The Central Bank of Argentina started a process in 2015 to ease foreign exchange (FX) market regulations, thereby exerting a direct and far-reaching effect on the operation of international transfers and leading to a more flexible and competitive context to send and receive remittances to and from abroad. The new regulation allows Money Transfer Operators (MTOs) access to the FX market for transfers abroad without limits on the amount transferred.
Australia’s National Remittance Plan (NRP) aims to enable women and men to send money in a safe and cost effective way from Australia to, and within, key countries in the Indo-Pacific region.
The government of El Salvador, through the experience of linking migration with development seeks a productive, economic, social and cultural integration of migrants and their families; as well as the guarantee of their economic, social and cultural rights.
Bilateral agreements constitute an effective way to regulate migration flows and to foster development, both in the countries of origin and destination.
Sweden through the Swedish Consumer Agency, is missioned to provide a web-based information service for remittances. The service aims at creating transparency about different modes of remittances and the costs of these, thus increasing competition so that transfer costs can be reduced. Since 2018 additional resources have been added to the Consumer Agency to continue to provide and develop the service. The costs of sending remittances from Sweden have in some cases been relatively high.
The Global Forum on Remittances, Investment and Development (GFRID) brings together key decision makers, stakeholders and practitioners who are engaged in the field of remittances and migration for development.
IOM, through the ACP EU Migration Action, an initiative launched by the ACP Secretariat and funded by the European Union (EU), issued a publication on the main challenges that ACP countries face today in relation to remittances.
Ghana formally launched a comprehensive National Policy on Migration and an implementation plan in Accra on 5 April 2016 with support from IOM.
The comprehensive policy will guide the management of the country’s internal, intra-regional and international migration flows. Its aim is to promote the benefits and minimize the costs of internal and international migration through legal means with the rights and security of migrants well respected in order to ensure socio-economic development in Ghana.
This case study forms part of a series of case studies on good practices, lessons learnt and recommendations extracted from the projects supported by the UN Joint Migration and Development Initiative (JMDI) to enhance migration management for local development. The experience of the JMDI shows that the most effective initiatives are anchored with local or regional authorities and carried out in a multi-stakeholder and participatory approach, including migrants and migrants’ associations or diaspora.
On 16 February 2016, the 176 member states of the Governing Council of IFAD, unanimously declared 16 June the INTERNATIONAL DAY OF FAMILY REMITTANCES.
The Objective of this day, now held annually, is to recognize and raise global awareness of the fundamental contribution made by migrant workers to the wellbeing of their families and communities back home, and to the sustainable development of their countries of origin.