Diaspora programme

Accra, July 26, GNA - The African Union (AU) Commission and the World Bank have signed an agreement under which the Bank is providing 487,000 dollars in grant funding for strengthening the African Diaspora Programme of the AU.

The Institutional Development Fund is part of the World Bank's support in enhancing the capacity of the AU Mission to the United Sates in Washington, DC. It will enable the AU Mission to carry out one of its core functions of developing and maintaining productive relationships with the African Diaspora in North America, the Caribbean and Latin America. A release from the Accra office of the Bank said: The programme will help to strengthen knowledge sharing and coordination between the AU Mission, the Diaspora and development partners in the Americas. It will also help to develop a reliable database of the African Diaspora networks and individuals. The release said the fund would also help to initiate resource mobilization efforts from the African Diaspora and the private Sector in the Americas. Furthermore, it would enhance the capacity of the AU Commission to effectively advocate support for Diaspora in international, bilateral and multilateral institutions as well as in other global dialogues on African Diaspora.

The AU, African governments, the World Bank Group and other development partners on Africa, recognize that the African Diaspora must become full partners in the Continent's development. The AU has embarked on the steps necessary to harness the expertise and resources of African Diaspora as the "sixth (6th) region" of Africa. The first step is the establishment of a Representational Mission to the United States of America, with an Ambassador in Washington, DC. The World Bank launched its Mobilizing the African Diaspora for Development in September, 2007, with the objectives of: Enhancing capacity for improved services delivery in the public and private sectors and institutions by Diaspora Technical Expert Networks; increasing the size and quality of Diaspora-led investment initiatives; and improving policy development and partnerships among stakeholders for building stronger, more responsive and capable African public and private sector institutions.