Global Forum on Remittances, Investment and Development (GFRID)
New York
Overview
This last Global Forum on Remittances, Investment and Development (GFRID), held at the United Nations Headquarters on 15 and 16 June 2017, marks a decade of successful forums.
The Forum brought together key decision makers from member states, the private sector and the civil society, involved in the field of migration and remittances for development. The Forum saw the participation of over 350 participants, gather to share lessons learned and best practices on innovative business models, to stimulate long-lasting partnerships, and to raise awareness towards the creation of a more enabling market, particularly in light of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs.
Acknowledged by former and by Louise Arbour, UN Secretary General's Special Representative for International Migration, the GFRID is now seen as a key platform to raise awareness and promote models and mechanisms aimed at leveraging the impact of migration and remittances for development.
Organized by IFAD in collaboration with the and the United Nations Department Of Economic And Social Affairs (UN-DESA), the Forum coincided with the celebration of the on 16 June, in recognition of the fundamental contribution of migrants to the wellbeing of their families and communities back home.
The event provided a substantial contribution to the global debate on remittances and migrant investment, pursuing efforts to significantly decrease transfer costs, maximize their impact for development, and ultimately contribute to achieving the SDGs. The Forum conclusions would also feed the current process towards the adoption of a Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration in 2018.
Documents
Organization of work
Thursday, 15 June 2017 |
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PRIVATE SECTOR DAY Session I: Sending money home: The landscape going forward
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10:00 – 10:40 | Plenary I. Opening | ||
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Welcoming remarks from the organizers
Keynote address from the Co-Chairmanship of 2017-2018 Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD)
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10:40 – 11:30 | Plenary II. Migrants’ contribution to development | ||
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Migrants sustain their home communities in many ways, notably through their financial contributions (remittances to their families and/or direct investment in local communities), and their entrepreneurial skills when they return home. These contributions present both opportunities and challenges for all involved: market players, governments, the migrants themselves and their families. Sending Money Home: Migrant workers’ contributions back home
Remittance Markets 2017
Format: Individual presentations and Q&A
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12:00 – 13:00 |
Session II: Enabling innovation – Inclusive business models for remittances and migrant investment
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Panel I A – Established market providers: Adapting to the future
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Panel I B – Diaspora investors and mechanisms
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Having developed successful businesses, traditional cash-based remittance companies now face new opportunities and challenges. Leading industry players will analyze the last decade of activities, sharing their vision on future developments and how to reach meaningful scale. This panel will showcase high-impact and time-tested remittance business models, and effective collaboration among stakeholders in lowering costs and improving access to both financial and non-financial services. Panelists
Moderator
Format: Panel discussion and Q&A |
While migrant investment has demonstrated considerable potential for supporting economic growth back home, it is still hampered by a lack of appropriate financial instruments and information. This panel will highlight some ongoing initiatives aimed at facilitating diaspora investment, and will discuss challenges and further opportunities in meeting diaspora investment needs. Panelists
Moderator
Format: Panel discussion and Q&A
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14:30 – 15:30 |
Panel II A – The regulatory framework: Current status and future prospects
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Panel II B – Expanding opportunities and instruments for diaspora investment
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Regulatory frameworks aim at balancing the need for a secure, level-playing field; in allowing competition and innovation, this outcome is not always achieved. This panel will address recent developments in the areas of competition, transparency, and de-risking, including good practices, models and prospects from regulatory authorities.
Panelists
Moderator
Format: Panel discussion and Q&A |
This panel will explore challenges and opportunities in promoting and supporting diaspora investment mechanisms. The panel will bring perspectives from financiers and civil society stakeholders on ways and roles towards nurturing, enhancing and mainstreaming this growing market. The panel will also address innovative or impact-investing mechanisms that could be adapted to respond to diaspora investment needs. Panelists
Moderator
Format: Panel discussion and Q&A |
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15:30-16:30 |
Session III: Achieving scale in an evolving remittance market |
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Panel I A – Innovative strategies
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Panel I B – Technology business models
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Reaching scale and driving down prices in money transfers requires new partnerships, harnessing technology and other innovations. This panel will bring together different sectors (MTOs, banks, postal networks, and formal financial institutions) to identify how the money transfer ecosystem will influence the marketplace in the near future. Panelists
Moderator
Format: Panel discussion and Q&A |
The remittance ecosystem in 2017 showcases models that go beyond “cash-to-cash,” using innovative tools and mechanisms for remittance-end customers. The panel will discuss new, inclusive, Panelists
Moderator
Format: Panel discussion and Q&A |
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16:45 – 17:45
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Plenary II. Financial inclusion through remittances: Opportunities hidden in plain sight
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Financial inclusion is widely recognized as the foremost mechanism for leveraging the impact of remittances and investments toward reaching a range of development goals. This panel will discuss good practices and challenges in achieving a concerted approach within and across sectors that will unleash the potential of remittances towards universal financial access. Panelists
Moderator
Format: Panel discussion and Q&A |
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17:45-18:00 | The RemTech Awards | ||
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The GFRID hosts the RemTech Awards, developed by Mohr World Consulting and the International Money Transfer Conferences (IMTC) to showcase the most innovative and outstanding ideas designed to improve remittance services worldwide. This presentation of the 2017 winners will spotlight companies, groups, collectives, or individuals whose ground-breaking solutions are improving transparency, speed, cost, and reliability for companies and end-users sending and receiving remittances every day.
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Friday, 16 June 2017 |
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10:00–11:00 |
FAMILY REMITTANCES DAY Session I: International Day of Family Remittances |
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Tribute to migrants and their families |
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The International Day of Family Remittances (IDFR), celebrated on 16 June, is aimed at recognizing the significant financial contribution migrant workers make to the wellbeing of their families back home and to the sustainable development of their countries of origin. It is also aimed at encouraging the public and private sectors, as well as the civil society, to do more and collaborate to maximize the impact of these funds in the developing world.
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11:00–12:00 |
Panel I. Sending Money Home: Migration and development |
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The contributions migrants and migration make to sustainable development have become increasingly evident in recent years, and were recognized in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) include several migration-related targets, which seek to reduce the costs of migration and increase its positive impact. Furthermore, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) provides concrete ways to 'make migration work for development'. This panel will discuss the prospects for achieving the SDGs and how migrant workers can contribute, and ways and means to implement the AAAA’s migration-related commitments. Integrating migration into national development planning
Making migration work for development: The contribution of the European Commission
Financing migration-related commitments in the 2030 Agenda
Addressing migration in the 2030 Agenda
Moderator
Format: Panel discussion |
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12:15–13:30 |
Panel II.The financial contribution of migrants, diaspora groups and refugees to development |
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The panel will showcase factual findings on how migrant workers’ remittances and investments contribute to their countries of origin. Panelists will also highlight examples of the role migrant and refugee communities play in the stability, reconstruction, and economic development of their countries of origin. Migrants and economic needs abroad
The contribution of migrants, refugees and diaspora for the development of their communities: Facts and figures
Bridging humanitarian action and sustainable development: The role of migrants and refugees
Financial needs of migrants and refugees
Moderator
Format: Individual presentations and Q&A
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15:00 – 15:15 | Session II: The Sustainable Development Goals and the Global Compact on Migration | ||
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The presentation will report on discussions held on 15 June and will introduce the process following the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, and the negotiations towards the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration. GFRID2017 - Contributing to the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration
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15:15–16:15 |
Panel I. What role do migrants’ contributions play? |
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The panel will bring to light migrant workers’ multifaceted contributions to development. This panel will discuss on concrete ways whereby governments can promote an enabling environment, and partner with private and civil society and other stakeholders to make migration work for development. Panelists
Moderator
Format: Individual presentations and Member States engagement and interaction
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16:30-17:30 | Panel II. Private sector engagement: A driving force to reach scale | ||
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The international community has recently called for a more concerted effort to bring together government policy makers and regulators, and financial and technology industry representatives, to increase access to financial services, and foster competition in the remittance and diaspora investment markets. This panel will bring together prominent private sector stakeholders, and will showcase current market opportunities and challenges in support of the SDGs. Panelists
Moderator
Format: Individual presentations and Member States engagement and interaction
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17:30-17:45 |
Regional opportunities and future of the Forum
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17:45 – 18:00
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Conclusions and the way forward
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Towards the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration
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Concluding remarks
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