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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