Nairobi – Government representatives from East & Horn of Africa with the support of IOM/UN Migration, the International Organization for Migration, have to discuss and strategize on how to increase and advance the return of qualified nationals to region, at a workshop and training in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. 

The meeting brought together representatives from Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Somalia, and Rwanda, which included senior directors and technical officials from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs Diaspora Desk and Departments in as well as program staff from IOM’s country offices in the region. The objective of the meeting was for countries to share best practices and approaches on advancing Return of Qualified Nationals (RQN) programs. Countries advanced in such programs such as, the Federal Republic of Somalia and the Republic of Rwanda, were paired with countries piloting implementation of RQN programs as mentors and trainers, such as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the Republic of Kenya, and the Republic of Uganda.

RQN programming is part of IOM’s work to strengthen the capacity of state institutions through the recruitment of qualified diaspora professionals to contribute towards achieving the goals stipulated in National Development Plans aligned with the Global Compact on Migration and the 2030 Development Agenda; it further aligns with the objectives of the IOM’s Regional Strategy for the EHOA (2020-2024) in leveraging diaspora engagement for sustainable development https://publications.iom.int/books/east-and-horn-africa-regional-strategy-2020-2024 

The pairing will aid the countries who attended to establish RQN processes and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for implementing different phases of the process. Countries at the meeting established a working group within which to share experiences and good practices, troubleshoot bottlenecks and implement recommendations.  

While countries in  region remain at different levels of progress in RQN programming, in terms of institutional capacities and policies, countries are reporting improved engagement with diaspora especially when administrative structures exist to serve the needs of the diaspora,  such as  fully dedicated diaspora departments in Ministries of Foreign Affairs. In terms of policy, most of the Regional Ministerial Forum on Migration (RMFM) https://www.iom.int/regional-ministerial-forum-migration-east-and-horn-africa-rmfm    Member States have either drafted or adopted a diaspora engagement policy or strategy and relevant action plans. 

Uganda’s Head of Diaspora Services at Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Muthahi Muhindo who attended the meeting said.

“We realized that without a diaspora policy we cannot make a lot of headway. IOM has helped us start coordinating regionally on diaspora engagement. Where previously we worked in silos, now there is harmony, and we are able to benchmark and compare notes.” 

“The Ethiopian government has put in place rigorous institutional interventions to enhance diaspora engagement such as ‘The Ethiopia Diaspora Service’ in 2019. We are especially focusing on knowledge, skills, and technology transfer from our diaspora back to Ethiopia; especially from professional and highly skilled diaspora members,” said Dr. Degu Desta, Skills Knowledge Transfer Coordinator at Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ - Ethiopia Diaspora Services. 

“Previously, policies on skills transfers were restrictive however these have been amended and we have been able to benefit from highly skilled transfers and investment, notably in the data and ICT sectors. Documenting the best practices for instance from Somalia, from Rwanda, is helpful for us to be able to adopt and adapt based on our context” said Dr. Mohammed Endris, Director-General at Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Ethiopia Diaspora Services.

Diaspora communities from East & Horn of Africa are key development actors who facilitate increased trade, investment, and cultural linkages between the different countries that they are connected to. This "wealth" benefits not just the governments, but also private, technical, and academic fields and contributes to greater social equity, peacebuilding efforts and sustainable development. Recent assessments have identified key sectors that require diaspora expertise include Information Communication and Technology (ICT) skills, engineering, programming, coding and automation, and farming technologies.

“We have seen between $60,000 to $100,000 dollars from the Rwandan community abroad contributed to Rwanda Social Security Board every year and over 30,000 people have attended “Rwanda day” since the launch. The recent Diaspora Cana Challenge surpassed the original target of providing lighting to 5,000 households and ended up lighting 12,000 homes within just two months. The Rwandan diaspora is contributing to the country’s development in many ways.”  Ms. Sandrine Uwimbabazi Maziyateke, Director of Rwanda Community Abroad (RCA), Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, .

One of the longest-running diaspora engagement programs is the IOM FINSOM MIDA in Somalia https://midasom.iom.int/ funded by the Finish Government. This framework of diaspora engagement focuses on skills, knowledge, knowhow transfer in key economic sectors, including, health, education and governance, is serving as a model for additional IOM national and regional diaspora interventions. At the meeting the acting Head of Cooperation of the Finish Embassy in Nairobi, Ms. Emma Pajunen gave a presentation on the impact of the program, articulating the importance for the participation of women and recognizing the role of local experts in capacity-building. 

“We have always valued our Somali diaspora in Finland and their willingness to contribute to the development of sectors in Somalia. Sustainability is a key factor in our collaboration because the knowledge and skills need to stay in the institutions – which is why local experts are recruited alongside the diaspora experts”. Ms. Pajunen.

“The programme is aligned with the Education Sector Strategic Plan. The project greatly enhances the institutional capacity of education sectors across Somalia by improving its systems, policies and services such as teaching, examination procedures, curriculum review and implementation”. Mr. Mohamed Sharif Ibrahim, Planning Director for the MIDA FINNSOM program, Ministry of Education, Somalia.  

Also, remittances sent home by the diaspora provide a critical source of income, accounting for around 65 per cent of the income of the receiving family unit in Africa and associated with increased household investments in education, health, business generation and entrepreneurship — all of which have a high social and economic return.  Besides cash transfers for consumer spending, remittance flows also have the potential to unlock much-needed investment for the region; currently there is considerable interest from the migrant workers from East & Horn of Africa sending countries to use remittances for larger scale investment projects in a more structured way.

“Kenya has a target of one trillion shillings in remittances by 2030. We consider the diaspora as the 48th county, and as our ambassadors abroad to bring more opportunities for enterprise development and for mutual recognition of skills both here and abroad. Our diaspora policy was based on Ethiopia’s experience which we have benefited from. Ambassador Washington Oloo, Director, State Department for Diaspora Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kenya.  

The RQN workshop and training was organized within the scope of the East & Horn of Africa  Regional Ministerial Forum on Migration’s (RMFM) Technical Working Groups on “Skills, Job Creation and Youth Employment” and “Gender, Diaspora and Private Sector engagement”, funded under the United Kingdom’s Federal Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), IOM Better Regional Migration Management (BRMM) program.