July Update

Despite the holiday season, we managed to achieve a few things that we would like to tell you a little more about!

Number of assignments

This month we welcomed back 8 participants: three Ethiopians, two Somalians, two Sierra Leoneans and one Afghan.  Moreover, we facilitated 7 assignments that started in July in which three participants went to Somalia, one to Sierra Leone and two to Ethiopia.

New Target Country: Iraq

We have received the good news of Iraq joining the CD4D list of target countries as of 01 August 2018! IOM will now start identifying key sectors and institutions that will be targeted. In addition to building capacity at public institutions, our aim is also to support entrepreneurial diaspora who want to do business in Iraq.  We will keep you updated with developments along the way.

Embassy Visit with KEIHAN

IOM joined a meeting at the Afghan Embassy in The Hague to discuss new initiatives for the health care sector in Afghanistan and could potentially support such initiatives through CD4D.

Introduction of Passport Stories

To shine a light on our participants and what they thought of their assignment, we created a snapshot format resembling a passport – hence its name ‘Passport Stories’. So far, we have three passports from Sierra Leone. In time we will collect and develop more stories. The Passport Stories can be found under ‘Meeting the Community’.

Preparation for Sierra Leonean Delegation Visit

With the support of CD4D, a delegation of 4 Sierra Leoneans –  including representatives from educational institutions and the Office of Diaspora Affairs – are visiting the Netherlands for a study trip in October. The objective is for the visitors to get additional insights into developing entrepreneurship education in Sierra Leonean institutions.

Conference

A Save the Date has been announced for our diaspora conference on 30 October 2018 and we’re now putting together the program agenda and planning resourceful workshops. The visit of the Sierra Leonean delegation coincides with our conference and surely, they will actively participate in the conference as well. The conference will include key note speeches from international speakers as well as workshops on diaspora entrepreneurship, new technologies for diaspora networks, crowdfunding and impact through diaspora interventions.