Conference Background
The International Conference on the Future Agenda of Action for Global Diaspora Engagement is to bring together the supporters of the Dublin Declaration to glean insights from leading-edge practices in diaspora engagement. Additionally, the conference seeks to inaugurate the Global Diaspora Policy Alliance. This alliance is envisioned as a pivotal foundation for crafting the future roadmap of global diaspora engagement initiatives.
Panel Introduction
Diaspora communities, endowed with relevant skills and expertise, have become essential in enhancing access to healthcare. These communities are increasingly acknowledged as vital sources of external aid and resources, addressing the gaps in health systems back in their countries of origin.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, diasporas were particularly active, launching new initiatives to address the health, social, and economic challenges faced by their communities in both their home and host countries. From the early stages of the outbreak, they spearheaded transnational efforts to combat the pandemic by sending personal protective equipment to their countries of origin, disseminating up-to-date information about evolving recommendations, rules, and requirements, providing assistance to stranded compatriots, and advising public health authorities on the most effective measures to be taken.
Diaspora communities have consistently demonstrated their capacity to enhance healthcare systems in both their home and host countries. By providing essential health services, offering training, delivering humanitarian aid, creating professional networks among health professionals, driving innovative research, and providing culturally sensitive healthcare to migrant populations, they significantly improve access to health services across borders. Diasporas engage in a variety of skill transfer programs—whether temporary, permanent, or virtual—which empower diaspora professionals to effectively strengthen healthcare practices in their countries of origin with the aim of enhancing health coverage. Furthermore, diaspora groups can promote policies that enhance health equity for migrants by advocating for insurance benefits, legal rights, and inclusive healthcare. Additionally, they can aid migrants in better utilizing healthcare resources through integration programs that improve health literacy and provide information about the health system of the host country. These initiatives not only boost the immediate effectiveness of healthcare delivery but also support the long-term sustainability of health system improvements.
To maximize the benefits from these transnational connections and skill transfers, establishing long-term multistakeholder partnerships is crucial. Promoting mutual recognition of talent and creating governance frameworks for diaspora engagement can enhance effectiveness. These frameworks should not only streamline and systematize data collection but also draw on lessons from successful models to ensure a structured and impactful approach. Measuring the tangible impacts of diaspora engagement in health initiatives, such as opportunities in health practices, technology utilization, short-term visits, and skill transfers, is essential to further maximize the benefits in society. This strategic engagement not only contributes to development but also promotes well-being for all, aligning with global health goals.
Panel Objectives
This session will explore the critical intersections of health, diaspora engagement, and collaborative partnerships. Adopting a sectoral approach, it will focus on the significant impact of diaspora talent and contributions within the health sector. The discussion will delve deeply into diaspora-led initiatives, emphasizing the importance of measuring these contributions and fostering accountable, supportive relationships among all stakeholders. Additionally, the session will highlight unique opportunities within health practices, including the use of technology, short-term assignments, and various forms of skill transfers, all aimed at enhancing global health outcomes.
Key objectives of the session include:
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Explore how diaspora contributions can enhance healthcare systems in both home and host countries through essential services, capacity building, humanitarian aid, and innovative research, while also helping to prevent the depletion of health systems in the host countries.
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Explore how the diaspora can help bridge the gap between education and employment policies within health systems to address workforce shortages and respond to the needs of the entire population, including migrants
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Identify strategies to streamline data collection and assessment methods to measure the impact of diaspora contributions in healthcare, drawing on lessons from successful models and ensuring a structured approach to diaspora engagement.
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Explore the development of sustainable partnerships and knowledge exchange networks among diaspora professionals and healthcare institutions, and their role in facilitating skill transfers and improving healthcare delivery.
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Affirm the critical role of the diaspora in ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all.
Guiding Questions
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Reflecting on the COVID-19 pandemic, what specific strategies have proven effective in rapidly mobilizing diaspora talent during health emergencies, and how can these strategies inform future state preparedness and response plans?
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Can you share examples of successful diaspora knowledge transfer initiatives in the health sector? What key factors contributed to their effectiveness and results?
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What are the established best practices for multi-stakeholder collaboration in utilizing diaspora talent to improve health outcomes? How can the impact of diaspora contributions to the health sector be effectively measured?
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How can we enhance the mutual recognition of qualifications to improve the impact of health programs involving diaspora professionals? What are the significant challenges to achieving this recognition, and what innovative strategies might be employed to address these challenges?
Session Structure
The session will open with a scene setting from the moderator to provide an overview of the session topic, issues to be addressed, expected outcomes, and key stakeholders involved. The moderator will then introduce each of the panelists and invite them to address the guiding questions. The panelists will take turns sharing their knowledge and experience on both good practices and lessons learnt, providing concrete recommendations for different stakeholder groups.
After hearing from the panelists, the floor will open for discussion and online/in-person participants will be invited to intervene with questions and/or comments. The outcomes resulting from the panel discussion and participants' contributions will be documented in a final report of the event, providing valuable insights that will inform the implementation of the Global Diaspora Policy Alliance.
The Session will have the following time allocation: The moderator will pose questions, share their own views and best practices, and each speaker will have 3 minutes to share their insights and knowledge.
Moderator & Speakers
Moderator – ABIGAIL MARISTELA
Abigail Maristela is the Program Manager of the Diaspora Engagement Unit at IOM in Washington, DC. She oversees global projects dedicated to diaspora engagement across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus, including flagship initiatives such as the ongoing Framework for Diaspora Engagement in Humanitarian Assistance and the former diaspora sub-granting for COVID-19 response and relief. She and her team specialize in partnerships, awareness raising, organizational capacity strengthening and tool creation, peer to peer exchange, multi-stakeholder collaboration, alternative funding mechanisms, and technical support to diaspora communities and humanitarian and development actors alike. Such initiatives support creating more effective and streamlined assistance to communities by leveraging diaspora contributions, multi-stakeholder engagement, and partnerships.
Prior to joining IOM, she has worked with a variety of migration organizations including International Catholic Migration Commission, International Rescue Committee, and Legal Aid of North Carolina. She holds a Masters in Macro Social Work from Boston College and was a Brueggeman Fellow at Xavier University studying climate-induced migration.
Panelist 1 - H.E. PAUL RAYMUND P. CORTES
Ambassador Paul Raymund P. Cortes is a diplomat and public servant for more than 25 years with the Philippine’ Department of Foreign Affairs. He is currently the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Portuguese Republic, with concurrent jurisdiction over the Republic of Cabo Verde, the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, and the Republic of Angola.
Prior to assuming his present assignment, Ambassador Cortes was the head of the Office of Migrant Worker’s Affairs from 2021 to 2023. His Office led the mass repatriation of distressed overseas Filipinos who are affected by COVID-19 and actively participated in engagements on international migration and development.
Before that, he was the Third Secretary and Vice Consul of the Philippine Embassy in Budapest from 1998 to 2004, Consul then Deputy Consul General at the Philippine Consulate General in Honolulu, Hawaii from 2006 to 2013, and Consul General in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates from 2015 to 2021.
During his official duty in Dubai, UAE in 2018, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte conferred to Asec. Cortes the Presidential Award Dakilang Kamanong or Grand Cross for Exemplary Diplomatic Service. Tied to this is the yearly commendation received by the Philippine Consulate General in Dubai under his leadership, such as the DFA Best Organization award in 2017, the DFA Best Assistance to Nationals Unit in 2018 and 2019, the DFA Best Performing Unit Award in 2020, and again the DFA Best Organization Award in 2021.
Panelist 2 - Tony nimely
Tony Nimely holds a Master of Science (MSN) degree in Nursing as a Family Nurse Practitioner and is a retired military personnel from the United States Army. He currently serves as the Vice President for Operations for The Liberian Nurses Association in Atlanta, Georgia. Born in Liberia and now a naturalized citizen of the United States, Tony resides in Atlanta, where he works as a Critical Care Nurse in both the Emergency Room (ER) and Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Tony led a delegation of nurses and healthcare professionals to Liberia, West Africa, during the Ebola pandemic, raising over $150,000 in medical supplies in collaboration with the CDC, Morehouse School of Medicine, Emory University, and Wellstar Health System in Atlanta. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Tony served as a Nursing Supervisor in Washington, D.C., for 11 months, and later traveled to several states, supporting hospitals and communities in similar capacities.
Tony is deeply passionate about serving communities holistically, improving quality of life, and preventing diseases. Currently working as a Travel Nurse in Critical Care, he aspires to work with global organizations to extend his service to international communities as a healthcare professional.
Panelist 3 - Muna Muday
Muna Muday is the Director of Programs at The Addis Clinic, a distinguished U.S.-based global health organization. In her role, she leads impactful initiatives across East Africa, including the development of mobile clinic projects that have significantly expanded The Addis Clinic’s healthcare reach in Somalia and Kenya, serving over 200,000 patients.
With over seven years of experience in program planning, development, and evaluation, Muna has made notable contributions to advancing healthcare access and quality both domestically and internationally. Her professional experience includes collaborations with esteemed organizations such as the CDC Foundation, and she serves on the Associate Board of Directors at AMREF USA, a leading health development non-governmental organization based in Africa.
Muna is also a prominent advocate with the ONE Campaign, where she works to raise public awareness and promote policies that address critical humanitarian needs and foster international development in the USA. Recently, she attended the Somali Diaspora Forum, hosted by the Somali government. She holds a Master of Public Health degree with a specialization in global health from Vanderbilt University.
Panelist 4 - Dr. Julio Teixeira
Dr. Julio Teixeira is a graduate from Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia and completed his general surgery residency at New York Medical College along with a fellowship in Minimally Invasive Surgery. He is certified by the American Board of Surgery and a fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
He was Assistant Professor of Surgery at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Director of Bariatric Surgery at Montefiore Medical Center until 2005 when he joined the Faculty at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center where he served as Associate Clinical Professor of Surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons.
Dr. Teixeira specializes in laparoscopic surgical techniques to treat diseases of the gastrointestinal system including esophagus, stomach, gall bladder and small intestine. He also specializes in solid organ surgery such the spleen, pancreas and the adrenal glands.
Dr. Teixeira is a national expert and leader in bariatric surgery. He developed an interest in obesity early in his career and has performed several thousand bariatric surgeries since 1998. He was a pioneer in developing new and advanced techniques in treating obesity such as Laparoscopic Gastric Bypass, participated in FDA trials to evaluate the Realize Gastric Band in the United States and developed new methods such as endoscopic stenting to treat complications of bariatric surgery and single incision laparoscopic surgery.
He has published numerous articles and studies in Peer Reviewed Journals as well as chapters in text books and lectured extensively nationally and internationally. Dr. Teixeira has been named several times as one of the Best Doctors in New York by Castle Connolly and serves as a national reviewer for the American College of Surgeons.
Dr. Teixeira is Currently Associate Professor of Surgery at the Zucker School of Medicine, Chief of Minimally Invasive Surgery at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, and System Director for the Northwell Health System Bariatric Collaborative
Most recently Dr Teixeira is the founding President of the Cabo Verdean American Medical Society, an organization of physicians of. Cape Verdean ascendency that have begun a program of collaboration with medical workers in several islands of CaboVerde creating new programs o. Cancer and minimally invasive surgery.
He is currently the director of minimally invasive surgery invasive surgery for the Westchester region in New York and Professor of surgery at the Northwell/ Hofstra school of medicine.
