Join the Global Forum on Remittances, Investment and Development Summit - 16-17 June 2021

Rome, 10 June 2021 – Despite dire predictions, migrants continued to send money home to their families throughout the pandemic, with remittances in 2020 reaching US$540 billion– a drop of only 1.6 percent. More than $12 billion was transferred by mobile phone - a dramatic increase of 65 per cent from 2019 – as lockdowns limited the transfer of cash through informal channels.

World experts will discuss the resilience of migrant workers’ remittances and the opportunities of   digitalization and the challenges ahead at the the Global Forum on Remittances, Investment and Development (GFRID) – Summit 2021, hosted by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The two-day summit will begin on 16 June on the occasion of the International Day of Family Remittances (IDFR).

WHO: Speakers include Michael McCord, Managing Director, MicroInsurance;  Dare Okoudjou, CEO and Founder, MFS Africa; Claire Sibthorpe, Head of Connected Women, Connected Society and Assistive Tech, GSMA; Antonia Esser, Engagement Manager, Centre for Financial Regulation and Inclusion (CENFRI), Manuel Orozco, Director, Center for Migration and Economic Stabilization; Magalie Emile-Backer, Co-founder, Haiti Renewal Alliance; Louise Baker, Managing Director, Global Mechanism of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and Leon Isaacs, Chief Executive Officer, Developing Markets Associates Global (DMAG). 

WHEN: 16-17 June 2021; 10.00-17.00 hours CEST (GMT +2)

WHERE: Virtual platform. For more information and to follow the webcast, please register at www.gfrid.org/summit.

For more information on the IDFR:  https://familyremittances.org/

AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS:

• Pedro de Vasconcelos, Manager of the Financing Facility for Remittances, IFAD.

---

MA/06/2021

IFAD invests in rural people, empowering them to reduce poverty, increase food security, improve nutrition and strengthen resilience. Since 1978, we have provided US$23.2 billion in grants and low-interest loans to projects that have reached an estimated 518 million people. IFAD is an international financial institution and a United Nations specialized agency based in Rome – the United Nations food and agriculture hub.