Estructuración de la familia ampliada activa en la crianza de los hijos e hijas de migrantes internacionales de las provincias de Azuay y Cañar (Ecuador)

Las provincias de Azuay y Cañar en particular, como el Ecuador en general, tienen altas tasas de migratorias con elevados impactos en la economía nacional y gran cohesión familiar. El presente estudio recurre a métodos cuantitativos para estimar la participación de la familia ampliada activa mediante diversos tipos de ayuda en la crianza de los niños y las niñas de las provincias, concluyendo que existía un alto nivel de solidaridad que no se limitaba al grupo de parientes que compartían la misma vivienda, ayuda familiar más activa en los casos de niños y niñas cuyos progenitores han emigrado al exterior. Salvando las diferencias porcentuales, tanto el estrato de hijos de migrantes como el de no migrantes presentaron patrones homogéneos en cuanto a la importancia de los tipos de ayuda observados: cuidado y vigilancia en primer lugar, recreación en segundo, y transporte en octavo y último lugar. En cuanto a los tipos de parentesco -salvando igualmente las diferencias porcentuales- abuelos y abuelas en primer lugar, y tíos y tías en segundo, registraron el mayor compromiso en la crianza de los niños y niñas de la región.

Prácticas de autocuidado sexual y reproductivo en mujeres “parejas de” migrantes internacionales de San Luis Potosí, México

Los migrantes y sus parejas han sido incorporados en los discursos institucionales de salud como “sujetos en riesgo” frente a las Infecciones de Trasmisión Sexual (ITS), sin embargo la incorporación de esta población específica en la comunicación y gestión del riesgo de ITS ha sido ambigua en el contexto mexicano. El objetivo del presente acercamiento fue conocer las prácticas de autocuidado sexual y reproductivo que adoptan en su cotidianeidad mujeres parejas de migrantes y la relación de dichas medidas con la comunicación y gestión del riesgo que los Servicios de Salud realizan. Se trató de una aproximación de tipo cualitativo con 20 mujeres “de migrantes” localizadas mediante los servicios de salud, la información se recabó a través de entrevistas a profundidad que focalizaron en las esferas de “percepción del riesgo” y “Autocuidado sexual y reproductivo”. Se encontró que la mayoría de las mujeres no se reconoce vulnerable frente a las ITS y que la percepción del riesgo no es determinante en la confrontación que respecto a la amenaza puedan desarrollar, dado que los imaginarios patriarcales que prevalecen en ellas, sus parejas y el personal de salud desestiman la utilización de medidas de prevención y detección oportuna.

Llegadas y muertes de migrantes en el Mediterráneo: ¿Qué nos dicen realmente los datos?

La mirada del sector político y los medios de comunicación se centra en el número de llegadas y muertes de migrantes. Existen problemas con los datos en ambas categorías.

Economic policies in the EU at a turning point. EuropEos Commentary No. 8/28 March 2011

Culminating an almost unprecedented tour de force of Council meetings in various formations, the European Council reached agreement on a comprehensive economic policy package on March 24-25th that effectively completes the economic arm of economic and monetary union (EMU) and, if consistently applied, holds out the promise of ending stagnation and dismal employment performance throughout the European Union.

After the Euro Crisis: The President of Europe, A new paradigm for increasing legitimacy and effectiveness in the EU. EuropEos Commentary No. 12, 1 June 2012

The crisis in the eurozone– which became worse in Europe at the same time that the Lisbon Treaty entered in force at the end of 2009 – has presented the first test of the crisis management capabilities of the intergovernmental approach. As provided under the Lisbon Treaty, the European Council has been the true decision-making centre for the policies adopted in response to the financial crisis, with the Commission playing a technical role. This commentary finds, however, that this institutional set-up has been unsatisfactory and unable to overcome the three fundamental dilemmas of the integration process: the dilemma of veto power, the dilemma of enforcement of the agreements and the dilemma of decision-making legitimacy. While it remains to be seen whether the election of François Hollande as President of France signals the beginning of a new political cycle characterised by new ideas on the institutional future of the EU, if that were to materialise, this paper aims to contribute to the debate on those new ideas.

Necessary desirability: The inherent contradiction in the European system. EuropEos Commentary No. 11, 9 June 2011

In all political systems there is a gap between the rhetoric of electoral programmes and the practical work of institutions, argues author Riccardo Perissich, but the ‘vision thing’ is often a necessary prerequisite to reaching difficult decisions. When it comes to European institutions, which include the member states acting collectively, the desirable vision – the goal of European unity – has always been there and is still very much alive. Also, the existence of a broadly defined political goal has often facilitated agreements that were in fact purely necessary. However, because we lack a pan-European constituency to debate it, the narrative about this goal has been translated into different languages and is all but common. In fact, we have never seriously tried to unify it. Indeed, Europeans stopped debating what is desirable a long time ago: they simply react to events.

Eurozone Debt Crisis: Reckless debtors or misguided rescuers? EuropEos Commentary No. 10, 26 May 2011

Based on the latest round of difficulties to emerge from the Greek financial assistance programme, this commentary concludes that there are serious flaws in the design of the eurozone’s crisis management system that periodically push the members to the brink of financial meltdown. He warns that the same is bound to happen again with Ireland and Portugal, and each time with higher risks that the fabric of cooperation within the eurozone will tear irreparably. In order to fix them, he proposes three basic changes to the crisis management arrangements and the design of the European Stabilty Mechanism (ESM) decided in March by the European Council.

Europe’s false alibi in the G2. EuropEos Commentary No. 9, 13 May 2011

In the wake of Osama Bin Ladin’s death and against the background of a more confident United States and a more anxious China, Marta Dassù explores in this EuropEos Commentary the prospect that these two leading countries could form a ‘G2’, further marginalising Europe.

Nothing personal: The age of ego-diplomacy. EuropEos Commentary No. 7, 17 March 2011

A new EuropEos Commentary laments the decline of diplomacy and the rise of ‘summits’ in recent history as the predominant way of conducting international relations. World leaders are urged to pay more attention to the sound and unimpeded analysis of their ambassadors and professional diplomatic corps whenever possible.

The eurozone in bad need of a psychiatrist. EuropEos Commentary No. 6, 9 December 2010

Stefano Micossi, Director General of Assonime and member of the CEPS Board of Directors, observes in a new EuropEos Commentary that there is something surreal to the unfolding financial crisis of the eurozone, as the leaders grudgingly do what is needed to prevent disaster just minutes before it’s too late, and then in the next minute revert to the same behaviour that had brought them against the wall in the first place. He cites rising sovereign spreads within the area as the visible result of this strategy: they signal investors’ expectation that the future can only bring more of the same, a series of ever-larger sovereign debt crises, under Damocles’ sword that at some stage Germany, the paymaster of last resort, will close its purse and let Armageddon start.

Turkey and the EU: A play in search of a script. EuropEos Commentary No. 5, 28 September 2010

This Commentary warns that by continuing to act as if Turkey’s membership of the EU was still a credible prospect, the EU is dodging the critical issue of how to establish friendly and constructive relations with an independent, self-confident Turkey. More importantly, this approach prevents the EU from at last accepting that enlargement is not the only – nor necessarily the best – policy option available to deal effectively with a strategically important country on its borders.

The role of politicians in inciting financial markets to attack the eurozone. EuropEos Commentary No. 4, 21 June 2010

While acknowledging that the sustainability of sovereign debt is a serious issue that must be confronted, this EuropEos Commentary finds that financial markets have blown the problem completely out of proportion, leading to a full-scale confidence crisis. The authors present evidence suggesting that politicians’ public disagreements and careless statements at critical junctures may have added oil to incipient fire. By creating the impression that domestic political interests would take precedence over orderly management of the Greek debt crisis, they raised broader doubts about their ability to address fundamental economic divergences within the area, which are the real source of debt sustainability problems in the medium term.

Moments of Truth – A new neo-Gaullist Germany? EuropEos Commentary No. 3, 1 June 2010

The European process is based on compromises; when it comes to selling them to national electorates, countries behave differently. France feels compelled to declare victory; Germany has more often chosen to stress the concessions that it made, adding that they were painful but necessary for the sake of ‘Europe’. The reality is very different. In this new EuropEos Commentary, Riccardo Perissich, Executive Vice-President of the Council for the United States and Italy, describes that European reality, in unambiguous terms.