Key info
Location: Global
Themes: Migration and forced displacement
Total budget: €5 million
- EU contribution: €5 million
Implementing partner: International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD)
The EU Global Diaspora Facility (EUDiF) takes a global approach to consolidate efforts on diaspora engagement for development. The facility supports all actors in the diaspora-development ecosystem to engage and collaborate more effectively with each other.
Diaspora, which EUDiF defines as emigrants and their descendants who actively maintain links with their country of heritage, can be powerful agents of development thanks to their unique transnational understanding and mobility. This potential has long been acknowledged, but until recently dialogue and collaboration between diaspora organisations, countries of origin and the EU and its member states have been fragmented, often focusing on bilateral cooperation.
Objectives
EUDiF’s overall objective is to support governments of countries of origin worldwide and diaspora organisations in Europe to engage and collaborate more effectively with each other and with the EU.
Through a combination of research, dialogue, capacity building and mobilising diaspora expertise, the facility works to maximise the potential of diaspora for global sustainable development.
Projects activities serve to
- consolidate and build knowledge on diaspora-development policies, priorities and projects
- highlight opportunities, needs and challenges for diaspora-development cooperation
- enhance multi-stakeholder dialogue between and among diaspora organisations, countries of origin, EU Member States and the EU
- inform the global narrative on the potential of diaspora for development
- develop capacities of diaspora organisations in Europe and governments of partner countries
- support mainstreaming of diaspora expertise in development actions
- promote diaspora-led initiatives
- empower youth diaspora in policy making and programming
Results
Some of the achievements of the first four years of EUDiF are
- Mapping diaspora engagement policies, priorities and projects in 110 partner countries
- There are 439 institutions engaged in diaspora engagement
- 24 countries have a diaspora policy
- 400+ good practices identified
- Producing 5 case studies
- Implementation of the EU Talent Partnerships – What potential role for the diaspora?
- Youth entrepreneurship & heritage tourism: long-term thinking for diaspora engagement
- Mobilising the diaspora for the green transition
- Profiling diaspora skills
- Diaspora engagement in times of crisis
- Organising 6 diaspora consultations and 6 government roundtables
- 15 diaspora recommendations
- 6 regional overviews on trends and priorities
- 6 themed collections of practices
- Facilitating EU Member States coordination meetings on diaspora engagement
- Building a portfolio of 16 technical-support actions which contribute to 11 SDGs
- Creating a diaspora youth internship programme and a youth diaspora alumni community
- Managing an expert roster
- 300 experts, 65% are diaspora
- Holding 3 editions of the Future Forum, the EU’s annual conference on diaspora engagement