The iDiaspora Platform was officially launched on 8 October 2018 during the International Dialogue on Migration in Geneva. In the past two years, iDiaspora has successfully positioned itself as a digital platform where global diasporas exchange key information and good practices to mainstream migration through development.
Two years after its launch, iDiaspora is pleased to organise the iDiaspora – two years after: Accelerating diaspora’s global engagement in the post-pandemic era event. Deputy Director of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Ambassador Laura Thompson, will be welcoming participants in order to: take stock of developments over the last two years with a special focus on COVID-19, present the new functionalities of the revamped iDiaspora platform, and showcase the collaboration potential between diasporas and key partners in the virtual space.
The iDiaspora team has collected feedback and inputs from the users and partners on how the platform can improve and respond to emerging needs of the communities it serves. While incremental changes and upgrades have been made continuously to the functionality and collaboration modalities of the platform, this year, the iDiaspora team has been able to incorporate a majority of the suggestions and inputs received in a new revamped version of the platform, with the generous support of the IOM Development Fund (IDF).
So far, iDiaspora brings 510 actors from 109 countries who have been able to share their best practices and stories on how to better integrate diaspora’s initiatives to enhance development in both their home and host communities.
IOM recognizes the role of global migrant communities as key actors for development. Their knowledge and their ability to navigate different contexts highlight their ability to foster development initiatives that mainstream development at the global, national, and local levels. Diasporas are agents with the necessary social capital and relevant resources to develop transnational initiatives to support their own communities scattered globally. Indeed, diaspora leaders have the potential to maximize migration’s benefits by creating spaces of dialogue and exchange.
The iDiaspora platform has been at the forefront to witness the potential of diasporas to react to crisis and to provide protection to their communities in order to alleviate the impact of such emergencies. In an effort to contribute to the alleviation of the COVID-19 crisis, IOM, also made possible with IDF support, organized three global exchanges, one in English, one in French and one in Spanish to summon diasporas from around the world to share their best practices responding to the sanitary crisis and to enhance the cooperation between policymakers, practitioners and stakeholders involved in the mainstreaming of migrant communities into the coronavirus crisis. During these insightful exchanges, the iDiaspora team was able to identify 50 different examples of the strategies developed by diaspora communities to respond to the COVID-19 crisis that will be soon published in a report.
The event commemorated the two-year anniversary of the official launch of iDiaspora. The event will include a discussion of the progress of the initiative as well as the following steps and the presentation of the new upgraded version of the platform. Finally, the event will welcome three global diaspora leaders from the Global Diaspora Confederation, ADEPT, and Red Global MX Ireland to keep creating synergies with key actors creating opportunities and initiatives for their communities in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin-America.
