THE GRENADA INTERNATIONAL DIASPORA ASSOCIATION KICK START IDEAS
- Slides: 12
THE GRENADA INTERNATIONAL DIASPORA ASSOCIATION KICK START IDEAS MEETING WITH GRENADA DIASPORA WORKING GROUPS Neville Ying Policy Consultant
GRENADA INTERNATIONAL DIASPORA ASSOCIATION : KICK START IDEAS IMPORTANT QUESTIONS 1. What is the purpose of the Grenada International Diaspora Association? 2. Where should be the locus of Control of the Association – home country or Diaspora? 3. What are the enabling legislation, protocols and incentives needed for maximizing the contributions of the Diaspora to the home country – Grenada ?
GRENADA INTERNATIONAL DIASPORA ASSOCIATION : KICK START IDEAS PURPOSE OF THE GRENADA INTERNATIONAL DIASPORA ASSOCIATION A useful starting point is reviewing what other countries have done in developing and utilizing their International Diaspora Networks.
GRENADA INTERNATIONAL DIASPORA ASSOCIATION : KICK START IDEAS INTERNATIONAL DIASPORA NETWORKS FOCUS ON THREE MAJOR AREAS: INVESTMENT eg Ireland , Scotland, Israel; Nigeria KNOWLEDGE NETWORKS eg India , South Africa, China PHILANTHROPY eg Israel , Nigeria, Mexico
GRENADA INTERNATIONAL DIASPORA ASSOCIATION : KICK START IDEAS LOCUS OF CONTROL HOMELAND COUNTRY : eg Scotland, China DIASPORA eg Ireland, Nigeria The Irish approach to its diaspora is relatively successful, particularly with respect to business. it is. . flexible in structure, gives ownership and freedom to its members, and is developmental. . The state's role is to nurture and incubate, not manage and over-determine. Scotland, in contrast, has pursued a strategy that is more state-centric and centrally managed.
GRENADA INTERNATIONAL DIASPORA ASSOCIATION : KICK START IDEAS ENABLING LEGISLATION, PROTOCOLS AND INCENTIVES Four important strategic actions for homeland countries are: Providing a definition of the Diaspora Developing Strategies for Reducing the cost of Transfer of Funds Inclusion of the Diaspora in Policy Development and Implementation Negotiating Portable and Transferable Social Security benefits
GRENADA INTERNATIONAL DIASPORA ASSOCIATION : KICK START IDEAS DEFINITION OF THE DIASPORA The IOM provides two Examples INDIA The Indian Diaspora consists of Non-Resident Indians (NRI) and People of Indian Descent ( PID) AFRICA The African Diaspora consists of peoples of African origin living outside the continent, irrespective of their citizenship and nationality, and who are willing to contribute to the development of the continent.
GRENADA INTERNATIONAL DIASPORA ASSOCIATION : KICK START IDEAS DEFINITION OF THE DIASPORA In the Grenada National Diaspora Engagement Policy the following definition is provided: The Grenadian Diaspora consists of Grenadians and persons of Grenadian origin that live outside of Grenada.
GRENADA INTERNATIONAL DIASPORA ASSOCIATION : KICK START IDEAS REDUCING COST OF TRANSFER OF FUNDS The Grenada National Diaspora Engagement Policy includes a Strategic Action which is a collaborative approach with other CARICOM countries to find workable solutions for the problem of Correspondent Banking Arrangements which will address this issue. .
GRENADA INTERNATIONAL DIASPORA ASSOCIATION : KICK START IDEAS INCLUSION OF DIASPORA IN POLICY DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION The IOM refers to this as a Co- Development Strategy. Two of their illustrative Examples are Ethiopia, Ghana The members of the Ethiopian diaspora are included in the government’s commitment to expand private sector activities. Ghana initiated a Poverty Reduction Scheme promoting SMEs in the agro-industry that explicitly recognizes diasporas as a source of mobilizing funds to finance the anti-poverty strategy.
GRENADA INTERNATIONAL DIASPORA ASSOCIATION : KICK START IDEAS PORTABLE AND TRANSFERABLE SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS The IOM makes reference to emphasis the World Bank (2005) places on the significance of portable social security benefits, in particular pension and health benefits. This portability is usually achieved through bilateral social security agreements between the sending and the receiving countries.
GRENADA INTERNATIONAL DIASPORA ASSOCIATION : KICK START IDEAS CONCLUDING COMMENTS The Kick Start ideas presented are intended to invite your inputs for the preparation of a proposal for the establishment of the Grenada International Association. The aim is to have this proposal ready so that it can be included in the new Grenada National Diaspora Engagement Policy and 5 -Year Action Plan.
