Background  

Since 2020, the Global Diaspora Virtual Exchanges stand as a unique and crucial platform, facilitating the global convergence of diasporas to exchange best practices and collaboratively enhance their engagement, empowerment, and enablement. This initiative serves as a catalyst, empowering diaspora leaders and organizations to actively contribute to development endeavors. 

In the past three editions, the Global Diaspora Virtual Exchanges have underscored the increasingly crucial role of diaspora leaders and organizations as pivotal contributors to development and humanitarian efforts. In 2020, diasporas demonstrated their swift and effective response to the pandemic. Shifting focus in 2021, their efforts centered on providing concrete advice to address three key challenges: building trust, mobilizing resources, and ensuring sustainability. The dialogue in 2023 revolved around discussing strategies to enhance communication skills in project management. 

These dialogues, engaging diaspora leaders, policymakers, academics, and youth, have been instrumental in establishing an ecosystem aimed at maximizing diaspora engagement. Partnerships forged during these exchanges have facilitated the sharing of best practices, the provision of specific guidance, the expansion of impact through connections, and the amplification of voices for diaspora initiatives, including the founding of the Global Diaspora Confederation (GDC). Nonetheless, the importance of further strengthening and deepening partnerships between diasporas and other key actors continues to recur as key element in the evolution of diaspora engagement globally.  

The establishment of a multi-stakeholder platform aligns closely with the foundational principles outlined in the Dublin Declaration, the outcome document of the Global Diaspora Summit, as well as the insights gathered from the discussions during the Global Diaspora Week 2023, organized by the GDC, and focused on diaspora partnerships. Building on these conversations and conclusions, the Global Diaspora Virtual Exchanges will delve deeper into partnerships between diaspora leaders and various key stakeholder groups. These groups include the public sector, both at national and local levels, the private sector, and collaborations among diaspora organizations. Each session is designed to explore effective and ineffective aspects of collaboration within each type, aiming to unlock the full potential of diaspora contributions to development and humanitarian efforts. The objective is to align seamlessly with the vision outlined in the Dublin Declaration, striving for impactful and sustainable outcomes. This alignment is achieved through the strategic harnessing of collective diaspora strength and expertise. 

General Objectives of the Three 2024 Global Exchanges:   

• Continue fostering the self-mobilization and empowerment of diasporas by providing a dedicated space for the exchange, coordination, and collaboration among diverse diaspora communities worldwide. 

• Articulate the value added of collaboration between diasporas and the other stakeholder groups. 

• Identify effective modalities of partnership and collaboration, as well as lessons learned from those that have not succeeded, through the sharing of best practices.  

• Inform the strategies for engaging diaspora organizations within the frameworks of the upcoming Global Diaspora Policy Alliance. 

Public Sector Synergies 

• How do public sector actors identify/select which diaspora organizations/leaders to listen to and cooperate with? 

• How can inclusivity and representativeness be ensured and maximized in the selection process?

• What level of public support is considered ideal for diaspora organizations – ranging from direct establishment to passive recognition? 

• How is the politicization of diaspora communities avoided to ensure a neutral and collaborative environment? 

Private Sector Alliances 

• How can engaging with diaspora communities assist the private sector in achieving its objectives and fulfilling commitments? 

• What private sector practices are already contributing to enabling, engaging, and empowering diaspora engagement?  

• Are there examples of the private sector successfully fostering horizontal partnerships with diaspora or migration origin organizations that can be scaled or replicated? 

• How can the public sector facilitate inclusive partnerships with the private sector and civil society to empower diasporas as active contributors to development? 

Diaspora to Diaspora Collaboration 

• What benefits arise from collaboration among diaspora organizations, particularly those representing diverse diaspora communities? 

• Can you provide specific examples of successful collaborative projects that have yielded tangible benefits for diverse diaspora communities? 

• What have been the main challenges in establishing and maintaining such partnerships? 

• What tools could enhance the strengthening of collaboration and cooperation among diaspora organizations? 

Partners:  

• Global Diaspora Confederation  

• MYCP Migration Children and Youth Platform  

• Global Research Forum on Diaspora and Transnationalism (GRFDT)