A report from the secretary's Global Diaspora Forum

ID: INTERACTIVE DIALOGUE

DAVID MULLINGS

Sunday, May 22, 2011

THIS past week I was invited, along with a handful of other Jamaicans in the USA, to attend US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's Global Diaspora Forum held in Washington, DC from May 17-19.

The invitations came directly from the State Department for most of us, not through any Jamaican Consulate or the Embassy. The information that we gleaned and the individuals we met, representing Diaspora organisations from a wide range of countries provided great food for thought.

This information will certainly influence the various ways in which manifold organisations and groups in the Diaspora have been contributing to the positive development of the country. It will also impact the institutions that have been created and their efforts to engage with current and future administrations.

The topics covered included:

* Effective engagement strategies

* Investment and trade

* Philanthropy

* Volunteering and Community service

* Innovation

* Health and Medicine

* Building bridges

* Agriculture and Rural development

* Disaster Response and Humanitarian relief

* Entrepreneurship

* Education

* Remittances and Mobile Money

* Diaspora Youth Leaders

* Science and technology

* Sports

Many of these are areas in which overseas Jamaicans have been playing a role for decades. While some Jamaicans like to claim that the Diaspora is not relevant to resident Jamaicans, they overlook the facts. The mobilisation of relief supplies and aid from the Diaspora after natural disasters can be attested to by the various consulates, members of the Jamaican Diaspora Advisory Board and NAJASO.

The hundreds of thousands of dollars raised by the many alumni associations throughout the USA, UK and Canada have helped to build or refurbish classrooms, buy school books and equipment, provide scholarships and feed children. The many medical missions are constantly in the local media. Team Jamaica Bickle, a critical support group for Jamaican athletes competing at the Penn Relays, is proof of the Diaspora's involvement in sports.

I could list many contributions to Jamaica by the Diaspora without ever mentioning remittances, and it was heartening to hear similar stories of how other diasporas are contributing to Haiti, Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria, Vietnam, Turkey, Egypt, Sri Lanka and so many more countries.

Many of these individuals face the same issues and challenges that the Jamaican Diaspora movement faces and we were able to share both best practices and draw inspiration from the success stories.

Secretary of State Clinton launched IdEA -- the International dIASPORA Engagement Alliance -- which has functions such as facilitating the development of Diaspora-centric public-private partnerships, raising global awareness of the importance of Diaspora groups and organisations, disseminating best practices, providing capacity building and understanding the nexus between diasporas and diplomacy/development.

My fellow attendees and I look forward to making sure that Jamaica is engaged in IdEA and benefits from this great initiative. Some of the quotes that stood out most for me include:

"You have to engage in a way that is as inclusive and wide-ranging as possible."

"Diaspora groups are usually the first responders after a crisis."

"Diaspora groups are integral to shaping migration policy through official meetings with the US Government."

"Members of the Diaspora understand their country and culture in a way that is hard to understand if you are not from there and this should be leveraged in business."

One panelist, Semhar Araia, executive director of the Diaspora African Women's Network, spoke to building bridges. She elaborated about her ROPE concept:

R - Representation (you are an ambassador for your country no matter what you think).

O - Ownership (know who you are, don't wait for others to tell you).

P - Participation (how do you participate).

E - Engagement (here and there).

This ROPE structure is a great guide to assist in building new and strengthening existing bridges within the Jamaican Diaspora and between the Diaspora and Jamaica.

The next few weeks of my column will focus on the various sessions we attended while providing examples of how the Jamaican Diaspora has contributed within each area. I especially look forward to sharing information presented in the investment, entrepreneurship and youth workshops.

Before I conclude, I feel it is critical to discuss the 'Five A's' espoused by an attendee, Altaf Husain, a lecturer at Howard University.

Mr Husain pointed out that in order to be successful in our various Diaspora groups we must:

* Acknowledge what has come before and what exists;

* Appreciate the work done to date;

* Assess impact;

* Analyse the key metrics and issues encountered; then

* Advance the work after improving.

All the organisations in the Jamaican Diaspora clearly have tremendous work ahead, and the information and contacts gleaned from this forum will most definitely help to advance positive development in Jamaica.

David Mullings is the Future Leaders Representative for the USA on the Jamaican Diaspora Advisory Board. He is on Twitter at twitter.com/davidmullings and Facebook at facebook.com/InteractiveDialogue

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A report from the secretary's Global Diaspora Forum