Switzerland - The International Organization for Migration (IOM) yesterday (17/09) signed a Tripartite Agreement with the Universal Postal Union (UPU) and Burundi Post, launching an integrated project which will utilize different components of the postal sector in Burundi to achieve lasting socio-economic development for the rural population as well as for the Burundian diaspora.

IOM Director General William Lacy Swing, Bishar Abdirahman Hussein, Director General of UPU and Salvator Nizigiyimana, Director General of the Burundi Post (Régie Nationale des Postes, or RNP) signed on behalf of their respective organizations at a ceremony in IOM HQ in Geneva.

Remittances from migrants to their families in their countries of origin total an estimated USD 540 billion annually, and the costs associated with these money transfers are often prohibitively high, placing a severe burden on migrant families and affecting their well-being. 

This project aims to reduce these remittance costs, thereby contributing to the well-being of migrants and to global development.   In summary, the project will improve access to communication services, reduce remittance costs, promote financial education for migrants and their families, and provide access to financial services for rural populations as well as access to international markets for small producers.  While the initial project pilot will be in Burundi, the intention is to replicate this model in other developing countries in Africa and elsewhere.  Supporters of the initial pilot in Burundi include Belgium and Turkey.

The USD 4 million project will be jointly implemented by the UPU, IOM and the RNP to capitalize on these institutions' complementarity in the fields of migration and development on the one hand, and financial and communication services on the other. IOM will be responsible for the management and allocation of funds, and will support activities in Burundi through its office in Bujumbura.

The project will rely on IOM’s knowledge and experience in migration and development and the UPU’s technical knowledge and infrastructure for financial transfers and services.  The first phase of the project will be to establish a functional low-cost international money transfer operation based on UPU’s recognized international finance platform. Once this operation is running, it is expected to promote competition in the market place, significantly reducing transfer prices in the remittance corridors to Burundi. The other phases of the project will make a positive contribution to development through improved financial education and access to financial services and international markets. 

“Many of the most highly qualified and skilled Burundians now live and work abroad and send money home on a regular basis,” said Kristina Mejo, Chief of Mission of IOM Burundi.

“However, analyses show that Burundi—and in particular, its rural population—is affected by numerous issues: expensive informal remittances; financial exclusion; communications difficulties; and a lack of economic opportunities. All of which hamper potential economic and social development and poverty reduction for migrants’ families and rural population,” Mejo added.

IOM and UPU, conscious of the close link between migration and development, wish to launch an integrated project using the different components of the postal sector to actively contribute to the formation of a virtuous circle to assist Burundi's migrants, their families, and communities in rural parts of the country. This integrated project aims at meeting the needs of the diaspora by capitalizing on the opportunities for socio-economic development in Burundi provided by the country's postal sector. 

For further information, please contact Bruce Reed in IOM Geneva, Tel: +41-22-717-9330, Email: breed@iom.int  or Kristina Mejo, IOM Burundi, Tel: +257 7125 6332, Email: kmejo@iom.int