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Expert Meeting Report on Migration Governance in Africa

Expert Meeting Report on Migration Governance in Africa

January 3, 2023 by admin in

Expert Meeting Report on Migration Governance in Africa

Addis Ababa, 24–25 October 2022

Introduction

The African Diaspora Policy Centre (ADPC), in partnership with the African Union Commission (AUC), and the Alliance for Brain-Gain and Innovative Development (ABIDE), organised the second Knowledge Platform (KP) expert meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia  on 24–25 October 2022. The main purpose of the meeting was to bring together expert members of the Knowledge Platform, high-level policymakers, practitioners and strategic partners involved in the efforts geared at strengthening the institutional capacity for migration governance in Africa.[1] A related purpose of the meeting was to introduce the Platform to key policymakers at the AUC tasked with strengthening the interface between research, policy, and practice in the area of migration and human mobility from an African perspective. An additional aim was to mobilise broader political support for benefits of the Knowledge Platform among migration and development community circles in Africa and beyond. Another objective was to raise the profile and visibility of the members of the KP network and to leverage strategic partnerships among existing institutions active in migration governance in Africa. The meeting explored synergies for collaboration with migration governance initiatives undertaken by the AUC in different countries on the continent. This aspect will be discussed in detail in the final part of this report.

The expert members of the KP proposed a second meeting be held in Addis Ababa, seat of the African Union Commission (AUC) on the continent, to achieve closer interaction and a direct dialogue with representatives at the highest political institution of the continent, in order to share new ideas and perspectives on the governance of migration in Africa. Their objectives also included forging collaborations and working relationships with the AUC in their future activities in this field at this critical juncture.

[1] The first meeting of the Knowledge Platform (KP) was held in Dakar, Senegal on June 27-28, 2022. Both events were supported by Robert Bosch Stiftung.

Read More - Expert Meeting Report on Migration Governance in Africa
The State of Play of Skills Mobility Partnerships between Africa and Europe

The State of Play of Skills Mobility Partnerships between Africa and Europe

August 4, 2022 by admin in

This position paper is commissoned by the International Organisation for Migation  (IOM) to the African Diaspora Policy Centre (ADPC). The aim of the position paper is to demonstrate that Skills Mobility Partnerships ( SMPs) have the potential to scale up cooperation agreements between Africa and Europe to an advanced level. SMPs offer a holistic approach to skills development, labour mobility, and development in a coherent and integrated manner. Furthermore, SMPs advance a new policy understanding about the ways in which the skills divide can be significantly reduced through more structural cooperation, targeted at revamping the educational system at all skills levels in origin countries. Investing in skills development in origin countries means shoring up the human capital needed to successfully sustain the present knowledge economy. In other words, it requires the creation of a significant and readily available pool of skilled workers, which will also benefit the labour market in destination countries. To this end, SMPs can establish a process through which in-demand skills are jointly invested in, recognized, and equitably shared, ushering in landmark cooperation agreements between Africa and Europe in the foreseeable future.

READ MORE - The State of Play of Skills Mobility Partnerships between Africa and Europe
Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) Diaspora Engagement Platform…

Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) Diaspora Engagement Platform…

July 4, 2022 by admin in / /
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Important Announcement

Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) Diaspora Engagement Platform

On 21 June 2022, the Secretary General of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), Mr. Georges Rebelo Pinto Chikoti and Dr. Awil Mohamoud, the Director of the African Diaspora Policy Centre (ADPC) signed a formal cooperation agreement in Brussels. The agreement states that the ADPC will provide technical assistance to the OACPS Secretariat in order to establish an OACPS Platform for Engagement with Diaspora and People of African descent. The ADPC will support the OACPS Secretariat in developing a methodology and an instrument to facilitate and organise the participation of the Diaspora, People of African descent and other relevant stakeholders within the framework of the new European Union (EU)–OACPS Partnership Agreement in the coming years.
The ADPC will also assist the OACPS Secretariat in its Diaspora engagement and mobilisation strategies. The ADPC is well-placed to carry out these tasks due to its unique position as a Diaspora institution set up by the Diaspora in order to spur and galvanize the leveraging of more productive, sustainable, and long-lasting Diaspora-led development in countries of origin. Firmly rooted within the social setting of the Diaspora communities in Europe and beyond, the ADPC is an appropriate choice to act as a focal point and a representative interlocutor with the OACPS and other stakeholders and players n the field. Diaspora communities have already evolved as critical and strategic development actors within development cooperation circles, in both host and home countries. They have also become an important development constituency and a valuable partner in homeland development initiatives and it is anticipated that this will become more decisive in the future. Once established, the Platform will strive to elevate the engagement with the Diaspora to a higher policy level across the OACPS through technical assistance support in the form of capacity building training, coaching and mentoring services. There is indeed a clear and strong development case for setting up of the Platform, which will facilitate the exchange of good policy practices among OACPS members with regard to Diaspora engagement. The ultimate goal for the establishment of the Platform is to harness more of the considerable resources of the Diaspora (capital, knowledge, and networks) for inclusive development and social change in their respective countries of origin.

First Knowledge Platform (KP) expert meeting in Dakar, Senegal on June 27-28, 2022.

First Knowledge Platform (KP) expert meeting in Dakar, Senegal on June 27-28, 2022.

June 27, 2022 by admin in / / /

The African Diaspora Policy Centre (ADPC) in partnership with Diaspora Development Education Migration (DIADEM) organized the first Knowledge Platform (KP) expert meeting in Dakar, Senegal on June 27-28, 2022. The KP was created to strengthen the interface between research, policy, and practice in the area of migration governance at continental, regional, national, and local levels. The KP specifically aims to narrate and amplify African perspectives on the ongoing migration and mobility political dialogues, both within and between Europe and Africa. To this end, the comparative advantage of the KP is that it operates as an agent and a mouthpiece for newly-formed African migration policy experts whose knowledge and expertise in the field are closely informed by an insider and first-hand observation on the ground.

The main purpose of the expert meeting was to provide a space for the expert members of the Knowledge Platform (KP) to have a face-to-face meeting which was delayed since 2020 due to the travel restrictions imposed by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic across the world. It was also a unique opportunity for the experts of the KP to convene, network, exchange knowledge and cross-fertilize ideas on the dynamics of migration governance from the context and perspectives within Africa. Moreover, the event was an occasion to raise the profile, voices and visibility of the African migration policy experts among migration policy and development community circles in Africa and Europe that participated in the meeting. Diverse United Nations institutions and development agencies such as the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Belgian Development Agency (Enabel) and Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) among others participated in the event. Furthermore, the expert meeting was organized to mobilise broader political support for the added value of the work of the KP in the efforts geared at strengthening the institutional capacity for migration governance in Africa. Finally, the event  provided a forum for the expert members of the KP to deliberate and reflect on several urgent migration-related issues within the continent and beyond and identify emerging trends and explore key thematic policy areas that will form the core of the KP’s agenda and operational activities in the coming years. On this last point, the experts had extensively discussed the positioning of the KP in order to influence real policy changes within the development and migration community circles, better defining its operational strategic plans, widening the focus and scope of its activities and priority actions in the short and medium-term.

  1. This initiative is supported by Robert Bosch Stiftung

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Climate change, migration and development: how to enhance the impact of African Diaspora organisations?’

Climate change, migration and development: how to enhance the impact of African Diaspora organisations?’

June 13, 2022 by admin in /

‘Climate change, migration and development: how to enhance the impact of African Diaspora organisations?’

ADPC in collaboration with ADEPT had organized a side-event on this important and timely  topic during the European Development Days (EDD) held in Brussels on  21-22 June, 2022.  The side-event was organized under the banner of the Knowledge Platform (KP) for Migration Governance in Africa. The event was particularly geared to galvanise the African Diaspora communities in Europe to play a proactive role in the lobbying and advocacy campaigns of Europe and Africa aimed to  inform policy and increase public awareness of the challenges of climate change as it affects development and migration in the Africa in the foreseeable future. The proactive participation of the African Diaspora in Europe in the discussion in this emerging policy field will help increase their voices with the broader development cooperation debates at different policy levels within the framework of the renewed Africa-Europe partnership and the Joint Vision for 2030. This is important since Diaspora development practitioners have already strategically positioned themselves as critical actors in development cooperation policy circles, both in host and home countries.

Expected results of the event

  • To increase the knowledge and awareness of African Diaspora organisations and other key strategic stakeholders on climate change dynamics as they relate to conditions in Africa.
  • To strengthen the lobbying and advocacy capacity of Diaspora organisations so that they take a leadership role on the matter within the ongoing policy dialogues between Africa and Europe, and;
  • To contribute to the realisation of policy and practical changes at the EU and AU level conducive to mainstreaming climate change, development and migration as cross-cutting issues within the African Union Agenda 2063.
  1. This initiative is supported by Africa-Europe Foundation
READ MORE - ADPC Concept note for the Climate change
READ MORE - ADPC Webinar: Climate change - June 14 2022
Diaspora Engagement Project

Diaspora Engagement Project

May 11, 2022 by admin in /

Concept Note
Diaspora Engagement Project for the Directorate of Diaspora Affairs and International Cooperation of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Federal Republic of Somalia.

This multi-year project aims to strengthen the institutional and operational capacity of the Directorate of Diaspora Affairs responsible for engaging the Diaspora in the development of Somalia. The innovative element of the project is that it aims to expand and redouble the efforts of engaging with the Diaspora through a comprehensive approach and integrated strategy that has not been attempted in the past. It also aims to take the engagement with the Diaspora to a higher level since the Diaspora remains a defining constituency for the development of Somalia, and they will become even more decisive in the future. Enhanced institutional engagement with the Diaspora through myriads of targeted and integrated interventions will enable the government to leverage more Diaspora-led development in the country that is impactful and on a substantial scale for years to come. This is because the Somali Diaspora has already positioned itself as an indispensable agent of change in the social, economic and political life of Somalia. This is both in the efforts geared towards achieving inclusive development and social change. More importantly, the project will also support the government and the Diaspora to partner closely in the development efforts geared at achieving some of the key targets of the sustainable development goals in the country in 2030. This is the justification that makes this proposed project both timely and policy-relevant for the new government of Somalia at this moment.

Read More Diaspora Engagement Project.
Partnerships for Peace: Engaging with Diaspora

Partnerships for Peace: Engaging with Diaspora

February 28, 2016 by admin in

Partnerships for Peace: Engaging with Diaspora

seminar-september-23-2016On the 23rd of September 2016, the African Diaspora Policy Centre (ADPC) organised a seminar entitled “Partnerships for Peace: Engaging with Diaspora”. During the seminar, an interactive and open exchange of experiences among diaspora organizations, NGOs and policymakers took place, focusing on the challenges and opportunities in creating partnerships in the field of peacebuilding. Building on these experiences, the seminar worked towards identifying next steps and actionable recommendations to establishing and utilizing these partnerships for peace more effectively.

After a word of welcome from the director of ADPC, Awil Mohamoud, Mrs. Juliènne Doppenberg-Difukidi (Tosangana) and Mr. Olivier Muhizi (African Human Rights Network) shared their first-hand experiences in running a diaspora organization in the field of peacebuilding. Both provided some interesting best practices of what partnerships can bring. Whereas Juliènne’s organisation has been deeply involved in the National Action Plan 1325, a partnerships of different organizations and government on issues related to women, peace and security, Olivier recently established a new platform,  which links up international NGOs with local human right defenders. Another great example of what type of partnerships exists. Both stressed the importance of working together to be able to contribute to sustainable peace.

On the basis of participants expertise and linkages with their activities, they then split up into peace network groups on either gender, radicalisation or youth. dscf5145Facilitated by colleagues from WO=MEN, ICCT and The Hague Peace Projects, the groups delved deeper into the challenges and opportunities they face in their work when building partnerships and jointly identified next steps to address these. A key insight from the event was to turn the challenge faced by many diaspora organizations of having little capacity and resources, into the opportunity of joining forces, also with NGOs, when developing projects.

Overall the participants of the seminar expressed a clear interest and willingness to continue this exchange of experiences, to be able to learn from each other. A concrete idea would be to have this continued conversation as a way to actually explore possibilities of establishing partnerships.

For more information on the overview of NGOs and other organizations in the Hague working towards peace, click here.

Watch the video here.

Entrepreneurship and Private Sector Development

Entrepreneurship and Private Sector Development

February 27, 2016 by admin in

Entrepreneurship and Private Sector Development in Fragile States

‘New insights and lessons from the field’

A seminar on entrepreneurship and private sector development in fragile states was held on the 24th of June, which none other than our colleague Dr Rens Twijnstra spoke at.The seminar discussed new insights and lessons from the field, as in recent years Private Sector Development (PSD) and entrepreneurship support have taken center-stage in the international community’s approach to promoting security and development in fragile and conflict-affected states. This seminar was held to promote new insights from the domains of academia,policy and business itself with regards to PSD and entrepreneurship in fragile and conflict-affected states.The seminar focused on these main questions: how does Dutch development policy envision the role of businesses in promoting growth and equity in fragile states? What are the preconditions for international businesses to invest or start a joint venture or (post)-conflict environment? What is the significance of transnational diaspora entrepreneurs? How can women’s enterprise groups boost business engagement and local conditions of peace?

The seminar was organised by the IS Academy Human Security in Fragile States & Ministry of Foreign Affairs,Sustainable Economic Department.

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