Almaty – On 17 November 2020 IOM has conducted a regional kick-off meeting for government partners, national banks, private sector, donors, and international partners of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and the Russian Federation, working on remittances and money transfer.

The participants had learned about IOM's work on remittances, poverty reduction, and development and got acquainted with the team of international researchers and research methods to study the remittance management policy and market in Central Asian countries and the Russian Federation as well as the behavior of migrants towards remittances, including digital remittances.
This was the first meeting to present the start of research. Continuing thematic consultations with the banking sector and relevant government stakeholders will be conducted by IOM Missions in each country during the upcoming several months.

COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have considerably reduced the volumes of remittances and decreased access to financial services for remittance senders and remittance recipients. Given that migrants are often the only breadwinners for their families in the countries of origin it is important that remittances are acknowledged by all stakeholders as essential financial services for migrants and their families, and they are provided with developed and secure tools for digital remittances.

The initiative is supported by the regional IOM project "Mitigating Socio-Economic Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Migrants and Communities in Central Asia and The Russian Federation", funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

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For more information, please contact Ms. Svetlana Zhassymbekova, Regional Project Coordinator via e-mail at bekmambetova@iom.int.