UNITED NATIONS CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT FUND LAUNCHES PROGRAMME IN COLLABORATION WITH HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL EXECUTIVE EDUCATION
New program will build capacity of regulators and financial service providers to deliver remittances and related products to advance financial resilience of migrant households.
MONDAY 30 AUGUST 2021 (NEW YORK, NEW YORK)
The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) today announced a collaboration with Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education (HKSEE) and the Evidence for Policy Design team to launch Migrant Remittances and Financial Services, a new executive education program.
The new program will target executives from around the world with an exceptional opportunity to connect with peers and engage with some of HKS faculty’s foremost thinkers in public policy and leadership. Participants will be drawn from three main categories. The public-sector cohort will consist primarily of policymakers and regulators from central banks, financial regulatory authorities, and telecommunications regulatory bodies. Private-industry participants will include executives from banks, mobile money providers, mobile network operators, microfinance institutions, remittance service providers, and other financial intermediaries. Finally, the program will also include representatives from think tanks, community-based organizations, and other civil society and nongovernmental actors.
Ultimately, the program aims to ensure more accessible and effective digital financial services for migrants— the estimated four percent of the world’s population who live and work outside their countries of origin—and for their home-country families. Especially for low-income migrant households, limited access to safe, affordable, and convenient financial services means that much of their financial activity, including remittances, is conducted in cash, via unregulated informal channels.
“For many migrants, the desire to improve their families’ prospects is the whole point of working abroad,” said Amil Aneja, UNCDF’s lead specialist for migration and remittances. “Sending money home is their universal financial priority, and remittances could and should be the starter product for a full suite of potentially life-changing formal financial services. But remittances are also a uniquely complicated issue. Policymakers and regulators in both sending and receiving countries must craft effective frameworks; financial service providers must mitigate foreign exchange risks and cash management challenges while navigating myriad compliance requirements. By bringing all stakeholders together, UNCDF and HKSEE intend to deliver practical, real-world peer learning and capacity building that will enable all parties to collaborate more effectively to harness the true potential of remittances.”
The executive program will focus on three main themes:
• Innovative public policy problem solving, which uses the HKS Smart Policy Design and Implementation (SPDI) framework to derive analytical insights, drawn from economics and backed by rigorous evidence, to inform the design and implementation of public policies around the world.
• Robust, sustainable, and equitable development, which serves to situate the goal of improving digital financial services within the broader macroeconomic context.
• Financial services and alternative delivery vehicles for the unbanked and underbanked, which covers specific interventions ranging from digital payments to behavioural finance to delivery system innovations.
The curriculum will be delivered through an online executive education program of digital modules, lectures, case studies and group discussion, followed by an in-person workshop for a subset of the larger participant cohort. UNCDF will select participants who will receive follow-up support to further design, implement, and test specific solutions. This will include structured check-ins with faculty on their progress and additional support for evidence gathering, data analysis, and implementation strategy. After completing the online content, 20 participants will be selected to convene at the Harvard Kennedy School campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts for an intensive in-person follow-on workshop.
“We are delighted to collaborate with UNCDF on this exciting new initiative,” said Jay Rosengard, Director of the HKS Financial Sector Program and Faculty Chair of the new program. “Our interactive and applied pedagogy, coupled with our extensive experience in enhancing financial inclusion for other demographics, should provide all stakeholders with both a sound conceptual framework and effective policy toolkit to improve the quality and accessibility of a full portfolio of essential migrant financial services.”
The first offering of the program, scheduled to begin in January 2022, is fully subscribed. HKSEE and UNCDF intend to offer the program annually, contingent on funding and demand from qualified applicants. For all interested parties, please fill out the following form to register in a future capacity building program with UNCDF: https://bit.ly/3kAUMu6