Not only are remittances a “critical lifeline” for millions globally, the direct benefits of money sent home by migrant workers touch the lives of one in every seven persons on the planet – over one billion people, the United Nations rural development agency has said.

Remittances are vital for millions of families, helping them to address their own development goals, but we can help them do more and build their longer-term future,” said Gilbert Houngbo, the President of the International Fund for Ag

The UN General Assembly on Tuesday unanimously proclaimed 16 June as the International Day of Family Remittances. The new observance will celebrate the vital contributions of migrants and their families to sustainable development.

In 2017, migrant workers sent an estimated $613 billion to their families back home of which $466 billion went to developing countries. Family remittances are a vital source of income for millions of migrant families across the world.

Today, 55% of the world’s population lives in urban areas, a proportion that is expected to increase to 68% by 2050.

By 2050, two out of every three people are likely to be living in cities or other urban centres, according to a new United Nations report, highlighting the need for more sustainable urban planning and public services.

Owing to both demographic shifts and overall population growth, that means that around 2.5 billion people could be added to urban areas by the middle of the century, predicts the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).

Most of the increase is expected to

“Migrants are needed in virtually all job markets; they bring skills and they help economies flourish. Although migrants represent just slightly over 3 per cent of the global population, they contributed 9 per cent of global GDP in 2015,” said Louise Arbour, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative on International Migration, in her message to the Global Forum on Remittances, Investment and Development, that kicked off in Kuala Lumpur on 8 May.

Indeed, the contribution of international migration is significant.

“I’m the CEO of 734 and I hire people who need jobs,” said Manyang Reath Kher, winning a burst of applause from the room. A Sudanese refugee, Mr. Kher came to the United States at age 17 and launched the successful coffee brand called 734.

The world is on the move, and today an estimated 258 million international migrants are living outside their country of birth. While global population movements grab headlines, a quiet revolution tiptoes in the background, dramatically changing our world – the great migration of humanity into cities. From just 746 million in 1950, the world’s urban population has ballooned to over 4 billion today.

A great migration of humanity into cities is under way, and with millions drawn to urban areas for the promise of a better life, the main United Nations forum on population opened its annual session on Monday examining ways to protect people on the move and help create cities that can embrace the massive number of new arrivals.

“People are moving at high rates within national borders, and international migration is growing more complex, with more countries serving simultaneously as countries of origin, transit and destination,” said Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed at the openi

Judging by media reports alone, we might be led to believe that migration is the defining challenge of the 21st century; that it is an unprecedented strain on the social services of states and a threat to their values. Yet, recent UN DESA data shows that 96.6 per cent of all people live in the country of their birth.

International organizations, policy experts, statisticians and civil society came together on Monday at a United Nations-supported forum in Paris to answer the global call for more accurate and timely information on migration flows and examine how improved data collection can feed into better policymaking.

Organized jointly by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM