Global Forum on Remittances and Development (GFRD2015), Milan, Italy, 16 – 19 June 2015

Global Forum on Remittances and Development (GFRD) 2015
The fifth Global Forum on Remittances and Development (GFRD), convened by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the World Bank and the European Commission, took place from 16 to 19 June 2015 in Milan, Italy. The event brought together more than 420 policymakers, private-sector stakeholders, civil-society leaders and delegates from 70 countries, to pave the way for leveraging the development impact of remittances. This fifth edition, dedicated to Europe, also coincided with the first observance of the International Day of Family Remittances aimed at recognizing the importance of remittances to families in developing countries, and the launch of the new IFAD report “Sending Money Home: European flows and markets”, which analysed the US$ 109 billion remittance market and its individual flows within and from Europe as well as development related issues such as financial inclusion and ramifications for fragile states.
While figures have increased over the years, the take-home message and key words resonate around the same concepts: Access, financial inclusion, entrepreneurship, opportunities to save and invest. All are related to key development goals that can help make migration a choice rather than a necessity and provide hope for millions of families to remain together.
Despite the significant progress achieved in recent years and the increasing role that remittances play in the development of countries of origin, much more still needs to be done, in terms of operations and advocacy.
As we enter the post 2015 era and its development goals at a time of limited resources, migrants and their families are an inspiration for development organizations like IFAD. Towards the aim of making their efforts count, participants called upon governments, private sector institutions, NGOs, and civil society groups, to join in a global effort to make a difference in this field. In addition, identifying concrete roles each stakeholders can play in order to make migrants’ remittances count more should be prioritized while keeping in mind that promoting effective mechanisms to further leverage their investments back home in their families and in the communities where they live is essential.
Beyond 2015, stakeholders should identify and apply already proven ways to scale these efforts to spur development taking into account what more than 100 experts and more than 400 participants who took part during this GFRD brought to the table in terms of latest innovations, trends and challenges.

For more information: http://www.ifad.org/remittances/events/2015/globalforum/

GFMD 2015 - RT 1.2

International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

World Bank

European Commission