Migration, Remittances and Gender-Responsive Local Development The case of Albania JAPAN Official DeYelopment Assis1cn:e 1 The United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (UN-INSTRAW) promotes applied research on gender issues, facilitates knowledge management, and supports capacity-building through networking mechanisms and multi-stakeholder partnerships with UN agencies, governments, academia and civil society. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the United Nations’ global development network, an organi- sation advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. We are on the ground in 166 countries, working with them on their own solutions to global and national de- velopment challenges. As they develop local capacity, they draw on the people of UNDP and our wide range of partners. Migration, remittances and gender-responsive local development: The case of Albania Lead researchers: Julie Vullnetari and Russell King (University of Sussex) Report authors: Julie Vullnetari and Russell King (University of Sussex). This condensed version has been compiled by Sandra Panopio (UN-INSTRAW) based on the full research report. Design: Sughey Abreu (UN-INSTRAW) Layout: Juan Rodríguez Copyright ©2010, UN-INSTRAW and UNDP All rights reserved UN-INSTRAW UNDP UNDP Albania César Nicolás Penson 102-A One United Nations Plaza Papa Gjon Pali II” Street, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic New York, NY 10017 USA ABA Business Center, 6th Floor, Tirana, Tel: +1-809-685-2111 Tel: 212-906-5000 Albania Fax: +1-809-685-2117 Fax: 212-906-5364 Tel: +355 4 2400 721 Email: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Fax: +355 4 2400 726 Website: www.un-instraw.org Website: www.undp.org Website: www.undp.org.al The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations, its member states, UN-INSTRAW or UNDP concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations, its member states, UN-INSTRAW or UNDP. CONTENTS PREFACE.......................................................................................................................................i EXECUTIVE SUMMARY................................................................................................................1 1. INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................5 1.1 Methodology.............................................................................................................................8 2. COUNTRY OVERVIEW.................................................................................................................9 2.1. Gender relations in Albania....................................................................................................9 2.2. Case study location: Korçë, Albania....................................................................................10 2.3 Destination City of Study: Thessaloniki, Greece...............................................................11 3. ALBANIAN MIGRATION TO GREECE........................................................................................13 3.1. Employment............................................................................................................................13 3.2. Integration...............................................................................................................................14 3.3. Migrants’ transnational networks.......................................................................................15 4. ALBANIAN MIGRANT HOUSEHOLDS......................................................................................18 4.1 Typology of remittance-recipient and remittance-sending households....................18 4.2 Changes in typologies through migration.........................................................................21 4.3 Multi-generational migrant families: grandmothers.......................................................21 4.4 Maintenance of transnational family cohesion................................................................22 5. REMITTANCES...........................................................................................................................24 5.1 Amounts and frequency of remittance..............................................................................24 5.2 Transmission channels..........................................................................................................26 5.3 Profiles of remitters and recipients.....................................................................................31 5.4 Patterns of remittance sending and receiving..................................................................31 5.5 Migrant women remitters.....................................................................................................34 5.6 Investment...............................................................................................................................38 5.7 In-kind remittances................................................................................................................40 5.8 Social remittances..................................................................................................................40 6. IMPACT OF REMITTANCES ON DEVELOPMENT.......................................................................43 6.1 Effects of remittance reception on gender relations.......................................................43 6.2 Remittances and entrepreneurship....................................................................................45 6.3 Migration and Development Links ....................................................................................46 6.4 Links of the diaspora and migrant associations...............................................................46 7. ARTICULATION OF KEY ACTORS..............................................................................................48 8. PUBLIC POLICIES......................................................................................................................49 8.1 National strategies..................................................................................................................50 9. RECOMMENDATIONS................................................................................................................52 9.1 Infrastructural and structural reforms.........................................................................................52 9.2 Regularisation and migration regulations in Greece................................................................53 9.3 Development....................................................................................................................................54 BIBLIOGRAPHY..........................................................................................................................56 List of tables Table 1 Frequency and Administrators of Remittances......................................................................25 Table 2 Frequency Distribution of Categories of Yearly Remittances..............................................25 Table 3 Annual Remittance Amounts...................................................................................................26 Table 4 Principal Uses of Remittances..................................................................................................37 List of maps Map 1. Origin and destination location of migration between Albania and Greece (Korçë and Thessaloniki)..........................................................................................................................................12 Preface The feminisation of migration is a phenomenon that stresses not only the moderate increase in the numbers of women migrating, but also the ways in which women participate in migratory processes. In the past, most female migrants moved as dependants of husbands or families, whereas today a greater variety of women are leaving autonomously to work and live abroad as primary income earners. Growing interest in the study of the feminisation of migration has created a knowledge base of experience and tools that lend themselves to the integration of gender equality into migration- related interventions. Meanwhile, remittances – another significant feature of migration – are gaining international attention. The monies sent from migrants in destination countries to families and communities in countries of origin are an important motivator for working abroad. Although individual migrants generally send relatively small sums of money, the accrual of remittances amounts to considerable financial flows. Recognizing remittances’ impact on national economies and the global financial world, governments and international organisations have taken interest in their potential to affect development. However, this potential to support and enhance human and local development has yet to be fully understood. A gendered approach to studying this phenomenon highlights how gender affects migrants’