Baku - On 20 December 2021, IOM Azerbaijan organized a virtual briefing for the UN Network on Migration in Azerbaijan on the topic of digital remittances. 30 stakeholders from Network members, UN agencies, embassies, national think tanks, and NGOs gathered to discuss and overview IOM Azerbaijan and its partners' activities on remittance. The meeting was held as a follow-up to the recommendations of the Progress Declaration, adopted at the International Migration Review Forum (IMRF), on digital solutions for faster, safer, and cheaper remittances, promoting digital and financial inclusion and accelerating access to transaction accounts for migrants.

The meeting was opened with remarks by Chief of IOM Mission in Azerbaijan Mr. Vladimir Gjorgjiev, UN Resident Coordinator, Ms. Vladanka Andreeva as co-chairs of the Network, and valuable remarks from Mr. Vusal Huseynov, Chief of State Migration Service. All speakers emphasized the importance of the collaborative work of the Network to achieve goals and support activities in the field of migration.

Mr. Vladimir Gjorgjiev informed participants about the “Enhancing the Socioeconomic Benefits of Remittances in Azerbaijan” project, which is implemented in partnership with the State Migration Service and with funding from the IOM Development Fund.

Drawing attention to the importance of remittance for migrants Ms. Vladanka Andreeva highlighted that “During the first 6 months of 2022, remittance inflows to Azerbaijan totalled 1.6 billion USD and it is a quite substantial amount of money."

Mr. Vusal Huseynov noted that remittance has really great importance in terms of the life of migrants and their families they have left behind. He mentioned that the IMRF Progress Declaration recommendations cover issues related to remittances and expressed his hope that the jointly implemented project by the IOM Azerbaijan and the SMS on this topic will bring positive results.

After speeches, the participants were briefed on the IOM’s activities on remittances, assessment report of remittances flow, and remittances stakeholder analysis and mapping, which were presented by Mr. Michael Newson, Senior Labour Mobility & Social Inclusion Specialist at the IOM Regional Office for South-Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia and Ms. Anna Prokhorova, International expert, research team lead.

The participants of the event also exchanged views on issues related to migration, remittance solutions and noted the importance of cooperation between the parties to achieve the goals of the project.

During the Q&A session, representatives of local NGOs expressed the readiness of civil society organizations to contribute towards financial inclusion and the uptake of digital remittances.

It should be noted that the overall objective of the 2-year project on remittances is to contribute towards greater financial inclusion and use of digital financial services among Azerbaijani emigrants abroad/migrants in Azerbaijan and remittance recipients in Azerbaijan/abroad to support sustainable livelihood development.