The African Diaspora Policy Centre (ADPC) enables African Diaspora in Europe to
connect more closely with the continent as a collective force. The thematic areas are Peacebuilding, Better Governance, Migration & Development and Brain Gain
The WRR report from the perspective of the African diaspora
Afrikadag 2010
The African Diaspora Policy Centre (ADPC), in collaboration with the Evert Vermeer Foundation (EVS) and the National Committee for International Cooperation and Sustainable Development (NCDO), hosted a workshop to discuss the outcome of the Scientific Council for the Dutch Government Policy (WRR) Report "Less Pretension, More Ambition: development aid that makes a difference" from the perspective of the Diaspora. The workshop was a part of the annual Afrikadag 2010 program.
The release of the WRR report on 18 January 2010 was followed by much debate on the content of the publication. However, one crucial voice that has yet to be heard is that of the diaspora. The report presented to the Dutch government a number of policy recommendations considered to be critical for a future-oriented development policy. It identified a number of key drivers for the current development cooperation framework; notably the diaspora communities and the private sector. However, it has not outlined policy instruments that can facilitate the further engagement of diaspora development practitioners in the development of their respective home countries. The Afrikadag workshop was organized in the form of a panel discussion with distinguished experts, including Josh Maiyo representing the ADPC and Monique Kremer, a co-author of the WRR report. The panel was also privileged to have Josephine Osikena, a representative from the British Foreign Policy Centre, among the discussants. Osikena was able to bring a particularly interesting insight to the debate by sharing her experiences as a member of the African diaspora living and working in the United Kingdom. The aim of the workshop was to articulate diaspora perspectives on three key points: First, the nature of the policy instruments that are needed to tap further into the considerable potential of the diaspora communities for the development of their countries of origin. One issue of great significance in this regard is the urgent need to develop a diaspora-oriented national policy strategy in both the host and home countries. Such a policy instrument would facilitate the homeland governments to develop feasible strategic interventions and realisable actions that can help them to maximise the contribution of the diaspora to the development of the continent. Josh Maiyo was of the view that the existing migration policy in the Netherlands does not favor the qualifications of the diaspora and that misconceptions about migrants still exist among the Dutch. Furthermore, he pointed out that African migrants and diaspora communities are not ‘passive agents of external change’ and should do something to improve their situation. Responding to this point, Monique Kremer disagreed with the call for a new policy. Rather, she placed emphasis on country specificity. She also pointed out that the Dutch government was already funding countries on the basis of specific policy and argued, therefore, that the right mechanism to increase the voice of the diaspora should be one that accommodates both country and global roles. Josephine Osikena brought a fresh perspective to this discussion by informing the audience about how the British Department for International Development (DFID) is cooperating with VSO to establish a voluntary diaspora network that promotes exporting skills and expertise to countries of origin. The next topic of discussion was the means by which the diaspora business community could be mobilized to play a role in the development of their homeland. According to Josh Maiyo, a key issue is the fact that all too often migrants’ participation in business is hindered by credit constraints and a lack of social networks. In view of this problem it was recommended that policies should be formulated at the level of the home country that are more accommodating to investments from citizens abroad. In this way, diaspora communities could act as a bridge to facilitate an information market for potential investors in their host countries. In response to this, Monique Kremer said that the African diaspora community could learn from the business success story of the Turkish migrant community in the Netherlands. The final topic of discussion was the statement, ‘Building development partnership between diaspora and sub-national development, both in the home and host countries is an opportunity that has not been seized’. Josh Maiyo felt that there were difficulties in realizing such an opportunity and highlighted potential barriers, such as decentralization and fragmentation of diaspora bodies. Monique Kremer called for a clear formulation of objectives by diaspora bodies so that they could work collectively towards a common goal. In response to this point, Josephine explained how those members of the diaspora who are not entirely of British descent are making a difference at local levels by participating in local parliamentary elections.
The release of the WRR report on 18 January 2010 was followed by much debate on the content of the publication. However, one crucial voice that has yet to be heard is that of the diaspora. The report presented to the Dutch government a number of policy recommendations considered to be critical for a future-oriented development policy. It identified a number of key drivers for the current development cooperation framework; notably the diaspora communities and the private sector. However, it has not outlined policy instruments that can facilitate the further engagement of diaspora development practitioners in the development of their respective home countries. The Afrikadag workshop was organized in the form of a panel discussion with distinguished experts, including Josh Maiyo representing the ADPC and Monique Kremer, a co-author of the WRR report. The panel was also privileged to have Josephine Osikena, a representative from the British Foreign Policy Centre, among the discussants. Osikena was able to bring a particularly interesting insight to the debate by sharing her experiences as a member of the African diaspora living and working in the United Kingdom. The aim of the workshop was to articulate diaspora perspectives on three key points: First, the nature of the policy instruments that are needed to tap further into the considerable potential of the diaspora communities for the development of their countries of origin. One issue of great significance in this regard is the urgent need to develop a diaspora-oriented national policy strategy in both the host and home countries. Such a policy instrument would facilitate the homeland governments to develop feasible strategic interventions and realisable actions that can help them to maximise the contribution of the diaspora to the development of the continent. Josh Maiyo was of the view that the existing migration policy in the Netherlands does not favor the qualifications of the diaspora and that misconceptions about migrants still exist among the Dutch. Furthermore, he pointed out that African migrants and diaspora communities are not ‘passive agents of external change’ and should do something to improve their situation. Responding to this point, Monique Kremer disagreed with the call for a new policy. Rather, she placed emphasis on country specificity. She also pointed out that the Dutch government was already funding countries on the basis of specific policy and argued, therefore, that the right mechanism to increase the voice of the diaspora should be one that accommodates both country and global roles. Josephine Osikena brought a fresh perspective to this discussion by informing the audience about how the British Department for International Development (DFID) is cooperating with VSO to establish a voluntary diaspora network that promotes exporting skills and expertise to countries of origin. The next topic of discussion was the means by which the diaspora business community could be mobilized to play a role in the development of their homeland. According to Josh Maiyo, a key issue is the fact that all too often migrants’ participation in business is hindered by credit constraints and a lack of social networks. In view of this problem it was recommended that policies should be formulated at the level of the home country that are more accommodating to investments from citizens abroad. In this way, diaspora communities could act as a bridge to facilitate an information market for potential investors in their host countries. In response to this, Monique Kremer said that the African diaspora community could learn from the business success story of the Turkish migrant community in the Netherlands. The final topic of discussion was the statement, ‘Building development partnership between diaspora and sub-national development, both in the home and host countries is an opportunity that has not been seized’. Josh Maiyo felt that there were difficulties in realizing such an opportunity and highlighted potential barriers, such as decentralization and fragmentation of diaspora bodies. Monique Kremer called for a clear formulation of objectives by diaspora bodies so that they could work collectively towards a common goal. In response to this point, Josephine explained how those members of the diaspora who are not entirely of British descent are making a difference at local levels by participating in local parliamentary elections.