Remittances in the Great Lakes Region

amount of attention from policymakers. While in the beginning the focus was on the volume and methods of remitting, gradually attention has been shifting towards using remittances as a development tool for the communities and countries of origin. However, while certain regions are very well researched and are characterized by an institutional structure that harnesses remittanceoriented policies (e.g. Mexico, the Philippines, Senegal and Morocco), others are not. The Great Lakes region (in particular the Democratic Republic of Congo or DRC, Burundi and Rwanda) belong to the latter group. Furthermore a number of factors, such as an underdeveloped fi nancial and governmental infrastructure, the unstable political environment, the lack of available research and reliable data, hinder the implementation of policies aimed at remittances.