Caribbean Diaspora women leaders to strengthen leadership skills

The Organization of American States (OAS) says the 3rd Regional Meeting of Women Leaders of Diasporas in Latin America and the Caribbean will bring together 33 women leaders from various Diasporas from 12 countries in the region, from August 14 to 16 in Cartagena, Colombia, to strengthen their skills on leadership, socioeconomic integration, intersectionality, gender perspective and advocacy, based on their own experiences.

The Washington-based OAS said the event, “Dialogue of women leaders of the Diasporas in Latin America and the Caribbean” – organized by the Office of the Special Envoy for the Response to Venezuela of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Department of Social Inclusion of the Secretariat for Access to Rights and Equity of the OAS and the International Labor Organization (ILO), through the Lazos Project – will “reinforce the capacities of 33 migrant and refugee women leaders of organizations from various Diasporas in the region.”

The OAS said this will be done through “the exchange of good practices, and the learning theoretical and practical tools with the aim of ensuring the self-management and sustainability of their organizations, as well as articulating common agendas to expand the impact of their actions.” 

For the first time, the meeting is co-led by the Venezuelan Diaspora Leaders Network, and includes women from other Diasporas in the region, “with the objective of promoting dialogue and the exchange of experiences and lessons learned to strengthen a networked action based on diversity and mutual support”, the OAS said. 

It said it is estimated that there are between 16 and 20 million migrants in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to the Report on Migration in the World 2024. 

“The number of people in a situation of human mobility has grown more in this region than in any other part of the world,” the OAS said. “Women represent nearly half of this group, with a growing tendency to migrate independently. 

“Their presence is also reflected in their high level of participation in diaspora organizations in the region,” it added. “Proof of this is that the majority of people who are part of Venezuelan Diaspora organizations are women, according to a survey carried out by IOM in 2021.” 

The OAS said the First Meeting of Women Leaders of the Venezuelan Diaspora was held in Panama in 2022.

On that occasion, the Network of Women Leaders of the Venezuelan Diaspora was created and the Panama Declaration was published, the OAS said. 

It said the second meeting, in 2023, took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the Buenos Aires Declaration was published.