Grenada –This week (5-6/9), the Office of Diaspora Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Grenada, with the support of IOM, hosts a consultation aimed at initiating dialogue and exploring new opportunities, challenges, lessons learnt, and best practices on how proactive diaspora engagement can contribute to the development of Caribbean countries.

The event comes at a time when Grenada is undertaking its own Diaspora Engagement Project,  funded by the International Development Fund, IOM. The workshop gathers over 30 participants from 14 countries, comprised of migration experts, academic and government officials, civil society and other key stakeholders that work in diaspora engagement, foreign affairs, consular affairs and national development planning, will take part in this event.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Peter David, said “We are happy to welcome our Caribbean brothers and sisters to Grenada, as we continue the dialogue in the region on how best to engage and empower our diasporas for national development”.

The objective of the event is to identify activities and capacities of diaspora engagement, as well as challenges, needs, and priorities and consider how to best address them. The participants will use conclusions learned within the workshop to produce concrete recommendations for follow-up. One of the expected outcomes is also to establish a Caribbean Network of experts and stakeholders on diaspora engagement in the region to support this follow up.

The event is part of the initiatives of the Caribbean Migration Consultations (CMC), a cooperative body set up in 2016 to support a more holistic approach to migration management in the region. The event is held under the auspices of the IOM Western Hemisphere Regional Migration Program, which is funded by the United States Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration.

“The United States promotes ties between our Caribbean diasporas in the region, because we are neighbors, we are family, we are friends, and this is the right thing to do”. – Linda Taglielatela, U.S. Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean.

The CMC, with the support of IOM and UNHCR, has worked together with the governments of the Caribbean since 2016, delivering workshops and trainings to address a wide range of migration issues. Topics include among others, human trafficking, border management, emergency preparedness and response, refugee protection and migration data management.

For more information, please contact Jorge Gallo at the IOM Regional Office for Central America, North America and the Caribbean, Tel: +506 2212-5300, Email: jgallo@iom.int