Jamaicans urged to participate in online survey for Diaspora project
WASHINGTON DC, USA (JIS) — Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Arnaldo Brown, is encouraging Jamaicans living overseas to participate in an online survey for the Mapping Jamaica’s Diaspora Project.
Speaking at the Baltimore launch of the project on Friday (August15), Brown said that the initiative, which is expected to run for 18 months, is geared towards creating a database of skills, interests and location of Diaspora members.
The website for the project is www.mapjadiaspora.iom.int .
Information gathered will enable the Jamaican government to better serve the Diaspora and harness its potential for the benefit of the country, Brown said.
He explained that on completion of the project, Jamaicans in the Diaspora will also be able to readily access information about the government’s major development projects, and employment and investment opportunities, such as the Logistics Hub Initiative, Agro Parks and the redevelopment of downtown Kingston.
Addressing other initiatives to benefit the Diaspora, Brown cited the development of an International Migration and Development policy and a Diaspora policy.
He said that the Migration and Development policy seeks to streamline the issues of migration in all sectors of the economy and will track its impact and make policy decisions to support migrants and their families.
The Diaspora policy, Brown said, aims to prescribe methods for increasing trade and investment linkages between Jamaica and the Diaspora as one of the key elements in developing national development goals.
He said that the policies should be ready to be tabled in Parliament when it reconvenes in September.
Among those attending the launch were Jamaica’s Ambassador to the United States, Stephen Vasciannie; Maryland House of Delegates Representative, Shirley Natham-Pulliam; President of the National Association of Jamaican and Supportive Organizations (NAJASO), Rick Nugent; President of the Jamaica Association of Maryland (JAM), Noel Godfrey; and President of the Jamaican American Bar Association (JABA), Joan Pinnock.
