GCM Objectives

For each of the 23 GCM Objectives, the guide includes:

  • A concise summary of the main issues for migrant women and girls
  • Concrete measures to ensure gender-responsive implementation
  • A checklist of key actions

This guide outlines the circumstances that contribute to the specific vulnerabilities of migrant women and girls and their experiences of gender-based discrimination as both a cause and consequence of the violations of their human rights, and it proposes concrete actions that policy makers and other relevant stakeholders can undertake. It also highlights the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on migrant women and girls and proposes specific measures to mitigate them. In addition, it contains a checklist for actions which stakeholders can complete and download.

Grid List
GCM Objective 1 Collect and utilize accurate and disaggregated data as a basis for evidence-based policies
Working with UN Women to advance #IWD2021’s theme of “Women in Leadership”, Jittirat Tantasirin, CEO of ATTA.
GCM Objective 2 Minimize the adverse drivers and structural factors that compel people to leave their country of origin
Bangladesh - Rohingya women in refugee camps share stories of loss and hopes of recovery Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. March 2018.
GCM Objective 3 Provide accurate and timely information at all stages of migration
Syrian refugee women engaged in the information and communication technology training at the ‘Oasis Center for Resilience and Empowerment of Women and Girls’ operated by UN Women in the Azraq refugee camp in Jordan.
GCM Objective 4 Ensure that all migrants have proof of legal identity and adequate documentation
Cameroon. Nbdemke Elizabeth, 13, at left, Yeng Chimine, 12, at right, and Vivian, Chimine’s mother, centre, display newly acquired birth certificates which open the door for the girls to attend school, sit for national exams and apply for national ID.
GCM Objective 5 Enhance availability and flexibility of pathways for regular migration
A Q'eqchi' woman with a bicycle walks down the unpaved main road through Sepur Zarco.
GCM Objective 6 Facilitate fair and ethical recruitment and safeguard conditions that ensure decent work
At a day centre in downtown Singapore, a group of Indonesian domestic workers find time on their one day off to learn how to sew.
GCM Objective 7 Address and reduce vulnerabilities in migration
A women’s cooperative is forming in the township of Yoko, Cameroon. It’s called SOCCOMAD and has 42 members, including four men, who joined as allies.
GCM Objective 8 Save lives and establish coordinated international efforts on missing migrants
UN Women Executive Board President Kim Sook Visited Haiti from 19 to 22 July 2012
GCM Objective 9 Strengthen the transnational response to smuggling of migrants
Female United Nations police officers of the United Nations Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT). 29/Nov/2007. UN Photo/Martine Perret.
GCM Objective 10 Prevent, combat and eradicate trafficking in persons in the context of international migration
UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka arrives in Bangui, Central African Republic, on 24 May 2014. Photo: UN Women/Catianne Tijerina
GCM Objective 11 Manage borders in an integrated, secure and coordinated manner
Hanan, UN Women’s Senior Area Coordinator for Za’atari refugee camp is pictured with Shatha, UN Women’s Senior Camp Assistant of Oasis 2 and Rana and Taghreed.
GCM Objective 12 Strengthen certainty and predictability in migration procedures for appropriate screening, assessment and referral
WEE Strengthening the Economic Empowerment and Protection of Women&Girls Lebanon -COVID19 training with the distribution of certificates, hygiene and dignity kits in Beb Tebbeneh 2
GCM Objective 13 Use migration detention only as a measure of last resort and work towards alternatives
IOM moves 110 families (555 people) in Corail camp into newly constructed transitional shelters after many tents were damaged or flooded by the 24 September storm.
GCM Objective 14 Enhance consular protection, assistance and cooperation throughout the migration cycle
Natalia Minayeva, 47, participated in a training under UN Women's Gender Equality within the HIV and AIDS response project that helped her enhance her knowledge and gain public speaking and leadership skills. She now works as a "street lawyer" which means legal advocate in Kazakhstan with Eurasian Harm Reduction Network, helping women with legal issues and referring drug users to substitution therapy.
GCM Objective 15 Provide access to basic services for migrants
Women in the reception area at the Women's Center in Balukhali camp 5 March, 2018. As of January 2018, UN Women has set up the first Multi-Purpose Women Centre in the Balukhali refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, in partnership with Action Aid and with support from UN Women National Committee Australia.
GCM Objective 16 Empower migrants and societies to realize full inclusion and social cohesion
A refugee from CAR learns the French alphabet as part of an adult education class held at the UN Women Social Cohesion space.
GCM Objective 17 Eliminate all forms of discrimination and promote evidence-based public discourse to shape perceptions of migration
Bangladesh - Women at Work Nadia Islam Nitul is a dentist by profession. She also has been working as a radio jockey for last many years.
GCM Objective 18 Invest in skills development and facilitate mutual recognition of skills, qualifications and competences
Statisticians entering data into the database for further processing and analysis. Turkmenistan. Photo: World Bank
GCM Objective 19 Create conditions for migrants and diasporas to fully contribute to sustainable development in all countries
Scenes from the municipal market in Tucuru, Guatemala. Indigenous women of Guatemala’s Polochic valley are feeding their families, growing their businesses and saving more money than ever before.
GCM Objective 20 Promote faster, safer and cheaper transfer of remittances and foster financial inclusion of migrants
Tanzania - Entrepeneurship and Land Rights for Maasai Women Mama Nalepo in her shop in the local market of Mamura village in Arusha, Tanzania.
GCM Objective 21 Cooperate in facilitating safe and dignified return and readmission, as well as sustainable reintegration
In the Katfoura village on the Tristao Islands in Guinea, the civil society organization Partenariat Recherches Environnement Medias (PREM) is providing rural women with new opportunities to generate income and improve community life.
GCM Objective 22 Establish mechanisms for the portability of social security entitlements and earned benefits
IOM Cash Assistance for typhoon survivors A certified recipient of IOM's cash assistance in Brgy Sta Cruz, Dumalag, Capiz.© IOM/Alan Motus 2014
GCM Objective 23 Strengthen international cooperation and global partnerships for safe, orderly and regular migration
#CSW61- Launch of the Equal Pay Platform of Champions At the UN General Assembly in New York, champions of equal pay took centre stage, putting forth a clarion call to end the global gender pay gap that stands at 23 per cent.