God Walks with His People 

110th World Day of Migrants and Refugees 

Dear friends of WUCWO:

"God walks with his people". What words so full of meaning and hope the Holy Father has proposed us to celebrate this 110th Day of Migrants and Refugees on September 29! These are words that, besides consoling us, are a fundamental part of the History of Salvation, from its origin, and which, in our days, are witnessed by the hundreds of thousands of people who set out towards a "promised land", ready to face the risks and inclemencies they will encounter along the way.

Sadly, we are living in a period of history in which we can contemplate, without having to look far and wide, entire peoples setting out on the road; exoduses caused by wars, famines, climatic disasters, violence... are little different from the exodus through the desert led by Moses.

Those people who have set out on a journey, without abandoning themselves to a life devoid of future, without resigning themselves to an early death, without submitting to the terror of conflicts are those who teach us all what Hope is. And those who, on the road, give a glass of water, share tears, welcome the stranger, protect the children and care for the women are those who bear witness, regardless of their creed, that God has seen the affliction of his wayfaring sons and daughters and that He is moved with compassion.

In WUCWO, in response to the invitation of Pope Francis, we decided to walk particularly near to migrants and refugees, in order to build with them a better future, through a concrete closeness that reflects the gaze of God in them. In fact, at the last Assembly in Assisi, we committed ourselves to:

•  encourage actions for the Church to: welcome, protect, accompany, promote and integrate migrants and refugees;
•  promote volunteerism in favor of refugees, asylum seekers and the most vulnerable migrants;
•  make visible the deaths that occur during irregular migration and human trafficking; and
•  advocate for countries to seek new alternatives to the legal category of «refugee»,

through our own means, our member organisations and our International Representatives.

As you well know, we are already taking action and I am sure that you are or will be taking action soon, from your own organisations and realities. The last issue of  Women´s Voice was dedicated to this topic and in it we were able to see the work that many of our organizations carry out to support migrants. We also read testimonies from women who work in the shelters and who, day after day, live alongside the suffering of our brothers and sisters and try to help them with the limited resources they have.

WUCWO´s World Women´s Observatory is about to conclude the project carried out with CELAM: "Migrant women through Latin American and Caribbean correspondents", to know and understand the causes that motivate the migration of women in that area, the difficulties and challenges they face and the real possibilities of insertion in the place of destination. You can see the preliminary results and an infographic on our website.

We have also concluded an important stage of the project "Migrant women's access to justice in Mexico" in which we listened to 234 migrant women, mostly from Latin American and the Caribbean, housed in 18 shelters in Mexico, to know, first hand, the real situation of respect for their rights and the most urgent needs to ensure their access to justice. We are also offering 15 shelters a free institutional strengthening workshop that will help them to streamline their performance and improve their results.

In short, there are many needs and tasks to be undertaken. The migration working group of the WUCWO Board is planning some concrete actions, such as developing a program of "ambassadors of migrant women" or promoting webinars and meetings between member organisations in countries of origin and those of destination of migrants. On the other hand, as I write, our WWO Project Director, Ana Martiarena, is in Colombia participating in an Assembly of the CLAMOR Network (Latin American and Caribbean Ecclesial Network on Migration, Displacement, Refuge and Human Trafficking) and in the International Meeting on Migration and Asylum of MigraRed. 

Undoubtedly, God is making himself present, using ones and others to encourage our wayfaring brothers and sisters and to motivate each other to continue walking and dream of a better future. Who else can encourage in their hearts the hope that it is worthwhile to cross deserts as do those who set out from sub-Saharan Africa, jungles as do those who cross the Darien, seas as do those who set out for the Mediterranean, believing that Europe is a paradise, or those who set out to cross the Rio Bravo or the terrible deserts of the border to reach the United States?  Also on the Asian continent, perhaps in a more hidden but equally dangerous way, there are thousands of people who set out forcibly every day. All of them, in one way or another, entrust themselves to God along the way and feel his closeness, either through prayer and in the silence of their hearts as they find themselves literally between heaven and earth, or by feeling the physical closeness of their fellow travelers and of some good Samaritans they meet.

May the women of WUCWO, wherever we are, be Good Samaritans. May migrants and refugees always see in us the face of the Lord who encourages, accompanies and supports them on their journey. This will undoubtedly be the best way to celebrate this Day.

Mónica Santamarina

WUCWO President General