D-8 and IYF signed an MOU for Cooperation on Migration Workers, Remittances and Microfinance Project

Baltimore, USA | December 03, 2008 by D-8 Secretariat

Dipo Alam and William S. Reese

Another breakthrough has been initiated by D-8 Organization in the remittance sector this week. The D-8 Organization in collaboration with The International Youth Foundation (IYF) proposes to implement a pilot program in Indonesia and Pakistan to promote the increased use of remittances from overseas workers for investments that will promote food security and employment in the origin areas of the workers.  The initial program will be established in selected areas of these two countries and implemented in collaboration through Indonesian and Pakistani governments, banking institutions, private sector recruitment companies and agricultural development NGOs coordinated by Indonesia Business Links (IBL) in Indonesia and Rural Support Program Network (RSPN) in Pakistan.

In addition to the productive outcomes that will be created from the program through agricultural and SME investments in the areas of origin of overseas workers, the program is designated to contribute to the welfare and productivity of the increasing number of overseas workers by better preparing them for their overseas work and life; to increase the efficiency, security and lower the cost of transferring  remittances for migrant workers using formal transfer mechanisms; and to increase the attractiveness of utilizing formal channels for remittances for both documented and undocumented overseas workers in select destination countries.

The pilot program will lead to a broader effort under the D-8 Organization to implement similar programs in other D-8 member countries, most of which have significant flows of remittances from large populations of overseas workers. Since the flows of remittances between origin and recipient countries differ considerably in their characteristics, each of these programs will be tailored to the specific circumstances of worker sending and destination countries.

Both parties has signed an MoU in Baltimore, USA, on Wednesday (03/12/08). According to the MoU which was signed by Dipo Alam, Secretary General of D-8, and William S. Reese, CEO of International Youth Foundation, both parties will work to develop a framework for sustained collaboration between D-8 and IYF to include set of programs, such as:

I. IYF Programs. A variety of IYF youth education and employability programs, currently being implemented, designed, or proposed, could potentially benefit from D-8′ s participation. As opportunities for possible collaboration arise through these variou s avenues, the parties will confer with one another about possible partnership possibilities:

a. Education and Employment Alliance (EEA): Under its EEA program, IYF seeks to develop new public-private alliances in six countries of which three are 0-8 member countries, namely Egypt, Indonesia, and Pakistan. Through these local Alliances, IYF works with partners to design programs, make sub-grants to worthy projects, and monitor and evaluate their progress. Many of these Alliances and programs may provide specific avenues for D-8 participation, particularly in supporting entrepreneurial-related activities in EEA countries relevant to the remittance program.

b. Youth: Work: IYF has recently entered into a new partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for a global youth employability program called “Youth.Work”. As IYF implements this youth employability program, it will discuss specific avenues for D-8’s participation in its member countrie s in the Middle East-North Africa region, Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.

c. Other Programs: IYF frequently designs new programs for proposals to multilateral and bilateral donors, often in countries ofD-8 membership. Such programs could potentially include the D-8’s commitment to participate in related activity should it be approved for implementation.

Another top issus covered is about Remittances-Related Program Partnership between D-8 and IYF. In this program, the both parties are committed to collaboratively designing a new program that encourages migrant workers to use formal channels to send remittances home and invest in agriculture related small and medium enterprises, thereby promoting food security in D-8 member countries. This collaboration will start with the design of a proposed pilot program in Indonesia and Pakistan. Both IYF and D-8 agree to work closely in submitting this important proposal to various donor agencies, financial institutions, program partners and others in a collaborative manner for funding and programmatic support in the coming months.

Realising the significance of remittance sector, D-8 Organisation through its secretariat has been working on a concentrated initiative to set up a D-8 working group on this issue to help member countries to better route this potential remittance for the development of the D-8 member countries. “Due to their large number of populations, our member countries are among the big supplier of migrant worker until now, and it is our utmost interest to seek the best mechanism to channel this resources to the systematised efforts to reduce and eliminate poverty, such as agricultural-aid programs, small-micro investment funds, institutionalisation of the micro-financial system in remote villages, and the improvement of remittances services for poor people,” said D-8 Secretary General, Dr. Dipo Alam.

D-8 Commissioner had voiced their support to develop D-8 Working Group on Migrant Workers, Remittances, and Microfinance during the Commissioner Meeting in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, November last year.

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