- International Day of Family Remittances (IDFR) is a United Nations observance held on June 16.
- Its main goal is to recognize the financial contribution made by migrant workers to the sustainable development of their countries of origin.
- The IDFR recognizes the more than 200 million migrant workers, women and men, who send money home to over 800 million family members.
- This day further highlights the great resilience of migrant workers in the face of economic insecurities, natural and climate-related disasters and a global pandemic.
- The IDFR is now globally recognized and is a key initiative in the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (Objective 20), which urges the reduction of transfer costs and greater financial inclusion through remittances.
- This day was created to stimulate active cooperation between the public and private sectors to maximize the impact of these funds in developing countries.
- In 2016, IDFR was supported by 80 money transfer operators who committed to take action to ensure that the hard-earned money sent by migrant workers counts for even more.
- The Day was officially endorsed by the UN General Assembly.
- Remittance flows have increased five-fold over the past twenty years, serving in a counter-cyclical capacity during economic downturns in recipient countries.
- COVID-19 has been a formidable test for global remittances. However, early forecasts of sharp declines greatly underestimated the resilience in remittances flows.
- A May 2021 report by the World Bank reveals a drop in remittances of only 1.6 per cent in 2020, to US$540 billion from US$548 in 2019.
