IOM and Wilde Ganzen Explore Opportunities for Connecting Diaspora to Development

On the 8th of December, we had the pleasure of co-hosting a networking event with Wilde Ganzen for diaspora organizations in the Netherlands. The meeting featured several dedicated sessions on tips and tricks, challenges and opportunities to kickstart and grow diaspora engagement for development. We had the chance to share the success stories of our ambassadors and highlight the key part diaspora play in CD4D2.

The networking event was kicked off by presentations from Wilde Ganzen and IOM, reflecting on both our activities related to diaspora engagement for development. Our team gave an overview of the CD4D2 project and the ambassador program, to highlight the unique and highly important connection diaspora can bring to development efforts. Additionally, one of our CD4D ambassadors Niloufar Rahim presented the work she does with Afghan diaspora group Keihan, shining a light on what the dedicated action of the diaspora can achieve.

During the event, we brainstormed about several subjects related to diaspora organizations and development efforts, including fundraising, visibility, the impact of diaspora on Dutch society, and sustainable engagement of diaspora in countries of origin. Attending organizations had the opportunity to talk about their highly valuable experience and activities in the field and learn from each other’s knowledge.

Thanks to these lively and interesting discussions, we were able to gain important insights on some of the challenges diaspora organizations face in The Netherlands and their countries of origin, as well as potential solutions to overcome them. This sparked an interest to continue the conversation towards possible opportunities for collaboration with Wilde Ganzen and the organizations present. We are grateful for having had the opportunity to work together with Wilde Ganzen in order to foster these conversations, and we already look forward to building on this initial meeting and creating more opportunities for diaspora led initiatives within the development field.