Building skills and decent work opportunities for migrant women in Italy

Despite Italy’s long history of migration and the crucial role migrant women play in sectors such as care work, hospitality, and agriculture, their participation in stable and skilled employment remains limited. Recent research on migrant women in Italy highlights persistent challenges in achieving decent work, equitable access to training, and meaningful social inclusion. Many of these women arrive with valuable informal experience or partial qualifications from their countries of origin, but struggle to have their skills formally recognised within Italy’s labour system.

Additionally, various studies show that a growing number of migrant women urgently require training in digital and vocational skills, as currently provided only by UNHCR, which enhances employability in a rapidly changing economy. Others seek educational opportunities and scholarships to obtain formal qualifications that can help them compete on fairer terms in the Italian labour market. However, existing capacity-building and integration initiatives often fail to meet these specific needs.

Most publicly funded programmes currently focus on talian language acquisition and civic education, with limited emphasis on practical or technical job training. These initiatives tend to adopt a “one-size-fits-all” model, overlooking differences in gender, prior education, work experience, and career aspirations. The result is a persistent mismatch between the skills of migrant women, the needs of the Italian labour market, and the policy frameworks guiding integration. This gap contributes to inequality, social exclusion, and sometimes gender-based discrimination. (Badri, 2025), (Tayah, 2016), (Escobar, C. 2024).

The critical mismatches

Building on this context, the situation for migrant women in Italy can be understood through a series of critical mismatches between existing integration efforts and the real needs of women seeking work and social inclusion.

• Skills gap: Many migrant women lack access to relevant technical and digital training aligned with market demands. This gap limits their ability to secure jobs in emerging sectors such as information technology, renewable energy, and care innovation.
• Limited social inclusion: Integration programmes often overlook the social and cultural dimensions of inclusion. Barriers such as gender stereotypes, racism, and lack of childcare support make it harder for women to complete training or pursue stable employment.
• Coordination misalignment: Collaboration among government agencies, employers, NGOs, and migrant organisations remains insufficient. This lack of coordination leads to duplication of efforts and inefficient use of resources.
• Policy disconnection: Broader European–African migration frameworks are not effectively linked to local training and capacity-building initiatives in Italy, weakening the potential for mutually beneficial development outcomes

Policy recommendations

Against this framework, several policy questions emerge: How can Italy’s capacity-building programmes better address the diverse needs of migrant women? What mechanisms can promote stronger multicultural relations and inclusion between host and migrant communities? How can Italy’s partnerships with African countries be leveraged to support fair, sustainable migration and human development? Five actions could help renew the current approach:

1. Redesign vocational and technical training

Training programmes should be redesigned to reflect Italy’s evolving labour market particularly in digital, green, and AI-related sectors. A review of current curricula is necessary to align them with real employment opportunities. Training should combine language learning with technical and entrepreneurship components, ensuring that migrant women can transition from informal to formal work. Encouraging women’s participation in advanced skill areas—such as coding, digital marketing, and sustainable agriculture—will also enhance their long-term employability and economic independence.

2. Integrate social and cultural transformation measures

Capacity-building must go beyond skills to include gender equality, anti-discrimination education, and prevention of gender-based violence. Programmes should promote intercultural dialogue and mentorship between migrant and Italian women, building mutual understanding and trust. Community-based initiatives, such as local cultural festivals, dialogue forums, or cooperative projects, can help bridge divides and foster inclusion.

3. Strengthen collaboration and governance

A coordinated governance structure is essential. Formal partnerships should be established among public institutions, employers, civil society, and migrant-led organisations to ensure coherent integration efforts. Shared data systems and monitoring frameworks can improve accountability. Awareness campaigns on human rights, decent work standards, and multicultural solidarity should be conducted regularly to shift public attitudes and reduce stigma. Additionally, Italy could take a more proactive role in the EU-Africa relation agreements,specifically fostering capacity-building of African migrant women and activating the Rabat and Khartoum Processes, ensuring that irregular migration is well managed and formal labour agreements include gender-responsive monitoring.

4. Leverage Italy–Africa cooperation for development

Italy’s cooperation with African nations provides a strategic opportunity to promote circular migration—a model that allows workers to move temporarily for training and employment, then return home to apply their skills. Expanding Italy–Africa development agreements that emphasize education, entrepreneurship, and sustainable employment would not only benefit migrant women but also contribute to shared economic growth. Investments in vocational centres and exchange programmes can create pathways for skill transfer and reintegration of returnees.

5. Empower Women through entrepreneurship and cooperatives

Migrant women should be supported as agents of change within their communities. Providing targeted financial assistance, micro-credit, and mentorship for cooperatives and small enterprises can enhance economic independence. See for example the successful story of women’s cooperative associations in Rwanda. Linking women’s entrepreneurship initiatives to national development strategies will ensure sustainability. Social enterprises that employ both migrants and Italians can demonstrate inclusive models of growth while addressing community solidarity needs such as cultural clubs and centres.

Conclusion

Empowering migrant women through skill development and decent work is not only a social justice imperative but also an economic opportunity for Italy. To achieve this, it is essential to prioritise targeted, actionable steps: conducting a national needs assessment to identify training and employment priorities over the next decade, embedding gender-responsive planning and budgeting in all migration, labour, and development policies, and establishing a monitoring and evaluation framework to measure long-term impact. By bridging the skills gap, fostering intercultural understanding, and aligning national and international frameworks, Italy can promote inclusive growth and strengthen its role as a leader in fair and sustainable migration governance.

Amira Y. Badri is a Professor of the Sociology of Development at Ahfad University for Women, Sudan and a Visiting Fellow at the Migration Policy Centre of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies.