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Non-formal (additional) Aid resources

“Do not eat on your own”

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Diasporas have substantial financial resources
In 2010, most remittances worldwide were transferred to Asia and to OECD countries. These
transfers are nine and seven times higher than remittances to Sub-Saharan Africa, and about

four times higher compared with remittances sent to other regions.
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Remittances sent by migrants to their families back home represent one channel through which

diasporas can have an impact in their countries of origin. Remittances represent one of the
largest sources of foreign currency. But they are mainly private, intra-familial flows; they have
positive direct effects on the socioeconomic conditions of the recipients, but less obvious

macroeconomic impacts (OECD, 2005; Adams and Page, 2005; Torres and Kuznetsov, 2006;
Fajnzylber and López, 2007). Furthermore, the potential positive impact of remittances on the

community through short-term multiplier effects are expected to be limited, because
remittances are largely used for basic consumption. Increasing evidence suggests, however,
that remittances are also largely used for investing in education and health, notably for children,

and so have a direct impact on human capital accumulation.
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Community or hometown associations (HTAs) can have an important role in collecting

remittances for the benefit of local communities. HTAs pool remittances based on an
organised network of emigrants from the same village, state or region. Their use is flexible and
can be targeted at specific investment purposes according to local needs. Although there are

no systematic estimates of the flow of community remittances, it seems that they represent
only a small share of total flows.

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One in three Sub-Saharan Africans would like to emigrate permanently
One in three residents in the Sub-Saharan African countries surveyed expresses a desire to
migrate permanently to another country. Although this proportion decreased by 5 percentage

points from earlier readings, it still represents the highest percentage among all regions.
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As expected, the picture is more diverse across countries than across regions with regard to the
desire to emigrate (Figure 1.8). About half of the population aged 15 and over in Haiti (54%),

Sierra Leone (52%), the Dominican Republic (52%), Liberia (47%) and in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (46%) express their desire to move permanently to another country. “

"Connecting with Emigrants: A Global Profile of Diasporas" 485
OECD, 2012.
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