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GENEVA, Feb 7 (KUNA) -- The International Organizatioon for Migration (IOM) said Tuesday that migrants now number between an estimated 185-192 million people who last year officially sent an estimated USD 232 billion in remittances, USD167 billion to developing countries.
IOM spokesperson Jemini Pandya noted that sending remittances through informal channels is estimated to be at least 50 per cent of recorded flows, implying that the true size of remittances reaching development countries last year is probably more than US USD 250 billion.
She added; in the bi-weekly UN press briefing, that remittances are an important financial inflow to least developed countries, with Bangladesh for example, listed in the top 20 remittances receiving countries.
In developing countries, they also constitute the second largest capital flow after direct foreign investment and have helped to improve the standard of living of millions of people by providing them with essential resources for food, housing, health and education.
However, remittance flows to Africa, where 35 out of 50 of the least developed countries are to be found, and in particular to the Sub-Saharan Region, are not only considerably low compared to other countries, but are also heavily under-reported.
The lack of efficient, adequate and reliable banking facilities, high transfer costs and low access to the formal sector are some of the reasons for the use of informal channels.
IOM Deputy Director General Ndioro Ndiaye said that by 2015, more than half of the world's poor will be living in sub-Saharan Africa.
"It's the most critical challenge facing Africa and this conference which gathers most of the least developed countries is a unique opportunity to commonly explore new and innovative ways of enhancing the development of the world's poorest," she added.
She explained that her organization has done considerable research in order to provide governments with tools to define their remittance policies, including in Bangladesh, Burundi, Cambodia, Haiti, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, all of which number among least developed countries.
In this context a two-day ministerial conference gets underway on Thursday in Benin's capital, Cotonou aimed at improving the impact of migrant remittances on development in the world's least developed countries.
The two-day conference will end with the adoption of a series of recommendations to optimize the development benefits of remittances and to mobilize support for their implementation
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