Webinar: Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Migrants and Remittances in LAC

This event is organized by the Inter-American Dialogue (IAD), a Cities Alliance grantee under our Cities and Migration Programme. We are currently working with IAD on the implementation of a remittance project in San Marcos, Guatemala.

According to the Inter-American Dialogue’s (IAD) recently released 2019 Annual Remittances Report, family remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean last year grew by approximately six percent, totalling nearly US$100 billion. The growth in remittances stood in contrast to the region’s slower economic growth of 0.6 percent according to the UN’s Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Given the Covid-19 pandemic and its economic implications on migrants, the IAD forecasts a negative three to five percent drop in remittances from the US in 2020 as compared to 2019, from 77 to 75 billion. The economic consequences for the region will likely be significant. Venezuela, Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala are among the countries with the highest levels of remittance dependence and will likely be the most affected by the remittance growth decline in 2020. 

This context raises important questions about the pandemic’s impact on migrants and remittances such as:

• How vulnerable are migrants to the pandemic’s effects on health and economics?
• What are the economic impacts of the recession on remittance transfers? 
• How are money transfer businesses coping or leveraging opportunities in this new reality?

To discuss remittance trends and the impacts of the pandemic, the Dialogue is pleased to host a webinar as part of the IAD's Remittance Industry Observatory, an initiative that seeks to share information and analysis about the remittance market.

Speakers:

MARIELLEN JEWERS, Vice-President, Open Avenues Foundation (@MariellenMJ)

PIERO COEN, President and CEO, Grupo Coen (@PieroPCoen)

GENE NIGRO, Vice President of Global Business Development, Remitly (@Remitly)

Moderator:

MANUEL OROZCO, Program Director, Migration, Remittances and Development, Inter-American Dialogue (@manuelorozco65)

For more information regarding the impact of the coronavirus pandemic in the Americas visit IAD's website The Dialogue.