The impact of remittances on rural transformation in Africa: from commitments to action

On Friday 11 October, the 2019 Ecuadorian Chairmanship of the Global Forum on Migration and Development, in partnership with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the African Union’s African Institute for Remittances (AIR) successfully hosted the event on “The impact of remittances on rural transformation in Africa: from commitments to action”, at the African Union Commission (AUC) in Addis Ababa.

The event saw the participation of an high number of AU Member States representatives, additional Permanent Missions in Addis Ababa (Chile, Mexico, Norway, Sweden), many international organizations involved in the field of migration for development (ILO, IOM, UNCDF, UNCTAD, among others), and civil society associations/NGOs, including diaspora organizations and Trust Funds. Almost 100 people attended.

The event focused on opportunities and challenges of the African remittance market, and on how migrants’ money can be leveraged to foster sustainable development back home, in response to global objectives on remittance cost reduction (SDG 10.c) and implementation of Objective 20 of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.

The event’s recommendations and key messages will feed the GFMD discussions that will take place at the Summit in Quito (Ecuador) on 19-22 November.