Mobilizing the African Diaspora for Capacity Building and Development: Focus on Fragile States

Panelists

• Mr. Hyung-Hwan JOO,Ministry of Strategy and Finance, Director General for International Economic Affairs Bureau Korea
• Mr. Seung-Hun CHUN, President of the Korea Institute for Development Studies, Korea
• Mr. Anup PUJARI, Government of India, Ministry of Finance, Department of Economic Affairs, Joint Secretary, India
•  Prof. Lin YONG, Vice Director, Institute for Ethnic Chinese Studies, Fujian Academy of Social Sciences, China

Moderator

• Mr. Roland NGONG, Former Special Assistant to the Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity (OAU)

Discussants

• Honorable Samura KAMARA,Minister of Finance, Sierra Leone
• Mr. Jerzy POMIANOWSKI, Head, Partnership for Democratic Governance, OECD.

African governments of fragile states are looking for ways to identify and engage their nationals abroad (the Diaspora) in development; and, Diasporas are seeking ways to be engaged in the region’s  development. Other regions have successfully engaged their Diaspora in various ways. What lessons  could Africa draw from countries that have harnessed the expertise, investments and entrepreneurship  of their Diaspora to accelerate capacity building and development? :

The event will serve as a forum to:

1. Connect African Governments to networks of highly qualified experts in the Diaspora so that they can hear from each other about how best to partner in utilizing the Diaspora as non-sovereigns for capacity building and knowledgemanagement toward accelerating outcomes under Pillar III of the Fragile States Facility (FSF). The networks of Diaspora professionals will include sector thematic (e.g., academics, scientists and engineers, finance and business management, etc); and those aligned to countries and regional economic communities or RECs; and, hometown associations (HTAs) focused on communities;
2. Share global experiences and good practices with RMCs/RECs/Diaspora about policies and instruments that are effective for engaging the Diaspora.
3. Identify the catalytic role that Bank could play in strengthening capacity of stakeholders for developing and implementing policies and instruments to institutionalize utilization of Diaspora expertise in capacity building for peace, improved governance, and service delivery, and mobilizing Diaspora financial resources for infrastructure extension (especially at sub-national levels), reconstruction and development.