Hello and welcome to Episode 55 of the Migration & Diaspora Podcast, a show about anything and everything to do with migration and diaspora engagement.
I’m delighted to be joined today by Linda Oucho, Executive Director of the African Migration and Development Policy Centre (AMADPOC), who shares her insights into African migrant decision-making.
About Linda
Linda is an established migration expert with over a decade of experience leading AMADPOC – a research think tank based in Nairobi, Kenya. Linda returned to Kenya after 16 years studying abroad in Ghana, Botswana and the UK. She draws from her experience as a migrant to understand the dynamic nature of migration to, from and within Africa.
Linda has undertaken consultancies with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), the African Union Commission, among other intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations. She works closely with African governments, including Kenya where she serves as an active member of the National Coordination Mechanism for Migration (NCM) advocating for the use of research to inform migration decision-making, policy design and implementation.
What we talk about
Today, Linda shares a range of insights on migrant decision making, drawing from emerging findings of DYNAMIG, a three-year project that aims to create a more thorough understanding of how people make decisions on whether and how to migrate. We talk about:
How the DYNAMIG project functions and how they’re conducting their research.
The factors that contribute to Africans’ decisions to migrate.
Whether or not policies to deter migration actually work.
African migrants’ increasing awareness of protection issues (or their lack of protection).
As always, lots of links in the show notes so be sure to find this episode at homelandsadvisory.com/podcast. If you enjoy this episode, I invite you to leave a review via your preferred podcasting platform and to share the podcast with your migration-enthusiast friends.
Links
DYNAMIG: https://dynamig.org/
AMADPOC: https://amadpoc.org/
Connect with Linda: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindaoucho/
MIGNEX: https://www.mignex.org/
Migrating Out of Poverty: http://www.migratingoutofpoverty.org/
JLMP: https://au.int/en/jlmp
All episodes of the MDPcast: https://homelandsadvisory.com/podcast
Hello and welcome again to yet another episode of the Migration & Diaspora Podcast, where we showcase projects and people from the field of migration and diaspora engagement. I’m your host Loksan Harley from Homelands Advisory, your independent migration and diaspora agency.
India is one of the most interesting countries to study when it comes to migration. When I think of Indian migration, my mind jumps to the large Indian diaspora community in the UK, the migrant workers in the Gulf, historical indentured servitude in Africa, and Indian tech founders in Silicon Valley. One thing I don’t think much about is India-EU migration. So I’m delighted to have Naozad Hodiwala on the show to tell us all about the emerging trends and growing potential of the India-EU migration relationship.
About Naozad
Naozad Hodiwala is the International Centre for Migration Policy Development’s (ICMPD) Country Coordinator for India at the South and West Asia Regional Office. Since 2017, in this role, Naozad has been helping ICMPD to co-implement a project (the EU-India Cooperation and Dialogue on Migration and Mobility (EU-India CDMM) project) that supports the EU-India Common Agenda on Migration and Mobility (CAMM).
Through the dialogue support initiative, Naozad has facilitated several high-level meetings on migration governance, including on migration data, remittances, student mobility, and welfare of Indians in the EU. And all this is part of his more than 17 years of experience in migration management across Asia and Africa. It comes as no surprise to me that, in 2020, Naozad was recognised as a Top 40 under 40 Leader by the Europe-India Centre for Business Industry (EICBI). When not jetting across the globe, he is an avid tennis fan, enjoys walks with his dog, and is a proud husband and father of two girls. Which is lovely to hear and you’ll also learn more about his own fascinating migration and diaspora story in a moment.
The ICMPD is an international organisation, with 20 Member States and working in more than 90 countries worldwide. Contributing to the development of better and safer migration policies and programmes, ICMPD takes a holistic approach to migration: structurally linking policy and research, cooperation, community outreach, and capacity development. With over 500 staff members, it takes a regional approach in its work towards efficient cooperation and partnerships along key migration routes, with a focus on Africa, Central and South Asia, Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East.
Founded in 1993 with headquarters in Vienna and a liaison office in Brussels, ICMPD holds UN observer status and cooperates with more than 200 partners including EU institutions, UN agencies, Member States, and several countries. ICMPD receives contributions from its Member States and bilateral donors, the European Commission, UN partners, and other multilateral institutions.
What we talk about
In today’s episode, we’re talking EU-India migration, including:
The migration trends between the two superpowers.
The potential that migration holds for both sides in helping balance labour supply and demand.
How that potential can be maximised through measures to facilitate and support migration in a way that can benefit Europe, India and those who choose to move.
The EU-India Cooperation and Dialogue on Migration and Mobility project.
And if your interest in India has been piqued by this episode, you can check out related Episode 29 on South Asian migration mega-trends with ILO’s Shabari Nair.
Links
India-EU Cooperation and Dialogue on Migration and Mobility Phase II
EU-India Common Agenda on Migration and Mobility Declaration
Follow Naozad and ICMPD on Twitter:
Connect with Naozad and ICMPD on LinkedIn:
Tune into The Migration Podcast by ICMPD
Regional Outlook for South and West Asia, 2024: Top 5 Issues
Hello and welcome again to yet another episode of the Migration & Diaspora Podcast, where we showcase projects and people from the field of migration and diaspora engagement. I’m your host Loksan Harley from Homelands Advisory, your independent migration and diaspora agency.
Now, it’s been a while since we talked about Latin America on this podcast, so I’m very excited to present to you a conversation with Mara Tissera Luna, one of the region’s preeminent experts on migration and especially children on the move in displacement situations, which is precisely the topic of the day.
About Mara
Mara is an international consultant focusing on displacement and protection responses in Latin America and the Caribbean. She’s a fellow at the Collaborative on Global Children’s Issues at Georgetown University and has provided technical advice and applied research to UNICEF, the University of Edinburgh, Refugees International, and International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) in 14 countries, contributing to 25+ reports, handbooks, and short articles.
What we talk about
In today’s episode, we talk all about the rather harrowing protection issues faced by children in situations of displacement in Latin America, including:
The state of play of forced displacement in the region.
Specific trends in the displacement of children.
Solutions to address these very pressing needs.
Mara draws both from her recent research on very young children in Guatemala, as well wider research on the topic. We’ve included some links to some of these sources in the show notes as there is a lot to know and we couldn’t cover anything in a 45-minute podcast.
Anyway, without further ado, I’d like to thank you again for tuning in and we hope you enjoy the show.
Links
Connect with Mara: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maratisseraluna/
Mara’s website and newsletter sign-up: https://latinamerica.website/maratisseraluna
Georgetown University's programme "Promoting Early Childhood Development for Young Children on the Move in Northern Central America,": https://globalchildren.georgetown.edu/posts/innovations-to-support-early-childhood-development-and-protection-for-young-displaced-children-in-guatemala
Mini-guide "Research for Advocacy & Systemic Change: A Ridiculously Simplified Guide to Intersectional & Decolonial Research + examples.": https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FK-wuDhJ3bHsvb85U_crh-M5Y51l66-O/view
Background Paper "Protecting Children in Escalating Conflict and Crises: Armed Violence, Climate Shocks, and Displacement", Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action: https://alliancecpha.org/en/annual-meeting-2024/background-paper
ODI and UNICEF’s “Children on the move in Latin America and the Caribbean: Review of evidence”: https://www.unicef.org/lac/en/reports/children-on-the-move-in-latin-america-and-the-caribbean
An in-depth, graphical overview of what’s happening at the U.S.-Mexico border right now, from the Washington Office on Latin America’s Adam Isacson: https://vimeo.com/918977850
The world's most neglected displacement crises in 2022: https://www.nrc.no/resources/reports/the-worlds-most-neglected-displacement-crises-in-2022/
The MDPcast Ep22: Latin America's migration mega-trends: https://www.homelandsadvisory.com/podcast/episode/2790db1d/episode-22-latin-americas-migration-mega-trends-with-felipe-munoz-from-the-inter-american-development-bank
The MPDcast Ep5: Chlidren on the move in West and Central Africa: https://www.homelandsadvisory.com/podcast/episode/20c80d46/episode-5-children-on-the-move-in-west-and-central-africa-context-vulnerabilities-and-protection-needs
Hello and welcome to a very special episode of the Migration & Diaspora Podcast, in which we have our first-ever repeat guest. Great friend of Homelands Advisory and star guest of episode 2, Dr Martin Russell, AKA Doctor Diaspora, is back on the show to talk about the state of the diaspora engagement sector now four years on from that first interview.
About Martin
Everyone who works on diaspora engagement is more than familiar with Martin but for those of you who aren’t, Martin is the founder of the Global Diaspora Insights (GDI), a consulting firm. He completed his PhD at the Clinton Institute (University College Dublin) where his research focused on the role of the Irish diaspora in the Northern Ireland Peace Process specifically looking at diaspora media, diaspora philanthropy, and diaspora politics.
What we talk about
In today’s episode, we both reflect on our collective experience working on diaspora engagement in more than 50 countries, including:
The evolving differences between migration and diaspora.
The state of the diaspora engagement sector (progress made and opportunities missed).
Diaspora diplomacy as an outsized opportunity area for governments.
It’s a bit of a “no holds barred” talk in which we try not to pull any punches. We’d like to thank you for tuning in and we hope you enjoy the show.
Links
Global Diaspora Insights: https://www.globaldiasporainsights.com/
Connect with Martin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-russell-0530131a5/
Ireland’s Emigrant Support Programme: https://www.dfa.ie/global-irish/support-overseas/emigrant-support-programme/
Kingsley Aikins: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kingsleyaikins/
Global Diaspora Strategies Toolkit: https://thenetworkinginstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Diaspora-Toolkit-Book.pdf
European Union Global Diaspora Facility (EUDiF): https://diasporafordevelopment.eu/
Global Citizens 2030 - Ireland’s Talent and Innovation Strategy https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/012d7-global-citizens-2030-irelands-talent-and-innovation-strategy/#:~:text=Global%20Citizens%202030%20is%20Ireland's,and%20research%20and%20innovation%20systems.
HBR article on diaspora marketing: https://hbr.org/2013/10/diaspora-marketing
John Hume Novel Lecture: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1998/hume/lecture/
Routledge International Handbook of Diaspora Diplomacy: https://www.routledge.com/Routledge-International-Handbook-of-Diaspora-Diplomacy/Kennedy/p/book/9781032080567
Paul Quinn obituary: https://www.irishtimes.com/obituaries/2023/11/11/paul-quinn-obituary-pioneer-of-peace-process-who-did-not-seek-plaudits/
President Biden’s African Diaspora Advisory Council: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/09/26/president-biden-announces-the-inaugural-members-of-the-presidents-advisory-council-on-african-diaspora-engagement-in-the-united-states/#:~:text=In%20accordance%20with%20Executive%20Order,the%20continent%20and%20the%20Caribbean.
Ghana Year of Return: https://www.yearofreturn.com/
Hello and welcome to another episode of the Migration & Diaspora Podcast, produced by Homelands Advisory, your independent migration agency. In case this is your first time tuning in, we spotlight projects, research and stories related to people on-the-move.
Today, we’ve got a heavyweight of the migration world, Rob McNeil from the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, on the show to get his take on contemporary public debate on migration.
About Rob
Rob is the Deputy Director and Head of Media and Communications at the Migration Observatory, where he leads on public relations strategy, parliamentary and community outreach and news and commentary work. Rob was actually part of the team who launched the Observatory in 2011 and, since then, has been working to embed its analysis in public debates. Rob also participates in Oxford University and the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society’s (COMPAS) research projects, examining the social environments from which news stories and narratives about migration and migrants emerge, how media debate affects migration policy decisions (and vice versa), and how information gaps affect how these issues are discussed. Rob is a former journalist and previously served as Media Director for the US environmental organisation Conservation International, PR manager for Oxfam GB, Senior Press Officer for WWF-UK, and as a journalist for the Evening Standard, The Daily Mirror, Time Out and BBC Wildlife, among other publications.
What we talk about
That’s quite the track record. In today’s far-reaching, perhaps meandering, interview, I learn from Rob’s extensive media and academic experience studying migration narratives and debates, especially in the UK and Europe (though parallelling discourse in many other countries). We discuss the nature of these migration debates and, in particular, which factors seem to lead to more balanced and less toxic debates on migration. I’m sure you’ll agree this is a very timely conversation.
I thoroughly enjoyed having Rob on the show because he not only speaks from his eminent position at the Observatory, but also draws from his experience working on different topics in different countries. I’d like to thank Rob for coming on the show and thank you for listening. And without further ado, please sit back and enjoy the episode.
Links
Migration Oxford Podcast: https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/series/migration-oxford-podcast
MDPcast Ep37: Communicating migration with Marco Ricorda: https://www.homelandsadvisory.com/podcast/episode/52bc36f7/episode-37-communicating-migration-with-marco-ricorda
Connect with Rob: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-mcneil-060b1822/
Is it time to turn down the volume on the migration debate?: https://feps-europe.eu/is-it-time-to-turn-down-the-volume-on-the-migration-debate/
Communicating on migration (policy brief series): https://feps-europe.eu/publication/communicating-on-migration/
Reporting migration: A handbook on migration reporting for journalists: https://www.icmpd.org/file/download/50559/file/Handbook0on0Reporting0Migration0EN.pdf#page=39
Unpicking the notion of ‘safe and legal’ routes: https://mixedmigration.org/unpicking-the-notion-of-safe-and-legal-routes/
Hello and you’re listening to the Migration & Diaspora Podcast, a show that shines light on some of the most impactful trends, projects and people working in the field of migration and diaspora engagement. And I’m your host, Loksan Harley, Executive Director of Homelands Advisory - your independent migration agency specialised in research, policy development and trainings.
About Bashàïr
Today, I’m joined by Dr Bashàïr Ahmed, CEO of Shabaka, a diaspora-led organisation specialised in research, policy and practice contributing to the role of diaspora and migrants in humanitarian preparedness, response, and recovery. Based in Brighton, UK, Bashàïr has over 20 years’ experience working with United Nations agencies and international organisations focused on fragile and conflict-affected countries. Bashàïr has consulted on a wide range of migration and diaspora initiatives, including the protection of irregular migrants, the development of e-trainings on humanitarian principles for diaspora organisations, and providing guidance on diaspora engagement in development and humanitarian response. Bashàïr holds a doctorate in Migration Studies from the University of Sussex, where she also serves as a Research Associate; her academic interests include humanitarianism, diasporas, migration and development, and intergenerational engagement.
What we talk about
The state of play of diaspora engagement in humanitarianism.
How diasporas contribute to response to and recovery from different forms of crisis.
How traditional humanitarian organisations currently work with diaspora organisations.
Constraints on diaspora groups’ humanitarian involvement.
The shifts required to amplify diaspora groups’ impact in humanitarian contexts as well as their critical role in localising aid and humanitarian responses.
For those of you whose interest in the topic is piqued by this conversation, I recommend tuning into Episode 12 on the same topic, which you can find on homelandsadvisory.com/podcast where you’ll also see a form at the top of the page allowing you to subscribe to the podcast to never miss an episode.
Anyway, without further ado, I’d like to thank Bashàïr very much for coming on the show and I very much hope that you enjoy our conversation.
Cluster system: According to UN OCHA, the humanitarian cluster system is a coordination mechanism used by the UN and other humanitarian organizations to respond to crises. It is designed to organize humanitarian actors into core sectors, such as water, health and food security.
Shabaka’s website: https://shabaka.org/about-shabaka/our-team/
Connect with Bashàïr on LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bashair-ahmed/
MDPcast Episode 12 with Daniela Villacrez: https://www.homelandsadvisory.com/podcast/episode/2a7391e0/episode-12-how-to-engage-diasporas-in-humanitarian-assistance
British Red Cross Diaspora Humanitarian Programme: https://www.redcross.org.uk/about-us/what-we-do/diaspora-humanitarian-partnership-programme-grants#:~:text=What%20is%20the%20Diaspora%20Humanitarian,at%20engaging%20with%20diaspora%20communities.
Why these 10 humanitarian crises demand your attention now: https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/analysis/2024/01/08/why-these-10-humanitarian-crises-demand-your-attention-now
All the MDPcast episodes: https://homelandsadvisory.com/podcast
Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Migration & Diaspora Podcast, where we discuss topics, projects, ideas, and everything else related to migration and diaspora engagement.
Today, we’ve got a podcast about, well, podcasting. We’ve got Ana Lucía Gutiérrez González on the show to share her wonderful story connecting with fellow Peruvian diaspora women through the Granadilla Podcast that she hosts.
About Ana
Ana interviews Peruvian women around the world and shares their stories as a form of inspiration and motivation for future female migrants while creating a space to empower them. She is currently pursuing a PhD in migration, focusing on Peruvian migrant women while running operations for a startup in Israel. She is married and has a dog. Ana loves travelling, good food and long naps. BTW, these introductions I include at the beginning of each episode are the bios that guests share with me and I love that having a dog and enjoying naps feature in Ana’s.
What we talk about
Ana’s experience being a Peruvian diaspora woman.
Building a podcast in the midst of a pandemic to connect with other Peruanas por el mundo.
How Ana ended up turning that podcast into an organisation that not only tells diaspora stories but that also now connects, supports, trains and empowers Peruvian women.
I really enjoyed having Ana on the show and I thoroughly recommend checking out the Granadilla Podcast, whether you’re a Peruvian or Latina migrant or if you’re simply interested in hearing some wonderful stories of identity and human connection. And listen out for the curious story behind the name of Ana’s podcast.
Last but not least, thank you so much for tuning in and without further ado, please sit back and enjoy the show.
Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Migration & Diaspora Podcast, where we discuss topics, projects, ideas, and everything else related to the movement of people.
Today, I’m joined by David Martineau, Senior Programme Manager at the International Organization for Migration (IOM), who tells us all about the Migration Governance Indicators (MGI) programme.
About David
Working within IOM’s department of policy and research, David works to build governments’ capacity to understand how their policy frameworks could better respond to emerging challenges and opportunities stemming from current migration dynamics. In his decade working at IOM, he has worked on the organisation’s engagement on the Sustainable Development Goals, New Urban Agenda and other multilateral processes. He was deployed to Moldova for the Ukraine response and worked on UN partnerships in New York. Before IOM, David studied and worked in Germany, Ukraine, Russia and Canada. David holds Masters degrees from the Munk School of Global Affairs (University of Toronto) and Queen’s University in Canada.
What we talk about
It was an absolute pleasure to have David on the show to tell us all about:
How IOM helps different countries from around the world to assess their migration governance frameworks.
What migration governance constitutes.
The indicators used to measure migration governance.
Knock-on effects that the MGI assessments have produced for the countries and municipalities who have benefited from the programme.
Links
MGI webpage: https://www.migrationdataportal.org/overviews/mgi
MGI success stories: https://publications.iom.int/books/migration-governance-indicators-success-stories-2023
Connect with David on LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-martineau-0ba24136/
All the MDPcast episodes: https://homelandsadvisory.com/podcast
Hello and welcome to another episode of the Migration & Diaspora Podcast, a show about all things migration hosted by yours truly, Loksan Harley from Homelands Advisory.
Today, we’ve got a fascinating episode featuring my friend Salvatore Petronella from Labor Mobility Partnerships (LaMP).
About Salvatore
Salvatore Petronella is a migration governance specialist focusing on the EU external dimension, with a special focus on labour mobility and the smuggling of migrants. He is currently the Knowledge and Influence Lead at LaMP, developing proof-of-concepts for EU Member States and engaging with industry representatives and international institutions.
Salvatore previously coordinated the launch and implementation of the Migration Partnership Facility (MPF) at the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD). He also worked at ICF International, leading various evaluation and impact assessments as well as serving as a senior expert to the European Migration Network (EMN). He previously worked at the European Commission (DG HOME) as a seconded national expert on integration policies.
What we talk about
I was keen to get Salvatore on the show to talk about his work at LaMP, as I’d been seeing and hearing a lot about this relatively new organisation and was curious to learn more. And because I was curious, well, I thought some of you might be curious about LaMP as well.
So listen closely as Salvatore and I talk all about:
LaMP and their work to develop new labour mobility schemes and partnerships.
The broader demographic trends that are creating a need for labour mobility partnerships.
How labour mobility is currently regulated.
How labour mobility partnerships have the potential to match growing labour demands and shortages around the world.
As always, I’d like to thank you very much for tuning in and hope you enjoy the show.
Hello and welcome to another episode of the Migration & Diaspora Podcast, a show about all things migration. Today, I’m delighted to welcome Elana Wong from the Civil Society Action Committee (CSAC) to the show to talk about multi-stakeholder engagement in global migration governance.
About Elana
Elana is a young advocate for migrant rights, and civil and whole-of-society representation, currently serving as part of the secretariat for the CSAC and Global Forum on Migration & Development (GFMD) Civil Society Mechanism, housed under the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC). She formerly served as Co-Director (2021-2023) and Asia-Pacific Regional Lead (2020) for the Migration Youth & Children Platform, where she led youth participation in multiple migration advocacy processes at the global and regional processes, including the 2020 Global Compact for Migration Asia-Pacific Regional Review, the 2021 GFMD, and the 2022 International Migration Review Forum, as well as for cross-cutting international policy forums for UNESCO, WHO, and United Cities and Local Governance (UCLG). Originally from Malaysia and Singapore, she currently resides in the UK.
What we talk about
I’m so glad to have Elana on the show to update us on this topic after her colleague and legendary civil society activist, Colin Rajah, came on the podcast (Episode 16) a couple of years back to share some really valuable insights. I highly recommend you tune in to that one too.
As always, thank you for listening and I hope you enjoy the show.
Links
IMRF 2022 Assessment Paper: https://csactioncommittee.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/IMRF-2022-ASSESSMENT-PAPER-Final-7.pdf
Hello and welcome to another episode of the Migration & Diaspora Podcast. We're taking a break from recording at the moment as we are in a particularly busy period delivering projects for several of our clients, but in case you were missing us, we wanted to make sure that we got this discussion to your airwaves ASAP.
I really enjoyed this conversation with Julien Simon, who is Head of Mediterranean Region at the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), who tells us all about the ICMPD's new #MigrationCapacityPartnerships.
About Julien Simon
Julien has had a highly distinguished two-decade career in migration, holding various positions at ICMPD since 2001, including Senior Programme Manager, Head of the Secretariat of the Mediterranean Transit Migration Dialogue, and Team Leader of the EUROMED Migration III.
In 2016, Julien headed to Malta where he assumed the position of Regional Coordinator for the Mediterranean and set up ICMPD’s first regional office, entering his current position and Head of that Regional Office in 2021. That same year, Julien launched the concept of Migration Capacity Partnerships for the Mediterranean and oversaw the inauguration of the Training Institute for Migration Capacity Partnerships for the Mediterranean based in Valletta.
In our conversation, Julien shares with us some of his incredible experiences and learnings from more than a decade of experience working on migration in the Mediterranean, which has for centuries been such a fascinating and eventful theatre of migration and mobility issues.
What we talk about
Thank you so much for listening. All the things we reference can be found in the show notes at homelandsadvisory.com/podcast. And, last but not least, we thank you very much for listening and hope you enjoy the show.
Links
Hello and welcome to the Migration & Diaspora Podcast, with me your co-host, Aurore.
Today, I'm joined by Fridah Ntarangwi, Founder and Managing Director of Zidi Circle to talk about how Zidi Circle is aiming to bridge the African diaspora venture funding gap.
About Fridah
Originally from Kenya, Fridah founded the first-ever diaspora entrepreneurship incubator out of the Netherlands, Zidicircle supporting the diaspora and migrants with entrepreneurship training, mentorship, match-making and access to investment to succeed as entrepreneurs both in their countries of residence and home countries.
Through her leadership, Zidicircle has collectively graduated hundreds diaspora entrepreneurs and impacted many households both in Europe and Africa. She has also managed several Diaspora Entrepreneurship Programmes including IOM’s Connecting Diaspora for Development (CD4D), SNV’s Green diaspora venture backers programme and Green-Diaspora SME Matching programme, the Diaspora-SME Forum and launched investment products like the Diaspora Venture Backers programme that trains aspiring diaspora investors on how to invest in startups and SMEs in host and home countries.
Fridah was awarded by the EMEN project of the European Union (EU) for promoting inclusive entrepreneurship in the EU and was bestowed the Duisenberg title ‘Woman in Finance’. The Amsterdam’s Municipality’s initiative startup Amsterdam and the Silicon Canals recently listed Fridah as a top female entrepreneur in the Netherlands to watch in 2022. She is passionate about building an inclusive entrepreneurship and financing ecosystem for migrants, developing economies and women entrepreneurs.
Fridah holds a bachelor of Commerce degree from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa and a Master of science in Finance from the Duisenberg school of Finance in the Netherlands.
What we talk about
In this interview, we talk about how the African diaspora can step in to bridge the VC funding gap on the continent and in the diaspora. We talk about the need to create investment opportunities and a culture of investing within the African diaspora, beyond traditional channels and how Zidi Circle supports this process.
I'm excited for you to get into this interview, so I'd like to thank you, as always, for tuning in and please do enjoy the show.
Links
Hello and welcome to the Migration & Diaspora Podcast, with me your co-host, Aurore.
Today, I'm joined Kemo Camara, CEO and Founder of Omek to talk about the complexity of the African diaspora and how a psychographic segmentation of the latter led him to found Omek.
About Kemo
Originally from Guinea, Kemo is the founder of Omek, a community-centric platform whose mission is to amplify the talent, the voices, and energy of biculturals of African descent. Kemo is a social entrepreneur, community leader, economist, and public speaker.
Kemo believes that the potential of the bicultural talent, especially those of African descent, is greatly untapped and underestimated, and if unlocked, will create empowered professionals who are meaningful contributions to the economy and culture.
He has lived, studied and worked across Guinea, the United States, Germany and the Netherlands, where he is now based. He has a BA in Business Administration and a Master in Development Economics and International Studies.
What we talk about
In this interview, Kemo tells us all about how his psychographic segmentation of the African diaspora led him to found Omek. We talk about the role value-based segmentation as a potential unifier of the global African diaspora, the need to move beyond the diaspora-development nexus and the paradoxes of privilege within African diaspora engagement.
We also talk about how Omek, an organization that supports bi-culturals of African descent, is on a mission to normalize collaboration and community building and how it does so.
I'm excited for you to get into this interview, so I'd like to thank you, as always, for tuning in and please do enjoy the show.
Links
Hello and welcome to another episode of the Migration & Diaspora Podcast, with me your host, Loksan Harley from Homelands Advisory - your independent migration agency.
Today, we've got a true rockstar of the migration and development field, Sonia Plaza, on the show to share her insights and lessons learned from a long and distinguished career working for the World Bank in the field of migration, remittances and diaspora engagement.
About Sonia
Sonia Plaza is a Senior Economist in the Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation Global Practice of the World Bank. She is also the co-chair of the Diaspora Thematic working group of KNOMAD (Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development).
Originally from Lima, Peru, Sonia advises many universities on the transfer of skills and tapping into their diasporas. Sonia attended the University of Lima and earned a degree in Economics, after which she joined Chase Manhattan Bank, and was then invited to join the Peruvian Ministry of Trade as a manager responsible for counter trade and debt swap agreements.
She has a dual degree from Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania in International Economics and Development. She was Professor of Economics (International Economics) at the Peruvian School of Foreign Service and at the University of Lima in Peru, and was adjunct faculty (Microeconomics and Macroeconomics) at The American University in Washington, DC.
Migration and development: The evolving nexus
Sonia has been involved in so much of the top-level research and evolution in thinking regarding migration and development that I was curious to share with you both her and the World Bank's priorities on migration, as well as her personal insights regarding how global discussions have evolved over the past decades.
I particularly loved how she is able to connect a broader global World Bank perspective and strategic thinking on migration and development, with the specifics of different projects at the country level. We close with Sonia's top three tips for simple things any government can do to boost the developmental impact of migration.
As always, thank you so much for tuning in. You can find our entire catalogue and show notes for this podcast at homelandsadvisory.com/podcast. And without further ado, sit back and enjoy the show.
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Hello and welcome to the Migration & Diaspora Podcast, with me your host, Loksan Harley. Today, we're delighted to welcome Jenny Wright from the International Organization for Migration's (IOM) Tunisia country office on the show to talk about the integration of international migrants in Tunisia.
About Jenny
Jenny Wright has been either working or volunteering with migration and migrants since 2001. She has used her project management, research and communications skills to dedicate over a decade of her life to consulting for non-profits and international organisations worldwide. She is currently working for the IOM in Tunisia (update: just moved to IOM Sudan). Having globe trotted around half the world - and soon to be living in her 10th country - Jenny is used to thinking on her feet, eating questionable food and living out of a suitcase. Directing her knack for writing to social media, she gained over 40K LinkedIn followers in a year and is in the process of launching her own blog (A Migrant’s Guide) to share hers and other migrants’ experiences of being on the move and living abroad.
What we talk about
Oh and if you're one of the few people who are not already following Jenny on LinkedIn, then join the 50k other followers by clicking the link to her profile that you will see in the show notes, as she shares a lot of useful migration-related resources, including job opportunities. And stay tuned for her new blog, A Migrant's Guide.
If you're enjoying this podcast (or even if you're not!), we'd appreciate it if you could leave a review via your podcast platform.
Please note, Jenny is on the show in a personal capacity. Any views expressed are her own and not necessarily those of the IOM.
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Hello and welcome to the Migration & Diaspora Podcast, with me your host, Loksan Harley from Homelands Advisory. Today, I'm joined by my friend Asier Ansorena, Senior Change Leader at Ashoka, to talk about diaspora networks and social entrepreneurship.
About Asier
Originally from Spain, Asier completed his studies in Economics and Political Science at the University of Michigan. He then worked at AIESEC on youth empowerment and entrepreneurship projects in Jordan and several Latin American countries.
In 2009, he moved to Brazil to lead the microcredit team of Instituto Banco Palmas, the first community bank in Brazil. A few years later in 2013, he began to shift his focus to developing Palmaslab, a lab of research and innovation from the urban periphery that empowers communities through the development of youth-produced software and research, which gained recognition from the Inter-American Development Bank as one of the "Three Most Innovative Solutions in Latin America and the Caribbean" in its Social Innovation challenge, amongst other accolades - including from the Ashoka Foundation, the organisation he now represents.
What we talk about
In this interview, Asier tells us all about his work with Ashoka to build diaspora networks. We talk about why Ashoka, an organisation that supports social entrepreneurs, is building diaspora networks, how it's building them, and what Asier himself has learned in the process.
I'm excited for you to get into this interview, so I'd like to thank you, as always, for tuning in and please do enjoy the show.
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Hello and welcome to the Migration & Diaspora Podcast, with me your host Loksan Harley.
In today's episode, I'm delighted to be joined by Colleen Thouez, one of the foremost experts in the field of city-level migration governance.
About Colleen
Colleen Thouez is currently a senior fellow at the New School’s Zolberg Institute, where she directs the Global Cities portfolio. She is also a senior visiting fellow at SciencesPo Paris where she advises French cities, and the Africa-Europe Mayors Dialogue on Growth and Solidarity. As the inaugural director of the Welcoming and Inclusive Cities Division at the Open Society Foundations (OSF), she conceived the Mayors Migration Council (MMC) and its Global Cities Fund (2019), the Africa-Europe Mayors Dialogue (2020), and the University Alliance for Refugees and At-Risk Migrants (2018).
In 2021, she was appointed by the National Association of (University) System Heads, to assist in securing housing and sponsorship for recently arrived Afghan families on university campuses across the US. Dr. Thouez previously served for 17 years at the United Nations in leadership positions in adult education and international migration. She continues to advise national governments, municipal governments, regional bodies, and United Nations agencies, amongst others.
What we talk about
Colleen starts by introducing us to city-level migration issues and governance challenges, drawing from her truly global experiences working with municipalities from Barranquilla to Bristol. We then talk through some of her recent research and work on how cities have an increasingly powerful role in shaping migration governance on the global stage - in part thanks to some of the incredible examples of how many cities have supported their migrant residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. We close with some of Colleen's top principles for effective city-level migration governance.
I'd like to thank Colleen for coming on the show and thank you for tuning in. Without further ado, please enjoy the show.
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Today, we have with us Larisa Lara from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) - one of the true unsung heroes of the diaspora engagement field - to tell us all about the landmark summit on diaspora engagement that took place just three weeks ago in April 2022.
About Larisa Lara
Larisa is the Transnational Communities and Digital Communications Officer at IOM headquarters. Larisa works to advance IOM’s policy and programming work in the area of digitalization as it relates to labour mobility and human development, with a specific focus on the IDiaspora.org (which I highly recommend checking out). Larisa also acts as a global diaspora engagement focal point.
Larisa completed her joint PhD in Migration Studies and in Social and Political Sciences at the University of Paris and the University of Liège. She also holds masters degrees in Migration Studies from the University of Oxford and in Conflict, Security, and Development from King’s College London. She has published multiple academic articles and policy papers specializing in transnationalism and diaspora engagement.
What we talk about
Today's interview is all about the the Global Diaspora Summit 2022. The Summit was organized by IOM and the Government of Ireland in Dublin and represented a milestone in the high-level recognition of Objective 19 of the Global Compact for Migration, focusing on the developmental contributions of migrants and diasporas beyond remittances. Larisa tells us all about how the discussions went down, what learnings she gained from the extremely hard work that she, her colleague Roberto and the rest of her team put in to organize such a Summit, as well as the Summit's outcomes and next steps.
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Hello and welcome back to the Migration & Diaspora Podcast, with me your host, Loksan Harley. Really excited to present you with the first of a new season of podcasts about everything migration and diaspora.
And what better way to kick off the new season than by bringing to your airwaves one of the foremost migration communicators and someone who I'd even place in the category of "migration influencer", with us on the show to talk about migration and communications.
Yes, you may have guessed it, I'm talking about Marco Ricorda.
Marco is an International communication expert and analyst with 15 years experience in international affairs, social media strategy, politics and large events. He is currently Communication Officer for the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) in the Mediterranean.
Marco was previously a Member of Cabinet for the President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani, Head of Social Media of the European Parliament's liberal group - the ALDE Group - as well as of its leader, Guy Verhofstadt; Social Media Manager at the European Commission, and Press Officer at Bruegel, the Brussels-based think tank for international economic policy.
Since 2017, Marco has been listed as one of the #EUInfluencers on Twitter.
Marco has some pretty interesting personal interests as a competitive fitness athlete, but I'll invite you to check out his website marcorecorder.com for more on that.
In our far-ranging conversation, we get Marco's take on a number of migration communications challenges, from how narratives on migration are formed, how they're influenced, and how international organisations working in the field of migration can communicate better with their stakeholders. We also get Marco's take on how the media has been reporting on the ongoing forced displacement situation in Ukraine.
Before we start, I'd just like to note that Marco is speaking in a personal capacity and not on the behalf of his current employer, and all views expressed are his own.
Thank you for tuning in and we hope you enjoy the show.
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Hello and welcome to another episode of the Migration & Diaspora Podcast - a show about all things migration, with me your host, Loksan Harley from Homelands Advisory.
Today, we're going local. We're talking all about city-level migration governance with Lamine Abbad from the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) and Fátima Fernández of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG).
Lamine
Lamine manages the Mediterranean City-to-City Migration project (MC2CM), which he'll tell us more about in a few moments. Previously, he was a project officer at UCLG in charge of mainstreaming migration in local governments’ agendas and localising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He also worked for several years within the Arco Latino transnational cooperation network.
He holds Master's degrees in Mathematics Applied to Social Sciences, Inter Mediterranean Mediation, and Science of Organisations and Institutions, specialising in decentralised cooperation.
Fátima
Fátima is a Project and Policy Officer in charge of human mobility at UCLG, where she is the focal point for the MC2CM project and coordinates local and regional participation in global migration governance processes. Fátima holds a PhD in Regional Development and Economic Integration with a focus on the Political Economy of Euro-Mediterranean relations.
What we talk about
I'm delighted to present to you our discussion about migration at the local level in the Mediterranean context. We start by talking about the relevance and importance of local migration governance and about how so many aspects of policy-making and administration at the city level impact migrants. We then discuss vertical policy coherence and how to achieve coherence between national and local migration policies. We close with some of Lamine and Fatima's insights into some of the exciting city-level migration policies and initiatives from across the Mediterranean.
We'd like to thank you so much for tuning in and we hope you enjoy the show.
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