Queen Máxima to take part in International Day of Family Remittances in Milan

Her Majesty Queen Máxima will take part in the first International Day of Family Remittances on Tuesday 16 June in Milan, on the first day of the Global Forum on Remittances and Development being held from 16 to 19 June. The forum aims to launch a discussion on the contribution migrant workers can make to their families' prosperity and to economic growth and development in the developing countries they come from. 

Queen Máxima will attend the conference as the UN Secretary-General's Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development. Other participants will include representatives of public and private financial institutions, international organisations, policymaking bodies, think-tanks and migrants' organisations.

World Bank figures forecast that over 250 million people from developing countries will work abroad in 2015, sending a total of USD 440 billion annually to their families. Besides examining how migrants can contribute to development in their home countries, the conference will discuss how migrants' earnings can be used most effectively to reduce poverty.

As the Secretary-General's Special Advocate, Queen Máxima will speak about the importance of secure, affordable methods of transferring money to migrants' home countries and of receiving it there. The discussion will also focus on financial education for labour migrants. Knowledge and proper use of financial products and services can help maximise the impact of migrants' earnings.  

The Global Forum on Remittances and Development is being organised by the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the World Bank Group and the European Commission.