
Type: Website

Canada Flag

Gender-based analysis plus (GBA Plus) Budget Template

Actors: Government of Canada
Year: 
Type: Website

Beijing Conference

Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action

Actors: UN
Year: 1995
Type: Document

Gender-Responsiveness and Migration Governance

8 Cover

Making Gender-Responsive Migration Laws

Actors: UN Women
Year: 2017
Type: Document

9 Cover

Steps for Ensuring a Gender-Responsive Global Compact for Migration

Actors: Expert Working Group for Addressing Women’s Human Rights in the Global Compact for Migration
Year: 2018
Type: Document

10 Cover

Implementing a gender-responsive Global Compact for Migration

Actors: Expert Working Group for Addressing Women’s Human Rights in the Global Compact for Migration
Year: 2018
Type: Document

UN Video

Promoting Gender-Responsive Migration Governance

Actors: UN
Year: 2018
Type: Video

42 Cover

IGAD Regional Migration Policy Framework

Actors: IGAD
Year: 2012
Type: Document

Screen Shot 2022-03-04 at 10.08.11 AM

Policies and Practice: A Guide to Gender-Responsive Implementation of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM)

Actors: UN Women
Year: 2021
Type: Document, Website

Women Face oppressions video

Multiple oppressions faced by migrant women

Actors: Women in Migration Network (WIMN)
Year: 2022
Type: Video

CEDAW

General recommendation No. 26 on women migrant workers

Actors: Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
Year: 2008
Type: Document

Women and Migration website link

Women and Migration collaborative storytelling project

Actors: Worldwide Universities Network
Year: 2022
Type: Website

Border Services and Return

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Border Management and Gender

Actors: DCAF, OSCE/ODIHR, UN Women
Year: 2019
Type: Document

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International Framework for Action: To Implement the Smuggling of Migrants Protocol

Actors: UNODC
Year: 2011
Type: Document

2 Cover

Partnership Opportunities: Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants

Actors: UNODC
Year: 2010
Type: Document

3 Cover

Toolkit to Combat Smuggling of Migrants: Tool 1, Understanding the smuggling of migrants

Actors: UNODC
Year: 2010
Type: Toolkit

4 Cover

UNODC Toolkit For mainstreaming Human Rights and Gender Equality into criminal justice interventions to address trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants

Actors: UNODC, IOM
Year: 2021
Type: Toolkit

Development and International Cooperation

5 Cover

Gender on the Move: Working on the Migration-Development Nexus from a Gender Perspective

Actors: Allison Petrozziello, UN Women
Year: 2013
Type: Document

6 Cover

Migrant Women & Remittances: Exploring the Data from Selected Countries

Actors: UN Women
Year: 2020
Type: Document

7 Cover

Migration, Gender Equality and Development

Actors: ILO
Year: 2008
Type: Document

39 Cover

Advocating for gender-sensitive trade policymaking in the East African Community

Actors: UNCTAD; EAC
Year: 2018
Type: Document

No Borders to Equality

No Borders to Equality: Global Mapping of Organizations Working on Gender and Migration

Actors: Cyment, Women in Migration Network
Year: 2021
Type: Document, Website

Canada Flag

Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy

Actors: Government of Canada
Year: 2017
Type: Document

Integration and Participation

12 Cover

Using the international human rights system to protect and promote the rights of women migrant workers

Actors: UN Women
Year: 2017
Type: Document

13 Cover

Guide on mainstreaming migration into development planning from a gender perspective

Actors: UN Women
Year: 2016
Type: Document

14 Cover

Working Together for Local Integration of Migrants and Refugees

Actors: OECD
Year: 2018
Type: Document

40 Cover

East African Community Gender Policy

Actors: EAC
Year: 2018
Type: Document

Who are undocumented

Regularize undocumented migrant women

Actors: Women in Migration Network (WIMN)
Year: 2022
Type: Video

Migration Data and Registration

Video

TALKING MIGRATION DATA: Data on the migration of women

Actors: IOM GMDAC
Year: 2018
Type: Video

16 Cover

Guidelines for the Collection of Data on Trafficking in Humans Beings, Including Comparable Indicators

Actors: IOM, Government of Austria
Year: 2009
Type: Document

Methodological Guidelines

Methodological Guidelines for the Gender Analysis of National Population and Housing Census Data

Actors: UNFPA
Year: 2014
Type: Document

Migration Data Portal

Migration Data Portal

Actors: IOM, Government of Germany
Year: 2017
Type: Website

Gender sensititve research

Gender checklist: Ensure your research is gender sensitive

Actors: Emily Hardy, Lila Sax dos Santos Gomes, Asha George, University of the Western Cape, South Africa, Sarah Simpson, EquiACT, France, Carmen Sant Fruchtman, Swiss Tropical Public Health Institute, Switzerland, George, Eliane Lakam, Ateeb Ahmad Parray, Carmen Sant Fruchtman, Sarah Simpson and Claire J. Standley (Gender and COVID-19 Working Group)
Year: 2021
Type: Document

Key Messages

International Migration 2020 Highlights

Actors: UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs
Year: 2021
Type: Document

Canada Flag

Modernizing the Government of Canada's Sex and Gender Information Practices

Actors: Government of Canada
Year: 2019
Type: Website

Pathways and Employment

18 Cover

Guide on Gender-Sensitive Labour Migration Policies

Actors: OSCE
Year: 2009
Type: Document

19 Cover

Gender-Responsive Monitoring and Accountability Mechanisms

Actors: UN Women
Year: 2018
Type: Infographic

20 Cover

Protecting the Rights of Women Migrant Domestic Workers through Employment Contracts

Actors: UN Women
Year: 2018
Type: Infographic

21 Cover

Gender-Responsive Migration Governance

Actors: UN Women
Year: 2018
Type: Infographic

26 Cover

Gender equality in labour migration law, policy and management

Actors: ILO
Year: 2016
Type: Toolkit

24 Cover

Implementing Gender-Responsive Employment Contracts for Women Migrant Workers from South Asia

Actors: UN Women
Year: 2018
Type: Document

25 Cover

Realizing the human rights, including labour rights, of women migrant workers

Actors: Expert Working Group for Addressing Women’s Human Rights in the Global Compact for Migration
Year: 2018
Type: Document

22 Cover

Making International Labour Migration Governance Gender-Responsive for Women Migrant Workers from South Asia

Actors: UN Women
Year: 2018
Type: Document

23 Cover

Promoting the Rights of Women Migrant Workers through Employment Contracts for Women Migrant Workers from South Asia

Actors: UN Women
Year: 2018
Type: Document

41 Cover

ECOWAS Gender and Migration Framework and Plan of Action 2015-2020

Actors: ECOWAS
Year: 2015
Type: Document

Labor Rights video

Rights of women migrant workers

Actors: Women in Migration Network (WIMN)
Year: 2022
Type: Video

working women worldwide

Women working worldwide: A situational analysis of women migrant workers

Actors: Jenna Hennebry, Kira Williams & Margaret Walton-Roberts, UN Women
Year: 2017
Type: Document

Social Protection, Rights and Services

27 Cover

Girls on the Move: Adolescent Girls & Migration in the developing world

Actors: Miriam Temin, Mark R. Montgomery, Sarah Engebretsen, Kathryn M. Barker
Year: 2013
Type: Document

28 Cover

Leaving No-One Behind: Access to Social Protection for All Migrant Women

Actors: UN Women
Year: 2020
Type: Document

29 Cover

Steps for Ensuring Gender-Responsive Access to Services and to Justice in the Global Compact for Migration

Actors: Expert Working Group for Addressing Women’s Human Rights in the Global Compact for Migration
Year: 2018
Type: Document

30 Cover

A gender-responsive approach to promoting and protecting the rights of children and families at all stages of migration

Actors: Expert Working Group for Addressing Women’s Human Rights in the Global Compact for Migration
Year: 2018
Type: Document

Canada Flag

Visible Minority Newcomer Women Pilot Initiative funding guidelines

Actors: Government of Canada – IRCC
Year: 2018
Type: Document

37 Cover

Women and Migration in Bangladesh

Actors: UN Women
Year: 2018
Type: Document

44 Cover

Migration Policy Framework for Africa and Plan of Action (2018-2030)

Actors: African Union
Year: 2006
Type: Document

Impact of Covid 19 on women migrant workers

Addressing the Impacts of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Women Migrant Workers

Actors: UN Women
Year: 2020
Type: Document

Covid 19 and women migrant workers

COVID-19 and women migrant workers: Impacts and implications

Actors: Laura Foley and Nicola Piper, IOM
Year: 2020
Type: Document

Promising Local Practices

Promising local practices for the enjoyment of the right to health by migrants

Actors: United Nations Human Rights Regional Office for Europe
Year: 2019
Type: Document

Enhancing access to services

Enhancing Access to Services for Migrants in the Context of COVID-19 Preparedness, Prevention, and Response and Beyond

Actors: United Nations Network on Migration
Year: 2020
Type: Document

Screen Shot 2022-06-17 at 1.43.51 PM

Anti-Discrimination and Covid-19 Advocacy Tool

Actors: United Nations Network on Migration
Year: 2022
Type: Document

Violence and Vulnerabilities

UN Video

Combatting Human Trafficking in Migration Contexts: Best Practices, Challenges and the Global Compact for Migration

Actors: UN
Year: 2019
Type: Video

32 Cover

Assessment of Anti-Trafficking Gaps, Needs and Transferrable Practices

Actors: Euro-African Process on Migration and Development
Year: 2020
Type: Document

33 Cover

Model Law against Trafficking in Persons

Actors: UNDOC
Year: 2009
Type: Document

34 Cover

Combating Trafficking in Persons: A Handbook for Parliamentarians

Actors: UNDOC
Year: 2009
Type: Document

35 Cover

Taking Action against Violence and Discrimination Affecting Migrant Women and Girls

Actors: IOM
Year: 2013
Type: Document

43 Cover

Ouagadougou Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings, Especially Women and Children

Actors: African Union; European Union
Year: 2006
Type: Document

Stuck in Uncertainty

Stuck in Uncertainty and Exposed to Violence: The Impact of US and Mexican Migration Policies on Women Seeking Protection in 2021

Actors: Women's Refugee Commission, and the Instituto para las Mujeres en la Migracion
Year: 2021
Type: Document

Black Immigrant Communities

Our Stories and Visions: Gender in Black Immigrant Communities

Actors: Catherine Labiran, Black Alliance for Just Immigration
Year: 2020
Type: Document

There is a target on us

“There is a Target on Us” – The Impact of Mexico’s Anti-Black Racism on African Migrants at Mexico’s Southern Border

Actors: S. Priya Morley et al., Black Alliance for Just Immigration and Instituto para las Mujeres en la Migración
Year: 2021
Type: Document

Assessing Gender Responsiveness

Assessing gender responsiveness of COVID-19 response plans for populations in conflict-affected humanitarian emergencies

Actors: Asi et al
Year: 2022
Type: Document

CEDAW

General recommendation 35 on gender-based violence against women

Actors: Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
Year: 2017
Type: Document

International Labour Organization

Convention 190 and recommendation 206 concerning the elimination of violence and harassment in the world of work

Actors: International Labour Organization
Year: 2019
Type: Document

Violence Against Women Migrant Workers

Violence against women migrant workers: Report of the Secretary-General

Actors: UN General Assembly
Year: 2019
Type: Document

Report on Trafficking

Report of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children (A/HRC/44/45)

Actors: UN Human Rights Council
Year: 2020
Type: Document

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