State of world population 2006: a passage to hope; women and international migration

Produced in tandem with the UN High Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development, this report recognises the reality that women constitute almost half of all international migrants worldwide— 95 million. The report emphasises the positive impacts that women migrants have had on reducing poverty through remittances that feed, clothe and educate children, provide health care and generally improve living standards for loved ones left behind. At the same time it warns that millions of female migrants face hazards in the form of trafficking and other types of exploitation. It critiques weak multilateral cooperation and the failure to establish, implement and enforce policies and measures designed to protect migrant women from exploitation and abuse.

Issues covered in the report include:

• remittances and development
• refugees and asylum seekers
• impacts on receiving countries
• the exploitation of domestic workers
• repatriation, integration and resettlement
• and: protecting the human rights of migrants