Remittances in Crisis: How to Keep them Flowing
The flow of global remittances to low- and middle-income countries is projected by the World Bank to decline sharply by about 20% – by USD 110 billion – in 2020, compared with total global official development assistance of USD 153 billion in 2019. The reason is clear: the COVID-19 crisis. This fall in remittances, the steepest in recent history, is mainly due to the fact that migrant workers are particularly vulnerable to wage reductions and job cuts in their host countries.
The Governments of Switzerland and the United Kingdom, in partnership with the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), the World Bank Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development (KNOMAD), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the International Association of Money Transfer Networks (IAMTN) and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), are launching a global Call to Action aiming at keeping remittances flowing through the crisis and mitigating the impact on the people and economies most affected, by calling on policymakers, regulators and remittance service providers to take measures that facilitate the flow of remittances from migrants and diaspora members to their families and communities in low- and middle-income countries during the crisis.
