Gender mainstreaming in border management

Santiago de Chile hosted the meeting “An inclusive look at borders: gender equality as a fundamental right” in which national institutions from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay participated. All of them with competencies in the field of border security and management, as well as representatives of various civil society organisations.

The activity has been promoted by the Ministry of the Interior of Chile, in collaboration with the FIIAPP, Spanish cooperation, through the European EUROFRONT programme. The meeting has been set up as a space for dialogue, with the aim of advancing in the integration of the gender perspective in border management and ensuring the protection of women and girls.

Likewise, the meeting provided a valuable space for sharing good practices between South America and the European Union in the implementation of mechanisms that ensure an institutional response and promote gender equality as a fundamental right in the care of people crossing the border.

In this regard, the head of the Interior Government division, Enrique Inostroza, emphasised after the inauguration of the meeting that “As a government we have had an active policy in safeguarding the borders together with a historic investment so that our 40 border complexes have an infrastructure in accordance with the new migratory reality. A reality that presents various challenges, not only in terms of gender equality and fundamental rights, but also in the macro management that is being carried out to be able to face this phenomenon from its different aspects, and in accordance with this, the incorporation of EUROFRONT, who support border management, was managed”.

In this sense, the director of EUROFRONT at FIIAPP, explained that: “The condition of vulnerability of many of the people involved in the irregular crossing of international borders requires, on the part of the States, a comprehensive approach based on shared responsibility, international collaboration and protection.

This necessarily implies addressing elements linked to the respect and protection of fundamental rights at the border and the gender perspective, as essential elements for effective integrated border management”.

He added: “We know that regional collaboration in border management is key to achieving effective gender mainstreaming and thus ensuring full respect for human rights.

Gender perspective on borders

The meeting is the result of prior coordinated, participatory and comprehensive work, established between the EUROFRONT programme and national institutions and agencies with competence in border control, as well as actors representing civil society. This activity is the first joint action following the effective incorporation of Chile into the EUROFRONT Programme.

The importance of incorporating a gender approach in border control has been recognised by numerous international bodies and non-governmental organisations. This is the case of the European Union, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) who have called for special attention to be paid to the consideration of gender in the entire migration process, as it constitutes, in itself, a specific type of vulnerability.

Sometimes, the lack of resources and limited funding capacity for such initiatives results in inadequate attention to the needs of vulnerable groups, such as pregnant women, LGBTQ+ people or unaccompanied children, who require special protection during the migration process.