It goes without saying that migrant women are among the most vulnerable social groups in a society due to their double identity marker as both migrants and women. According to the International Migrant Stock 2019, a dataset released by the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), Europe hosts the largest number of international migrants (82 million). What is important is the fact that 51% of the total number of international migrants in Europe are women. This indicates that feminization of migration is an existing reality in the EU and should be taken into serious consideration. Another valuable element is the fact that more women than men come to the EU as family members. According to Eurostat, in 2017, almost 35.9% of the first residence permits for family-related reasons were issued to women and only 20.8% to men. At the same time, a share of 30.6% of first residence permits were issued to women for employment, while for men the share of 49.3%. These numbers reflect the gendered nature of specific migration patterns, but they also indicate that migrant women are oftentimes dependent on others, e.g. husbands, for accessing employment and interacting at the social level. For this reason, carefully designed programmes are elemental to help migrant women to socially and economically integrate and get empowered through quality learning opportunities; provide adult educators with innovative tools in order to facilitate migrant women's empowerment and inclusion; develop migrant women's transversal skills and competences in order to support their socio-educational and personal development; and influence policy solutions that are centered around immigrants, and particularly migrant women. It is then clear that the WINGS project addresses the needs of 2 main target groups: TG1: Migrant women, and particularly migrant women who are not in employment, education or training due to family and child care obligations TG2: Adult educators and non-formal trainers for adult learners It is expected that both target groups will have the opportunity to participate in project activities and actively engage with project intellectual outputs as follows: IO1: Building Basic Skills Handbook - it aims to build a critical mass of adult educators adequately prepared to provide high quality learning and teaching opportunities to migrant women. At the same time the handbook will extend the competences of adult educators as it will include a dedicated section on how to approach vulnerable social groups, such as migrant women, using innovative methodologies, such as intersectionality. IO2: WINGS Local Action Programme - this encapsulates a systematic attempt to develop a dedicated course programme in each partner country that will improve the supply of high quality learning opportunities tailored to the needs of migrant women. IO3: "MY WINGS" a multimedia good practice e-booklet - this is a compilation of experiences and testimonies expressed by migrant women themselves who have participated in IO2. IO4: Online Learning Platform - a dedicated online learning portal to support the work of adult educators and ensure that migrant women have access to all learning resources provided on a range of fixed and mobile devices. IO5: WINGS Policy Paper - a thought provoking policy paper based on the experiences of the WINGS consortium to fuel the policy debate among adult education authorities and migrant integration authorities. After the finalization of the project, it is expected that migrant women currently without basic skills and outside of mainstream lifelong learning provision are supported to economically and socially integrate into their local community; adult educators are better equipped to constructively work with marginalised and vulnerable groups; local communities be more cohesive and equitable with less incidences of social exclusion and marginalization; there will be a potential increase in the supply of workers as those adults (migrant women) on the margins of education and training are encouraged to embark on an educational journey towards employment and labour market integration.
This project had as main objectives: - Extending and developing the competences of educators and other personnel who support adult learners. Social integration and acquisition of basic skills of migrant women within their local community - Supporting individuals in acquiring and developing basic skills and key competences. More cohesive and fairer local communities, with fewer incidences of social exclusion and marginalisation - Improving and extending the supply of high-quality learning opportunities for adults. Educational, training and learning programmes, for employment and integration into the labour market - Develop migrant women’s transversal skills and competences in order to support their socio-educational and personal development The partners aimed to reach migrant women who were not integrated economically or socially into their local communities. By better equipping adult educators to work with marginalised groups, local communities are more cohesive and equitable, with fewer incidences of social exclusion and marginalization. The training program increased the supply of workers as the migrant women on the margins of education were encouraged to embark on a journey towards employment and labour market integration.
It goes without saying that migrant women are among the most vulnerable social groups in society due to their double identity marker as both migrants and women. Another valuable element is the fact that more women than men come to the EU as family members. Static numbers also reflect the gendered nature of specific migration patterns, but they also indicate that migrant women are oftentimes dependent on others, e.g. husbands, for accessing employment and interacting at the social level. For this reason, carefully designed programs are crucial to help migrant women to socially and economically integrate and get empowered through quality learning opportunities; can provide adult educators with innovative tools in order to facilitate migrant women's empowerment and inclusion; develop migrant women's transversal skills and competences in order to support their socio-educational and personal development, and influence policy solutions that are centered around immigrants, and particularly migrant women. In this context, it is clear that the WINGS project addresses the needs of 2 main target groups TG1: Migrant women, and particularly migrant women. TG2: Adult educators and non-formal trainers for adult learners.