Out of 63,996 people who moved out of their provinces of origin last year, 49.9 percent were women, according to the Cuban Statistical Yearbook.
Over 27 percent of them settled down in Havana, 8.5 percent in Matanzas, 7.3 percent in Artemisa, and seven percent in Camagüey.
Antonio Aja, director of the Population Study Center (CEDEM) at the University of Havana, told SEMlac that most migrants move from rural to urban areas, from urban settlements to provincial capitals, and from low to high development areas.
«In Havana, for example, women make up 52.1 percent of the city’s population (2.1 million),» he added.
Expert Blanca Morejón said that most local migrants include professionals and technicians. Women accounted for 65.2 percent of university graduates and 66.8 percent of practicing professionals and technicians last year, according to ONEI.
Boosting local development is one of the strategies that can help redress current migration flows, experts feel.
Kenia Lorenzo, a specialist at the National Psychological and Sociological Research Center (CEPS), indicated that there is an urgent need to generate new jobs for women in rural areas.
«Many of them are leaving their places of origin because they have no employment opportunities there,» she commented.
«They need to be empowered rather than assisted,» she concluded.
Translated by Adolfo Fuentes
