IFAD’s Finance Facility for Remittances (FFR), as a multi-donor facility, under the 2010 call for proposals, will provide funding support to projects and activities that will “reduce the transfer costs of remittances, develop institutional partnership, bank the unbanked rural population, promote innovative remittance and financial services and promote productive rural investment of migrants’ capital in their countries of origin.” In the light of these objectives, FFR’s annual call for proposals aim to “improve access to remittances in rural areas; link remittances to additional financial services and products; develop productive rural investment channels for migrants and community-based organizations; and promote awareness-creation and foster an enabling environment for rural remittances.”
Reducing the cost of transfer of remittances is an important component of the project as the Sending Money Home to Africa regional report presented at the 2009 Global Forum on Remittances pointed out that though African migrants send more than $40 billion as remittances back home, the restrictive laws and costly fees prevent effective use of remittances against poverty in the region. Therefore, projects under this call can also propose mechanisms to mitigate these problems.
FFR is currently supporting more than 40 innovative projects across 38 countries around the world. These projects are implemented in collaboration with local organizations and work towards promoting remittances so that rural people are able to access finances for their development. The current call for proposals also believes in scaling up innovations and building projects based upon best practices and lessons learned in other parts of the world.
