 It is my pleasure to be speaking to you on the day of international family remittances. As well as being a lifeline to migrants and their families, remittances remain important to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda. They provide a regular source of income and pay for essential items such as food, shelter, education and health expenses. It's a development goal in its own right. These helps build resilience, reduce vulnerability and enable adaptation to crises and shocks induced by conflicts and the climate crisis. That portion that it spends on immediate needs can be invested in developing businesses and creating jobs, playing an important role in local and community development. Digitalization can further improve the development impact of remittances. IOM collaborates with a broad range of partners to empower and digitally and financially include people on the move. Yet we recognize that more can be done for those remain excluded, such as migrants with irregular status, and to address the financial, legal and practical barriers they experience in assessing digital financial services. At IOM, we work closely with all migrants, diasporas, refugees and internally displaced persons, so that their remittances can have greater impact on both their families and communities of origin. We include financial and digital literacy as part of pre-departure orientation programs. We conduct field research to understand how remittance flows shape migration. We work with diaspora groups to raise awareness of digital remittances and we develop innovative programs for diasporas to channel their remittances into investment in their own communities. Yet, we can do more to improve the impact their remittances have. IOM studies show that informal remittances which are cash-based and expensive remain popular, even more so than formal channels in some countries. While improving awareness and increasing access to formal channels can be achieved through financial and digital inclusion, many migrants will lack the necessary means to take advantage of that. More needs to be done to promote legal pathways and fair and ethical recruitment to alleviate their situation. Hearing the perspective of migrants and diaspora is a critical tool if we are to maximize the contributions of their remittances. Looking forward, IOM's priority will be to continue to empower migrants and elevate their voice through initiatives such as the Global Diaspora Policy Alliance, working with a range of stakeholders and focusing on the attainment of specific development goals with a focus on health and well-being, gender, youth and climate action. On this international day of family remittances, IOM calls upon member states, international organizations and the private sector to provide for the financial and digital inclusion of full migrants in order for them to take advantage of fast, cheaper and safer formal remittance channels such as that they can realize their full potential as actors and financiers for sustainable development.