COVID-19 Impact on the Remittances

In the face of the coronavirus disease (COVID19) pandemic and its resulting economic crisis, the United Nations in the Republic of Moldova set up a task force under the guidance of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to coordinate the United Nations response. Several sets of research have been commissioned to assess the socioeconomic consequences on the population and provide recommendations to the central and local authorities to mitigate the impact. This research is the contribution of UNICEF and aims to assess the impact of the crisis specifically on families with children. Given the strong reliance of the Moldovan economy on remittances (US$1.9 billion remitted yearly, equivalent to 16 per cent of the country’s GDP), this research is focused on families with children receiving remittances.

The research has five main objectives:

1. Measuring the impact of COVID19 on the level of remittances (monetary and non-monetary)
2. Profiling receiving households with children that depend to a large extent on remittances for their income (location, family structure, demography, etc.)
3. Understanding households’ most commonly adopted coping mechanisms to deal with the impact of reduced income and/or a returning family member
4. Understanding how these coping mechanisms affect children’s rights and well-being
5. Providing recommendations on sector-specific policy options for decision-makers at all levels to mitigate the negative impact of COVID19 on the most vulnerable families with children (including looking at international best practices)