Program on Remittances and Development -- ARCHIVE WEBSITE
[this project is no longer active]
Since the early 1990's international remittance flows have grown rapidly, as has public attention to the phenomenon. In 2005, global flows of remittances were expected to be measured at $167 billion. This number may be only one-half to two-thirds of the actual amount, however, as large sums of money travel through informal channels.
Remittances are a survival tool for many families; they help them to access healthcare and education, to accumulate savings, to build and improve homes or to invest in a business. These funds go directly to the people who need them without getting mired in official aid bureaucracies.
The Program on Remittances and Development aims to conduct research, share knowledge and train new leaders in remittances, pro-poor financial services and economic and human development. The Program’s guiding principle is that remittances - with appropriate intermediation - can improve development outcomes at household, community and national levels. By defining and promoting best practices, the Program will craft strategies for governments, the financial sector, aid organizations and civil society in remittance receiving and sending countries to expand options for remittance senders and receivers.
Within the Earth Institute at Columbia University, the program is housed at the Center on Globalization and Sustainable Development, the interdisciplinary social sciences research arm of the Earth Institute.
This program was launched with the support of the Multilateral Investment Fund of the Inter-American Development Bank, which has been promoting awareness of remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean since 2001 with research, program support, conferences and regional technical round tables.
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Program Description En español
News and Press Reports The New Foreign Aid, LA Times series on remittances, April 2006 Immigration Activists Target U.S. Businesses in Mexico, National Public Radio April 2006 "First Data Plans to Spin off Western Union" MSNBC January 2006 "Citibank Announces Pioneering Pilot Program to Ecuador: Remit up to $3,000 to Ecuador for $5" December 2005 "IDB fund announces program to support academic research on remittances" December 2005 "First Data Corporation Joins New Initiative to Promote Community, Economic Development in Mexico" October 2005 Recent Publications Global Economic Prospects 2006: Economic Implications of Remittances and Migration The World Bank
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Program Resources Course at Columbia University Migrant Remittances and Economic Development Course - School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University Spring 2006 Research and Publications Making Remittances Work for Development: Leveraging Remittances to the Housing Market - Workshop Paper: School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University December 2005 "The Colombian Remittance Industry in Jackson Heights, Queens" - Workshop Paper: Masters in Public Administration Program, Columbia University December 2004 "Financial Institutions and the Remittances Market in the Dominican Republic" Case Study, November 2004 En Español
Coming soon! Case Studies for Mexico, Ecuador, Guatemala Conferences "Sending Money Home" conference at Columbia University on remittances between the Dominican Republic and United States, November 2004
Links to Publications Find resources by Issue Area Find resources by Region Links to Institutions Academic and Research Institutions Financial Institutions International and Regional Institutions Conferences |