The City Council of Bilbao, Spain, recognized, in seven women from different countries, among them a Nicaraguan, “the importance of the presence of immigrant women in social and public life in the capital of Biscay” and presented them with the awards of the V edition of “Recognition of Migrated Women from Bilbao”.
The Nicaraguan feminist activist Silvia Ismara Zúñiga Munguía, a political exile in Bilbao since 2018, was awarded the “political woman” award.
According to the biographical file published by the official website of the Bilbao city council, Zúñiga has a career of “more than 15 years as a lesbo-feminist activist, popular educator and activist.”
She arrived in this Spanish region in 2018, after being forced to go into exile. That same year she founded EH FEMINISTAK NIKA, and her work has been focused on the defense of Human and Women’s Rights, support for migrant women and inclusion of the LGBT community.
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The Nicaraguan has also participated in feminist movements and organizations from exile. «In recent years she has collaborated with associations such as Mujeres con Voz and Amuge, holding workshops and talks aimed at migrant women. Currently, she works at Sortzen Consulting as a facilitator of processes aimed at migrant women, especially on issues related to sexist violence and immigration procedures,” indicates the official press release when mentioning the activist’s merits.
The Bilbao City Council specifies that this municipal initiative is a strategic and consolidated project within the Local Immigration Council (CLI), which aims to “recognize the importance of the presence of immigrant women in social and public life in the capital of Biscay.
«These recognitions are part of the Bilbao Intercultural City Plan, which includes a specific area of work to promote the empowerment and visibility of migrant women. More than half of the population of foreign origin residing in the Villa are women (52%),” indicates the official note.
Other winners
Along with the exiled Nicaraguan feminist, Oksana Demyanovych Mykoliash and Kateryna Kamiska, both from Ukraine, were awarded as women community agents. Entrepreneurial woman, Fabia Cristina Silva Gomes, from Brazil. Woman artist, Olfa Sendesni, from Tunisia. Woman Scientist, Heather Lynn Rogers, from the United States and Young Woman, Esther Charlene Ogunleye Ojewumi, from Nigeria.
The Councilor for Equality, Coexistence, Cooperation and Immigration, Kontxi Clavem, who was a member of the jury, congratulated the finalists for obtaining these recognitions and highlighted the value of their role in the construction of Bilbao, “Intercultural City.”
«we share the need and the importance of making women visible, all women and, also, all of you who have arrived from different places, who come with a backpack, with personal and professional trajectories… and because your contribution is absolutely essential for the present and future of our city. the official said.
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As a result of this initiative, which has linked more than 70 women of foreign origin to the capital of Biscay, in 2024 the Community of Migrated Women of Bilbao was created. «This is a project that proposes different objectives to consolidate Bilbao as an egalitarian and intercultural city: promote the empowerment of women, the creation of bonds of solidarity and support, generate connections between members and areas and promote inclusion processes, empowerment and autonomy with women role models.
Women of foreign origin in the village
Regarding sociological data on migrant women in Bilbao, more than half of the resident population of foreign origin are women (52%). According to data from the Municipal Register, in 2023 there are 29,329 women registered, distributed in almost all the Districts of the Villa, highlighting their presence in Abando and Deusto.
Regarding the origins of women most present in the Village, Colombia, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Paraguay, Morocco, Romania, China and Ecuador stand out.
