Crafting empowers migrant women by building confidence, fostering social connections, improving mental well-being and creating economic opportunities through social enterprise, up-skilling and community engagement. 

It’s given me love.

Outside Europe, in Australia, migrant women and refugees from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Syria, Iraq and other countries, benefited a lot by sharing creative art in community exhibitions. Art helped them connect easily and express themselves without hesitations. The workshops both harnessed existing skills and developed new skills. 

  Image: pointshineshoot/Anglicare North Coast

In Latin America and the Caribbean, art and creativity have been used for reinforcing psychological support and promoting mental health wellbeing for migrants. IOM have contributed to it by implementing a series of related activities. As IOM states it: 

“In the case of migrants, psychosocial well-being has been closely linked to the concepts of identity and community, which include a person’s sense of belonging, internalised social roles, adaptation to their cultural context, differences between social support models, among others. In that sense, mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) experts suggest activities in which affected communities cease to be merely recipients of services created by actors outside the community, and instead become active agents of their own solutions, with the support of external actors.” 

Image: IOM UN migration 

A sense of accomplishment 

Building self-esteem through creative enterprise involves taking consistent, small steps in a creative project, learning from mistakes and sharing your work within a supportive community, which fosters a sense of accomplishment and self-worth over time. Key strategies include focusing on the creative process rather than perfection, seeking intellectual growth and feedback, cultivating resilience against setbacks and maintaining positive self-talk and self-compassion.   

Artistic expression combined with entrepreneurship 

Especially for migrant women, building self-esteem can be effectively achieved through creative enterprises by combining artistic expression and entrepreneurship, which fosters personal growth, social inclusion and a sense of belonging. This approach empowers women by providing a platform to express themselves, challenge stereotypes, build social capital and gain financial independence, ultimately strengthening their confidence and overall well-being within their new communities.   

Digital and Innovation workshops 

Partners of the Craft2success project have designed a series of three Digital and Innovation workshops to upskill migrant women dealing with crafts in setting up their creative enterprise. Each workshop has a different topic, as you can see below: 

1. “Launch Your Store to the World Create. Upload. Sell.” by Zonne Femme from Belgium, focusing on selling online, 

2. “Threads & Tech: Weaving Tradition with Innovation” by Euroreach focusing on Digital Literacy and 

3. “Your Voice, Your Brand: Digital Strategies for Women Entrepreneurs” by Adolescere focusing on strengthening through Digital Marketing, migrant’s women economic autonomy. 

All in all, what is common to the above workshops is to empower migrant women. Undoubtedly, the process of creating and selling their work builds self-esteem and a sense of accomplishment for migrant women.   

Resources: 

‘It’s given me love’: how art is helping refugee women connect and express themselves on World Economic Forum (6^th of October 2021), accessed on 29/9/2025 

“Art and creativity as elements of psychosocial support and mental health for migrants” on IOM UN Migration, Latin America and the Caribbean, accessed on 29/9/2025