Engaging the Diaspora as Development Actors

Lukas Gehrke

Director for the Southern Dimension at the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD)

Enhancing migrant-centred governance of migration and mobility is at the heart of the International Centre for Migration Policy Development’s (ICMPD) work. In the field of migration and development, this engagement translates into the belief that engaging the diaspora as an actor for the development of their home countries can greatly impact aid effectiveness.

Empowering the diaspora means providing tools which will help them to establish a common space for the coordination of their individual efforts. The exchange of knowledge and good practices and the establishment of strong communication and cooperation between diaspora groups will allow for more creative and more efficient development projects and a higher success rate. Strengthening diaspora coordination also implies supporting their endeavours to find a common voice which governments, international organisations and policy makers alike should consider carefully.

In cooperation with four African diaspora organisations – the African Diaspora Policy Centre (ADPC) from the Netherlands, Forum des Organisations de Solidarité Internationale issues des Migrations (FORIM) from France, Coordination Générale des Migrants pour le Développement (CGMD) from Belgium and the African Foundation for Development (AFFORD) from the UK - the ICMPD is currently implementing a project, funded by the European Union, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). Branded the Africa-Europe Platform, the project aims to support diaspora organisations in establishing a European-wide African Diaspora Platform for Development. African Diaspora organisations in the 27 EU Member States and Switzerland and Norway will create and organise their own platform as a basis for mutual interaction. In line with the needs expressed by the diaspora organisations in question, capacity-building activities and clusters, facilitating both regional and thematic cooperation, will be created to strengthen their role as actors for development. For governments in home and destination regions as well as donors, engaging with an empowered diaspora allows for more sustainability in development actions by promoting a bottom-up approach.