Over 250 million migrant workers live outside the country they call home. A significant majority of them send money home, typically US$200 or US$300 several times a year.
Remittances represent more than three times Official Development Assistance and often surpass foreign direct investment.
Remittances are crucial for families and often represent more than 50 per cent of family income. These funds allow families to address their basics needs such as food, housing, health and education but also help them to raise their living standards above subsistence levels.
Remittances can also be a powerful engine for development, in particular in rural areas where 40 per cent of the flows go.
Remittances are also crucial in fragile states or disaster-affected regions. They are often the only income families have, and thus can play a role in the reconstruction and stabilisation of those states.
The International Day of Family Remittances is an opportunity to highlight the immense potential of remittances for development.
The International Day of Family Remittances was unanimously proclaimed by all 176 IFAD Member States during its Governing Council in February 2015, and will be submitted to the United Nations General Assembly for formal endorsement in 2016.
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