International Family Remittance Day (16/06)

In 2015, International Day of Family Remittances (IDFR) was celebrated for the first time. Established on the initiative of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) – of a special structure within the UN, this day is celebrated annually on June 16. The proclamation of the Day was approved by the UN General Assembly in June 2018.

It would seem, what does agricultural development and family remittances have to do with it? The fact is that this Fund was initially created within the UN with the aim of providing assistance to the poorest part of the population of developing countries, living mainly in rural areas. In launching the initiative to establish a new international date, IFAD aimed to alleviate the situation of people in developing countries by supporting them in making remittances to their families, provided that one of its members was forced to become a migrant worker.

Forced to leave their family and country and go to work abroad, people who are called labor migrants regularly send money transfers home (that is, transfers for the family or family). These amounts, which in large Russian cities and European countries may seem insignificant, play a very important role for the family of a labor migrant, sometimes accounting for up to 60% of the family budget. This is the money that is very difficult for a migrant to earn in his homeland, and sometimes simply impossible.

We should not forget that migrant labor plays an important role in the daily lives of people who are citizens of countries employing migrants. Every money transfer sent by a labor migrant to a family makes its situation more stable and contributes to well-being.

Thus, in 2019, the number of international migrants, people living in a country other than their country of birth, reached 244 million people, 200 million of whom are economic migrants. More than half a trillion US dollars were transferred by migrants to 800 million members of their families living in low- and middle-income countries. The total amount of remittances is more than three times higher than official development assistance (ODA) and also exceeds foreign direct investment (FDI). These gigantic numbers are made up of small amounts of $200 or $300 that migrants regularly transfer to their families.

Thus, while paying tribute to the work of migrants, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, with the support of the UN General Assembly, initiated the establishment of a new international date.

In 2015, the first celebration of the Day took place during the opening of the Global Forum on Remittances and Development, which took place in Milan. The very next year, numerous money transfer operators joined the celebration. In 2017, in addition to money transfer operators, banking structures, mobile operators, and mobile payment systems joined in the events. They all pledged to do everything possible to ensure that the money sent home by migrants has maximum return. The actions taking place as part of the celebration were supported by numerous UN structures and organizations, the International Organization for Migration.

The Day's activities help highlight the critical contribution that migrants make to improving the lives of millions of households, communities, and entire countries and regions. On this day, the UN also calls on governments, representatives of the private sector, as well as non-governmental organizations and all members of society as a whole, through individual and collective action, to achieve maximum efficiency in remittances.

In turn, holding such events (even within the framework of this day) promotes interaction and develops partnerships between various structures in the field of money transfers.

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