G20 Development Working Group Submissions
Saint Petersburg Accountability Report on G20 Development Commitments
GROWTH WITH RESILIENCE PILLAR⁹
Social protection programs and remittances play
an important role in enhancing income security for
vulnerable communities in developing countries,
including by providing buffers against the impact of
external shocks. Every year some 50 million people
escape from absolute poverty because of social
protection, which can help poor families avoid
decisions with lasting development implications
such as withdrawing children from school, eating
less nutritious foods and reducing health spending.
Half of all global remittance flows are sent from
or received by G20 members. Official remittance
flows are more than US$406 billion about three
times the level of overseas development assistance.
Recognizing the vulnerabilities revealed by recent
crises, the G20 committed in its 2010 MYAP to
taking action on social protection and remittances to
enhance resilient growth in LICs.
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In 2010, the G20 committed to supporting
developing countries to strengthen and enhance
social protection programs (MYAP Commitment
54), asking relevant IOs to: identify lessons learned
from implementing social protection mechanisms
in developing countries; prepare best practice
guidelines; and make recommendations on how to
surmount barriers inhibiting knowledge sharing and
program replication or expansion. The G20 has
since supported initiatives, including the launch of
the first UN Global Pulse Lab* in Jakarta, Indonesia,
in October 2012; establishing the Social Protection
Inter-Agency Cooperation Board ** to improve
coordination among IOs on social protection
in LICs (see box below); and an on-line Social
Protection Knowledge-Sharing Gateway' and
an e-learning capacity building platform.
***
In the MYAP, the G20 asked IOs to work with members
and non-members to advance implementation of
the General Principles for International Remittance
Services and other initiatives to reduce the global
average cost of transferring remittances (MYAP
Commitment 58).
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Chapter 2
Implementation of G20 Commitments
on Development
.
In-Depth Assessment: G20 remittance target
At the 2011 Cannes Summit, leaders agreed to
work towards reducing the global average cost
of transferring remittances from 10 % to 5% by
2014. This is unique among G20 development
commitments as it sets a specific target for driving
action.
Alignment with Core G20 and DWG Mandate
Reduction in remittance costs advances G20 efforts
to achieve strong and inclusive growth. Lower
costs increase flows to developing countries, which
expands aggregate demand and improves income
security and resilience to adverse shocks. This in
turn helps narrow the development gap and reduce
poverty. The remittance target also aligns well with
the principles of "economic growth focus" and of
"global partnership" (a clear target helps foster a
transparent partnership with developing countries).
COMMITMENT 58: Work to reduce the
average cost of transferring remittances from
10% to 5% by 2014
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Implementation
Since G20 leaders set the target in 2011, efforts to
reduce sending costs have resulted in another US$1
billion going to poor families in developing countries
each year. Examples of actions taken to reduce
remittance costs (either by the G20 collectively or
by members voluntarily) include:
aunching the G20 Remittances Toolkit in 2011;
funding the World Bank Remittances Trust Fund,
which currently assists 10 developing countries
and is scoping a further 9; an AfDB trust fund
called the Migration and Development Initiative,
which France, the United States and IFAD are
contributing to. Since 2010, the trust fund has
been supporting actions undertaken in Africa
9 Since 2010, Australia, Indonesia and Italy have co-
facilitated this work under the DWG's Growth with Resilience
Pillar. The ILO, UNDP and MDBs have been major
contributors.View entire presentation