Migrants as partners in community development

UNLAD Kabayan presented their experiences of engaging migrants in community development projects through the use of Migration Savings for Alternative Investment at Babaylan Europe’s 15^th anniversary conference, titled ‘Gender dimensions in migration and development,' held from 26 - 28 October 2007. They strived to bring migrants and returnees to the forefront of the migration and development discussion by directly engaging them in development activities. UNLAD Kabayan presented their strategy of assisting returning Filipino migrants and their communities to set up micro-businesses, which are funded by Filipino migrants working abroad. These businesses provide fair wages and benefits to their workers and help to promote the economic and social development of communities in the Philippines so that migration in the future will be a choice for Filipinos, and not a necessity.