International Day of Family Remittances
Next: June 16, 2027
For everyone who sends love home.
The story
Where it comes from
The idea for this day came from Asia. At the Global Forum on Remittances in Bangkok in May 2013, people from government, business and civil society called for a day to honour the migrant workers who send money home to their families. On 16 February 2015 the Governing Council of IFAD, the UN's International Fund for Agricultural Development, proclaimed 16 June the International Day of Family Remittances, and it was first celebrated that June in Milan. On 12 June 2018 the UN General Assembly adopted it as a UN day.
How it's celebrated
IFAD, governments, banks, money-transfer firms and migrant groups hold talks and events on making it cheaper and safer to send money home, especially to rural areas. For many families it is simply a day to thank the parent, child or sibling working far away, whose regular transfer pays for school, food, medicine and a roof.
Did you know
- IFAD estimates that about 200 million migrant workers send money home to some 800 million family members.
- A typical transfer is only $200 or $300, and IFAD says remittances are about 15% of what migrants earn; the rest is spent where they work.
- Taken together, the money migrants send home is more than three times all official development aid.
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