To mark this year’s International Day of Family Remittances, the United Nations Network on Migration is calling on Member States to deliver fully on their commitments enshrined in the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM). This includes prioritizing access to digital remittances and financial inclusion for migrants and their families.

Migrants’ remittances support families and local communities in countries of origin, reducing poverty and supporting access to education, healthcare, food security, gender equality, digital governance and connectivity, climate change resilience and economic growth.

In 2023, remittances to low- and middle-income countries surpassed USD 656 billion. Projections suggest migrants will send over USD 5 trillion by 2030. These will benefit rural areas where most of the world's poor reside.

By fostering digital and financial inclusion, governments and organizations can empower low-income households to build financial resilience, enabling their active participation in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, in alignment with the 2030 Agenda’s promise of leaving no one behind.

Over the years, we have witnessed positive developments in financial inclusion led by the availability of digital financial services that permit migrants and diaspora communities to take advantage of lower remittance costs. Globally, financial account ownership has increased significantly to reach 76 per cent of the adult population. Yet, barriers to expanding this access remain, as women, the poor and the less educated are still less likely than men, the rich and the educated to have an account. As for other marginalized groups, such as youth, undocumented migrants and rural populations, various obstacles to inclusion persist. These barriers need to be urgently addressed.

Reducing remittance costs to less than three per cent is a specific SDG target (SDG 10.c) and is highly important to migrant workers and their families. Yet, despite fluctuating progress, this target remains unmet. The average cost of sending remittances is still above six per cent and 14 per cent of corridors globally still average over ten per cent of the amount sent.

The volume of remittances underlies their importance to receiving communities and their transformative potential. To ensure that no one is left behind, the Network urges all parties, particularly governments and financial services providers, to take further steps to promote digital and financial inclusion in line with the GCM, including by reducing the cost of sending and receiving funds and facilitating access to safe and affordable remittance transfer systems for all, particularly women and most vulnerable people.

The Network also recalls that behind every dollar sent in remittances, there is a human story of individuals who left in search of better opportunities and decent work. Along their journeys, migrants may also face forms of discrimination and predatory exploitation, such as recruitment fees or wage theft, which prevent them from maximizing the impact of their remittances.

The Network therefore calls on States, stakeholders and other actors to redouble efforts to address the adverse drivers of migration, enhance the availability and flexibility of regular pathways for migration and ensure fair and ethical recruitment and decent work, so that migration and remittances lead to truly sustainable development.

The Network stands ready to support Member States to maximize the impact of remittances for sustainable development, as well as to address the growing financial gaps related to achieving the SDGs at the upcoming Summit of the Future, to enable migrants to become true agents of development.  

The International Day of Family Remittances (IDFR), established by the United Nations General Assembly, annually recognizes the positive economic impact of remittances on households, communities, and countries, acknowledging the generosity of hundreds of millions of migrants who regularly send them to their families back home.

The 2023-2024 campaign theme, "Digital remittances towards financial inclusion and cost reduction," underscores the positive impact of digitalization of remittances in lowering costs, enhancing access, and advancing financial inclusion. This starts from recognising the central role of migrants and their families and extends to the collaborative efforts of financial service providers, governments, and regulators in facilitating these flows.

• Check out Practices on the Migration Network Hub that aim to achieve the GCM objectives related to remittances.
• If you are planning an initiative to advance these objectives, submit a Pledge here or if you are already working on an initiative to further these objectives, submit your Practice and share your experience working on remittances here.

For more information, please contact:

IFAD

Mauro Martini

m.martini@ifad.org  +39 06 5459 2813

UN Network on Migration (secretariat)
Florence Kim
fkim@iom.int +41 79 748 0395