 to everyone. Oops. Okay. I was distracted by the recording in progress. So good afternoon. It's my pleasure to welcome you all to this second session of the 2023 Global Diaspora Virtual Exchanges on Effective Strategies to Boost Development. I'm delighted to see your engagement in sharing best practices on how to communicate and deliver impactful messages. Our first virtual exchange held last month focused on impactful skills in communication. The three main objectives were one, breaking down the skills that communicators need when approaching donors. The second one was identifying the characteristics that makes diaspora unique communicators and third, defining the channels to effective communications and tips to target audiences. During the event, we had the opportunity to learn from diaspora organizations and identify the specific characteristics that successful communicators have, such as active listening. That is, successful communicators are ready to listen to their communities, partners and donors, and leaders understand the needs of their communities and tailor their projects accordingly. The second was effective use of social media, know how to engage effectively online with their interlocutors by expressing objectives clearly and crafting tailored messages and use social media networks to maximize and engage with their partners and public. And the third was integration of multicultural experiences. Diasporas are unique communicators because they know and understand specific groups of people and adapt easily to the environment they interact with. And diasporas hold a global view and understanding of other people's backgrounds. And they have the power to act as bridges between cultures and localities. So we were particularly impressed by our panelists, composed by young and experienced female diaspora leaders. And it was a space that proved how meaningful and straightforward it is to integrate the views, experiences and knowledge across different generations and diverse backgrounds. So we're pleased to continue providing the space together with our partners and build on the knowledge and capacities of diaspora through the unique set of skills they bring to the table in these global diaspora virtual exchanges. We had already two successful exchanges hosted in 2021 and 2020 and 2021, respectively, in which through a multi-stakeholder approach, participants shared their best practices to support diaspora to reach the full potential and achieve a greater engagement towards sustainable development. And now the 2023 virtual exchanges respond to the requests made by diaspora organizations in the Global Diaspora Week that was co-organized by the Global Diaspora Confederation where the relevance of capacity building to create impactful and sustainable initiatives was emphasized. And we're convinced that by sharing this space, we are collectively accelerating the implementation of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development goals, as well as objective 19 of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration on creating conditions for migrants and diasporas to fully contribute to sustainable development in all countries. So I am particularly happy to make available this convening space of IOM in this new session and I'm particularly thrilled to welcome young members of the diaspora to these exchanges. In today's session, we will be hearing about these specific strategies our diaspora leaders use and their day-to-day interactions and project implementation. And more concretely, our speakers will further unpack the main objectives of the sessions, which are firstly, identifying strategic communication to implement diaspora projects. Second, defining the key considerations to be aware when trying to communicate effectively. Third, examining how diasporas and partners engage by sharing the impact of their activities. And finally, evaluating how diasporas can further align their goals with their communication strategy. And I'm confident that their expertise will shed light on the techniques from which all of us can benefit and start putting them into practice. So I look forward to learning more from diaspora organizations and how IOM and partners can continue collaborating towards the acceleration of the Agenda 2030. So thank you very much for having me with you. And now I would like to give the floor to Patti Sianga, Co-Vice President of the Global Research Forum on diaspora and transnationalism who will be moderating the session. Over to you, Patti. Thank you, Monica, for that inspiring opening remarks that you've shared with us this afternoon. Good afternoon, good morning and good evening, depending on where you're joining us from. We plan to be here for just less than two hours now. And with those opening remarks, just making sure also that everybody is comfortable, but also comfortable in the language. So we do have interpretation available, and you would just be able to see that we have it in Spanish, in French, and in English. And you've got a button somewhere in your device that would show you and lead you to the language of your choice so that you're able to engage with us. It's a very exciting time, as Monica has said. I always like to moderate sessions where we have leaders in the diaspora space, particularly when it's women, particularly when it's such a diverse group that we also have here with us. And I think, as Monica has alluded to, these virtual dialogues and exchanges have been happening for the last couple of years. I'm really glad that GERFDT was able to participate in the last ones that even led to a publication where we do a lot of learning. And I think that's a very important word, even coming out of Monica's speaking remarks, about how we use these platforms really to learn. It's really important for us to learn who are in the diaspora space to learn from each other, a lot of cross learning, but also particularly to look at a lot of the strategies and information that is shared by different diaspora leaders that supporters of diaspora organizations that supporters of diaspora platforms can be able to pick from as we support diaspora engagement and the diversity of the work that is in that particular space. So today, I am absolutely delighted to be moderating this session today. We are joined by three fantastic panelists. And if you will allow me, I will call them my sisters, not just because we hail from the same continent. But I think that we are very like minded. And I think I get a lot of inspiration from the three women that are joining us on the panel today. So on our panel today, we have Teresa Fianco, who is the founder and managing director of diaspora digital news and the search on the internet will show you the wealth of information that is shared on that platform and we'll hear a little bit more from Teresa, who is an integrated marketing communications and media expert. And she is the founder of the the broadcasting platform that particularly looks at what is happening around global social impact through the diaspora digital news. And through this journey, she has also transitioned to become a co author of empowering global diasporas in the digital in the digital era. And in this particular, and in this particular one, this will be a free ebook that would be that was made available that really looks at medium and small enterprises and how they have transitioned through the peak of the COVID pandemic. Teresa, we are really glad that you're here to join us. And I will ask in a moment if my panelists can turn on their screen so we can see her. Hello, my sister. I hope you are doing well. And joining us also is from the Global Diaspora Confederation is Vivian Nakwalobi Ibeji. And I hope I've pronounced that correctly, Vivian. Otherwise, we're in for a training on how I should pronounce your name correctly. And she is the coordinator of the Global Diaspora Confederation since 2020. And she has been supporting various teams, then learning different functions. And most importantly, helping to organize the Global Diaspora Week that would take place at the end of every year. Another important, important and exciting space where diaspora meets to engage. She's also worked around setting up the Global Diaspora Humanitarian Hub. And through through her own experience as a biochemist, she implements various projects and interventions at the Clinton Health Access Initiative and Midsensum of Hontier before she joined GDC. And she is coming from Nigeria. And we'll be very happy to hear a little bit more about her work as a lead coordinator in some of GDC's important work around coordination. And last but not the least, Jacqueline Achien Kuhn was the co-founder of Kenyan Women in Germany. And by profession, she's a nurse having worked in health management. She founded Kenyan Kenyan Women in Germany. And as a sense of creating this community for Kenyan women to build their lives once they have moved here in Germany, far away from their home country and supporting them with various tools, information, her home as well, and creating a great platform in terms of social and economic and emotional support that's provided. And the organization has over 2000 members and Katers, by the way, also for men and other nationalities. And she is a mother of two young adults and settled here in Germany. So really happy to have this diversity of panelists that are joining us here today. And how we're going to move is we just try and relax it down. As diaspora, we say that we are relaxed people and we just want to bring out the richness of the conversation. So we would like also that the audience can engage with us. The chat function is open. If I'm not mistaken, let us know where you're joining us from. Let us know what it is that you're doing. Often we don't have the possibility of having many people on these panels. And the idea with a panelist is that they trigger a lot of what they trigger in you information you would like to share through the chat, they can resonate, you can share comments. So we will take this as a moment as though we were sitting in the same room and be able to engage. So with the panel this afternoon, we'll try to be as interactive as we can be in in in laying it down. I will present to the panel a couple of questions, but it will really be in an interactive mode. We may lose track of some of the questions, but that is okay. What is important for us is to be able to exchange and for us to share. And we will have a moment for us to hear from the audience and for us to make a reflection in back again with our panelists. And so for just this first set of questions, even as we go in, I will I will ask Jackie, just to kick us off. Jackie, maybe would you speak to us a little bit about what strategic communication, you know, why is it relevant in the implementation of the Aspera projects, and particularly in the work that you do as Kenyan women in Germany. Jackie, the floor is yours. Thank you very much for such a beautiful introduction. And I must say, I'm honored to be on the platform as a panelist. And welcome to all my other panelists. We had a chance of seeing each other. Good afternoon to all those who've joined. Yes, buddy. First of all, I must say, I must introduce quick shortly to tell you exactly what quick does quick means Kenyan women in Germany. And this is a preserved place for the women where they can have it's a closed place where women can preserve their family unit. And what we also do is we try to empower them so that they can contribute in both social and economic development in both Germany and their home countries. So back to the question of why the strategic communication is relevant in implementation of diaspora projects. Here I will go and dissect it and divide it into two. The first part of it is we are diasporans. Where are these projects? Which kind of projects are we talking about? Are we talking of the projects that we are doing over here in Germany? Or also the projects that the diasporans are doing back in their home countries or a country of origin? For instance, for me, it is Kenya. So this, when I go to this home monetary project, we have things like EMPESSA. This enables me to, enables me and other Kenyans or even transanians, I think they also use EMPESSA. It helps us like to have an, how do you call that, an effective, it helps us to mobilize the resources very effectively. And it gives that flow and we can do a follow-up. And if we come in terms of visibility, like Quig is working with somebody says, okay, sorry, it was just an interruption. Okay, thank you very much. When it comes to, in terms of the visibility of what the work of the sponsors and we work with different kinds of sponsors. We work with the embassies as well. We work with the municipality as well. So here is where, for us, it is very important to meet the expectations. This helps us so that we can show them exactly what's happening. And they can do a follow-up. This is where the, how do I, how am I going to put that? I'm actually out of words now. Yeah, I'm sorry about this. But I'm kind of sweating, but I'm okay. I know I'm among my sisters and brothers. Yeah, this helps us to have that wider and broader outreach to these people. And that is what the strategic communication, why it's very relevant during the implementation. I think I'll make a break here and drink some water to cool down. Thank you very much. Jack, you know, that was a fantastic way to kick us off. And maybe we can hear also a little bit more about how you see effective communication for some of the homeland projects, as you have said, and how that, you know, has played a role in terms of the kind of tools that you use for follow-up and for monitoring of the various projects. But we can come back to you as we circle back and now move on to Vivian. Just also Vivian bringing in the same question that I have posed to Jackie. But, you know, looking at the important work that GDC is doing, and particularly you've got the seven action, these seven activities that and communication features quite prominently there. Did you want to just walk us through and let us know why you think strategic communication is relevant in the implementation of DAS for projects? Thank you, Padi. Good afternoon, everyone. It's such a pleasure to be here today. Shalik, communication is the backbone of every project, in my opinion, because you have a vision, you have a purpose. You need to effectively communicate that purpose to your beneficiaries or your target audience for them to understand that, okay, this is what you have in mind. And if they are aligned with their needs, then you're going to have project sustain and switch in the end is what every project aims at to be sustained. So effective communication also helps to build trust and partnerships between government of countries. Oftentimes DAS organizations have issues with government of your home countries. It has, it has, it has been a conversation that has been had over and over again. But when you communicate your ideas effectively, because oftentimes there are good intentions that are lost in the line of communication, this is why you have to adopt effective communication. Understand where your beneficiaries are coming from and understand your own purpose as an organization. During the development of the Global Diaspora and Humanitarian Hub, we had course that lesson with DAS organizations. We organized meetings where we had them coming and explain their needs, explain their challenges. We had discussions around what it is that they actually needed, recommendations, and opinions. And at each phase of the project, we kept them in the loop of things. This way, the field is part of the project. The field as though they are part of the project and then it makes it easier to implement the project. Also, it helps to avoid duplication of efforts. There are so many DAS organizations working in different DASR communities. You don't want to have your efforts duplicated, rather go into partnerships with these DASR organizations. Because in the end, you have one goal. You want for the better means of the DASR communities. So, in the nutshell, effective communication in your opinion helps in project sustainance, implementation, partnership to build trust and salvage duplication. Thank you. Thank you Vivian. And I feel like this is almost a question that we will pass on to Teresa, working in the space of communication and very passionate about it in terms of spreading the important work around DASR news. Teresa, when you think about this question and when we talk about sort of strategic communication and in the implementation of DASR projects, I mean, you yourself having been a member of the DASR and now sort of running this platform with this important news that you try to reach out to various audiences. What do you really think is the space for strategic communication? Thank you, Paddy. And to the organizers, I'm really honored to be part of the panel. So, first of all, like the other panelists have said, communication is just the exchange of information. So, it's two different mediums. And how the sender communicates greatly influence how the receiver takes the message. So, that's why we talk about strategic communication because it has to be with an effect, a positive effect. So, strategic communication in Diaspora, it's type of communication that works for the Diaspora sector. So, this can be short-term or long-term depending on the project that the Diaspora organization or the government or whichever stakeholder has. And so, the outcome of the communication, strategic communication, it should achieve the goals of the project. It should fulfill the mission. It should align with the vision. So, it shouldn't just be any kind of communication, but it should be tailor-made to suit each project. That is why there's no like one-fifth approach when it comes to strategic communications. But then, there's a way we can do it such that we have like basic guidelines where we can follow. So, that for each project, we make sure that from planning, initiation, execution, closure of the project management process, we are well-aligned. All stakeholders are all aligned. So, translating this into Diaspora projects, I have worked more in the media. So, this has given me the opportunity to work with different sectors of Diaspora, like humanitarian sectors, entrepreneurship, arts, culture, identity, and many more. And so, because Diaspora projects, Diaspora is basically a diverse group. So, they are projects cut across various sectors. So, because of that, strategic communication is really important because it can be used as a very effective tool to correct misconceptions, stereotypes, surrounding communities to a large extent. It can also be used to introduce an idea, disseminate information, and also garner interest for projects that are in the Diaspora. We can also use it to mobilize resources in times of crisis. You can, we know, for example, Turkey, what happened in Turkey, we can see, I can see a representative of DMARC here. They use their platform to mobilize resources. We've had the GDC also doing the same. So, it depends on how you communicate. You could use that as a tool to mobilize resources during crisis as well. We can use it for skills development, information for mapping, capacity building. And so, there are various advantages of doing communications the right way in that it should be strategic. And currently, or in this era, we are in an era of technology where we can leverage digitization to bridge the gap between communications among various stakeholders. So, in acknowledging that, there are a few guidelines that, in my own experience, that I put down that we can consider when developing strategic communication plans for the Diaspora project. So, during initiation and planning of the project, we should clearly define what we want to communicate to our audience. We should know who the stakeholders are as well. And then, in execution, we should know which channel we are communicating to, because now we have both traditional and digital channels. So, if you are, for example, we are communicating to a second generation Diaspora of Latin America, because you would want to use a digital platform. You wouldn't want to use a traditional platform. So, the communication strategy has to include all that. And it should have a timeline where you can also measure and track the process. So, for me, it's really important that we approach communications in a very strategic way, if we want to achieve our goals with Diaspora projects. Thank you. Teresa, thank you so much. And I think, as I said, we're just circling back to Jackie, when you talked about the homeland projects and in terms of monitoring. I think even when we just did the prep call, it was really interesting. Maybe you wanted to share with us a little bit more about some of those monitoring tools from social media platforms that you use in terms of tracking progress as Teresa has alluded to. Jackie. That is actually what Teresa just said. You should know exactly which group of people you are communicating with. That is very important so that you can choose your tool properly, because there are quite a number of channels to reach out to people. So, Teresa mentioned about the traditional way and the advanced way. Let me put it that way for lack of better words. Like recently, there was a podcast that I took part in, and that is also a way of advertising or telling the people out there on how Diaspora is working out here, the Diaspora groups, different Diaspora groups. It is not only that we are there to beg and to wait to be done for, but it's also a way to show it out there and to tell people we are also helping. For instance, when the case of Ukraine came up, you have to know how do I approach these vulnerable people? The way you communicate to them is different from the way you're going to communicate to somebody who is actually here to look for a school or a university and has not been traumatized by that. So, know how to communicate and to which group you're communicating with. That is one, one very important thing. Know the language that you are going to use, know the background, and know the culture. Those are very important things that we should never forget when we are communicating, because that can help quite a lot to further the communication and to get more details of what you want to put across to different areas. Yeah, that is exactly. Thank you, Jackie, and I think that's a good segue also to our next question where we are, you know, we are talking about the message, right? So, the question really is how can the Diaspora deliver the strategic messages during the implementation of the project and instead of also the running of the project? And maybe I make a segue to Vivian, coming to you to talk a little bit about platforms, maybe talking to us a little bit also about messaging. Yes, Theresa and Jackie had already started first to deliver your messages. You need to understand your audience, your state of mind at that point and their group. Actually, we use social media navigating our world since COVID digitalization has become, social media has become a very effective tool for communication. So, you also have to understand the group. If you have younger people, there are social media platforms that like TikTok, it may be, it may not be very, it may not be very complex, I would say, the older generation but I think the youth now use a lot of TikTok. But for us at GDC, we use LinkedIn and Facebook. They are very effective in delivering messages. Also, we shared newsletters. You need to make your audience feel like they're part of you, like you want to understand that quite. For instance, during the Turkey Syria effort, we held a forum and we did a due diligence. We were sure to empathize, show them that we understood what they're going through. As little as the spelling of Turkey, we had to spell it's the Turkish way just so they realized that, hey, we are well aware of the things that matter to you. And then in maintenance, the question also says about maintenance of the projects follow-up. We do a follow-up, send follow-up emails. Thank you emails. Just keep them engaged and excited about whatever it is you're doing. Let them feel like, yes, they understand us and we are a part of them. So, social media is a very effective tool. LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, these are platforms we engage, we use in delivering our messages as well as sharing newsletters and reports of every message that we post. Thank you. No, thanks Vivian. Teresa, when I sort of think about Vivian's examples and Jackie's examples around the messaging and the packaging of the messaging, what do you sort of see? And I mean, you're in the business of packaging these messages and we see that visual on the front end. I wonder, how does it look like from the back end and what would you then say to the Asperger organizations like Quig and those who are members of the Global Asperger Confederation as well in terms of packaging of these messages for implementation of the projects? Teresa? Yeah. So, when it comes to packaging, I realize that there's typically, I don't know if it's a stereotype about issues surrounding migration because people see it more as very technical. So, what we do as Asperger Digital is to make it more practical, more fun, more holistic. In that way, we are able to have a varied audience space. So, I would say with packaging it should be exciting to the audience without losing its essence. You can put out data out there in fun ways. You can do it through trivia, through images, graphics, in a way that attracts attention. So, when it comes to packaging, it depends on the audience. That might not work with, say, the diplomatic community or the government or typical policymakers. They might not be so enthused with that. So, it all comes down to understanding your audience and knowing which channel, communication channel to use. So, based on that, then you can choose the language. Language as in the meaning you want to convey from your message to that particular audience. So, yes. And the communication also has to be timely in addition to being measurable. It should come at the right time and it should have emotions attached to it. Sometimes people don't know but languages have emotions attached to it. You should have the human feel of it because migration is all about humanity. It's a big part of migration because people usually say, oh, there are 2,000 people here. They just mentioned the numbers. But these numbers are human beings that you're dealing with. The diaspora is made up of human beings that you're dealing with. So, it has to be inclusive even because it's already diverse. It has to be inclusive. And you also need to factor in their emotions to professionally communicate the message that you have to give to them. So, the packaging has to do with the audience, the channel you're communicating on and the kind of message you're trying to communicate or the kind of feedback you're trying to get because gone were the days when if you needed feedback, you would have to do a survey or after people use the products. That's why. But now, feedback is on Facebook. Someone could just go to the comments and put in feedback. So, things are very different now. So, depending on the current trend, what's going on, you have to be on top of everything in order to have a strategic communications plan. So, yeah, that's what I'll have to say about that. Thank you, Teresa. I saw Jackie nodding her head. Jackie, did you just want to come in and talk about maybe something more practical from your side and in nodding into Teresa's point? Yeah, I nodded when she talked about the emotions and the timely because that is exactly, if you all remember both, of course, you do remember the Ukraine time when we had the TCNs who were running away and kind of not being able to cross, they were being treated differently. That is when the diaspora groups really came in and these diaspora groups were hosting them or helping them to cross over or helping them. I worked with the party and other diaspora groups during that time and we could actually help them already from within Ukraine and we are still assisting them. So that is creating another face of diaspora. It is not the diaspora that is begging. It's not the diaspora that is there only for handouts but the diaspora that is ready to be included in talks and to walk their talk as well. So, and the success of the story is the way the whole thing ended up and we managed and all other diaspora groups managed to help these TCN students. I think this is something that can never be forgotten. This is something that has to be written out there and yeah, that is why I was actually nodding. It's quite an emotional story. When we went out there, you could see the unity of different diaspora organizations and yeah, that is why I was really, really nodding. Yeah, thank you Trisa for bringing that back again in the house. No, thank you. And also for alluding to the point of documentation, I mean, often we're told that as diaspora, diaspora take action and then it's only a few months later when we have people like Teresa who work in the space of communicating knowledge and they would say, so did you write that down? Could you communicate that? Should this information really go out about and what you're doing and often being in this space of where, as long as needs have been met or needs have been addressed, often very difficult to see that news coming out and I think the same can be said whether it's remittances, right? The discussion around remittances or investment. The very first news that we saw go out about the support that diaspora and migrants give to their homelands came through big reports, World Bank reports, quoting all this thing and then many countries sort of being surprised when actually the holders of this data would be national governments and remittance companies and so on and so forth. So while where is the documentation and where does it take place? So I think that's another important one I think in terms of delivering, how can we show the track record of what has been done before as we are taking the next step forward in delivering strategic messages around different places? We thought at this point it would be nice to just check in with our audience. I can see that messages are coming in the chat, very nice to see some familiar faces in the room. Bonjour, bienvenue. I will not try and attempt any Spanish as my skills are very limited in there but very nice to see so many people joining us from so many different spaces. Let's keep the chat. At this point we just wanted to go into the audience. I mean we've talked about strategic messaging, we've talked about the importance of knowing your audience but we've also talked about the importance of strategic communication in terms of part of the topic on effective strategies for diaspora engagement. Please feel free to raise your hand. We've got about maybe a few minutes that we want to do this for so that at least we just check the temperature in the room or you can put your question. I'm going through the chat now to see if we have some questions. Very nice to see that people also want to link up. There is a question that has come into the chat and the question is around how diaspora groups identify projects and how they communicate these to their beneficiary communities. We will be able to address that question when we come to the last part of the question and answer session. Thank you so much for sharing in this question. You can put your questions to us in French, you can speak in French, you can write in Spanish and in English as well. Just feel free to share or maybe is there something that you would like to say around effective messaging? We know that many people who are here in the room are also working in the diaspora space and very much engaged. So we want to give this moment for people to feel free to come in and share with us. Parwai, can I put you on the spot to share? Parwai Sogo, you can just unmute your mic. Just feel free to unmute your mic. Parwai Sogo, yes, it's me. Yes, go ahead. I'm sorry, I'm short. I find that diasporas are linked to the country of their origins, but in any case, the diaspora members are not linked to each other. Parwai Sogo, and we have to create organizations for those who have to link the diaspora members. That's all I wanted to say. Do you understand my idea? Very clear. Thank you, thank you for your contribution. And indeed, very, very relevant points coming out there. Thank you so much for sharing in. And I can see a couple of other familiar faces, familiar names in the audience. So I take my hand as moderator to also be able to call upon. Bemba, I know I can see you are in there. Alexi would also be nice to hear from you. So I'm calling a few familiar names as they come on to be able to share. Bemba, the floor is yours over there in Ireland. Just unmute your mic, Bemba. Super. Thank you very much, Parwai, and all the contributors. And I think communication is kind of a good thing also for the diaspora to really develop themselves into especially actors in terms of delivering projects, but also whether it's integration and inclusion, but also whether it's like you are trying to get remittances, knowledgeable remittance flows or entrepreneurship, and also creating jobs in countries of origin. There are a few things I think in terms of communication. I know Teresa, who is kind of a specialist in this, runs online information newspaper, mentioned about it, but one of the difficulties with the diaspora organizations I think is that we are individuals. We are doing so many great things, but people don't know about them. And then part of it is that because we haven't developed a communication strategy around the things that we do. And I know one of the contributors actually mentioned about from the starting point, you need to actually define how are you going to communicate what you are doing. So I think this is something that we need to look into, especially nowadays, things are very easy with the social media, whether it's Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn. Sometimes these messages can be put across through facial expressions, like using actually maybe even actors within your own group. Sometimes we underestimate certain people, especially young people. Young people are very good at communicating outputs and outcomes of projects. So maybe that's what we need to use. I find it interesting as well, especially also if we are at the receiving end of the negative things, we want to challenge that. Sometimes we don't have to use what other people are using in terms of fundraising by picturing the negative things about us. We can use illustrations. Illustrations I found them very interesting to use, whereby you don't actually show the face of an individual, but people can see what you are communicating in terms of your product or the outcome of your project. So we need to be very creative, but there's a lot of good things that are happening and then we are not really communicating about them. So we need to also identify individuals among us who are doing great things about communication, whether they have an online platform, newspaper, for them to be aware of the things that we do. Because their listenership or the people they touch actually is a wide range of professionals globally and then maybe link up with these people to see our work is also a problem. But there is a lot, I have been listening today and then I kind of learned a lot from the content of your talk. So thank you so much for this. Vemba, thank you so much in highlighting that particular point, really us being able to identify people who can tell our stories. How do we identify and how do we make sure that these stories actually are being told? Thank you so much. We will move on to the next set of questions and we will have an opportunity again for others to be able to share with us in the next set. But just coming back again into the panelists, I think the two contributions that we have also got have sort of set up in a way of us talking about results. And just wondering, and I will start off with Teresa here again, how do you see diaspora and partners share the results of their activities? What does that look like in your view? And maybe also you could talk about what you think could be some of the best practices that you have seen from your experience. Teresa, the floor is yours. Okay, so when it comes to communication, if in the communication school, they will tell you that to have a holistic way of communication, there has to be a meaning to the message. There has to be a meaning, a message, and it has to be shared. So if there's a meaning to the message it's understood, but it's not shared, then the communication is not whole. So it's really important for actors in the diaspora space to share their results with each other. And by doing this, it's deepening collaboration and cooperation amongst different diaspora actors or stakeholders. So technology, for example, has made it easier for us to share results, experiences. So what works in the European diaspora could even work in the African diaspora because of the basic principles that are used. The situations might be different, but with test guidelines from the success of one diaspora project, it can be replicated in another continent or another place. Even with traditional models, it can be done through policy. So it enables collaboration, deepens ties between different diaspora groups. And also I'll say that it's Garnes interest for diaspora projects because people have kind of one way that is changing now, view of diaspora. So it should be about remittance. It should be about business. It should be about money. That's why recently the African diaspora organized a conference in Silicon Valley. And the topic that caught my attention, one of the topics was that it was beyond remittance. So even it's a business project with various business actors, entrepreneurs, but they were looking at diasporas beyond remittance. So if we know what the diaspora, various people are doing, various projects, it would create a different impression of what the diaspora can contribute. Of course, remittance is important, but there's a whole, there's skill sets, there's heritage, there's a lot of things that the diaspora can contribute beyond remittances. So if we share our success stories or the impact of our activities, we'd be able to, others would also be able to learn and also take a cue from that as well. So yeah, and these kind of events, if we organize joint events, for example, this event we are organizing, it has people from all around the world. It's a platform for various people. I mean, all panelists have different bounds. So bringing everything together, the audience also sharing their experiences. So it's an enabling factor for better diaspora engagement. So yes, it's without sharing experience, the impact of our activities, even the challenges we could share and learn from it, then the communication process is not complete. So it's really important that we have open forums like these, we have events and projects, collaborative projects that enable us to share our experiences for better diaspora engagement. Thank you, Teresa. Jackie, how do you see Kenyan women in Germany in terms of sharing your activities? How do you share the work that Kenyan women in Germany do? And as well as your partners, what does that look like in your space? Sorry, I'd muted myself. Okay, there are different platforms where we do share these, but what I should mention, the most important thing is we do organize events. Like on the 3rd of September, we are going to have our AGM, that is the annual general meeting. It's going to be in mines. So when we are there, that is where we showcase all the things that we do, the networking, we showcase the work streams that we do have, like the domestic violence group, like the career and career hub, and integration part of it, and youth and young adults. And the other thing is by writing out on our website and also writing out on newsletters to send out to people. What Theresa just said that, I think it was Theresa, yes, about remittances, let me go away from Quigabit. It is important, but some of these things come unplanned. Like we had this, I will go back to Ukraine because that's what actually the youngest project that we had. You wake up in the morning and your days begins like, oh, there's a project already. So you start with that project that is there. So when we did that and we got students coming in, how we managed to convince these people to take some of these students is them studying here as diasporas. It is a win-win situation. We have the aging German population and we have the young diasporas coming in. Us exposing them out there and saying, okay, this is going to be a win-win situation for here and for our home countries. We also try to organize events whereby they are coming from here with what they've learned, of course, the country where they were, their country of origin, most of them were like, oh, now you're taking our young, skilled guys, though some of them could not offer them to finish their schooling. But we said, look here, why don't we organize for something that whatever knowledge that they've gained here, now we have a project started by one of the doctors over here who is also Kenyan and he takes the guys who are doctors, let me say medical doctors, and they have to work over there like to offer this, whatever they learned here. They go once in a year to Kenya and these are neurosurgeons. So this is something that it comes out in the newspapers, it comes out over here, it shows actually the acquired skill that is not only being remitted, but this is the skill that they've learned here that is also being brought back there and not only in a monetary manner, the remittances. Thank you very much, Riza, for that. So these are some of the ways that we could actually we could use to show the results of whatever projects that we are doing over here. That's a good one. I think in terms of highlighting this cultural social capital that diaspora would have. So while remittances, it's always very easy to see. You know, it's almost as though the story of remittances, everybody from governments to international organizations are waiting to see how much money is going to be remitted to particular countries because reports have to be published, but also a lot of advocacy messages are being built out of it. I think what's also important is the fact that there is a lot that may not pass through central bank systems of homelands, of countries of origin, and instead it's much more, it's even difficult to quantify it. And talking about these partnerships, Jackie, I think is particularly important and that some of the cultural capital as well, you know, we're now seeing diasporas cultural capital. So how are you able to share those results? And I think, as you've said, it's by showing what the win-win situations are like, the partnerships, you know, the skills transfer programs is another important part. But maybe Vivian, did you also want to come in and just share with us what you see from GDC as some of the ways that diaspora and partners share the results of their activities? I have two lecturers and Jackie and I've said we organize events, bring these people back. We have a series of meetings, you may seem as to those a lot of meetings, but then this is how you keep your communication line open. You share your results, you organize meetings, and then let them know how far you've gone, what is going on. We also have reports that we write and send via newsletters and also social media. The use of social media cannot be overemphasized because they're just as Therese I mentioned earlier, you can also get your feedback instantly. You let them know this is what's going on. During the global diaspora week of 2022, we had the young students from UCL make their presentations and you could see a lot of attendees asking for reports because they want to know, they want to see the results of this project. And it is in the works. This is how we share our results. We send out our reports regularly and we also organize more events to have physical combat and see, okay, we had these discussions in the past and this is what we have done. This is how far we have gone. So we keep it open and effective. Thank you Vivian. I see we have a hand up. If it is possible, I've just got one more, two questions for our panelists and then we will open the floor for everyone to be able to share with us. If it's really pressing, I'm more than happy to open the floor. The idea is to have an exchange that's fluid enough that we can ask you to speak. Would you like to share your intervention now? I'm sorry, I do not see your name. It just says inviteee because I think you must have pressed a link that was shared by one of us from the hosts. Do you want to unmute yourself, inviteee, and then give us your name and maybe show us a video if it's possible? Okay, we can give you an opportunity when it's time for Q&A for you to come in and share with us. Just coming back into our panel, you know, we've been talking about, for instance, investment conferences. I mean, I know, for instance, Kenya on the African continent, Ghana, Nigeria, and even most recently, Zambia as well as some of those countries, some of the few countries that you have this sort of big display of the invest of diaspora conferences that are happening in the homeland, pegged to different types of needs. But then we also see a growth of diaspora related events where there's a lot of either fundraising, but that also goes together with a call for, with a display of the different activities that diaspora and their partners use to share these activities. So I just wanted, you know, as a question that goes, you know, away from the questions that have been given to our panelists to sort of get a sense from you, what you sort of see is the real benefit of national conferences that are taking place in various places, being organized, co-organized at home. Where do you see sort of the value in terms of sharing results and where should they really be going? Anyone is free to take it up. Teresa, can I put you on the spot? Okay, yeah. So for national conferences, like you said, there's been a lot. I'll take Ghana and Kenya, for example. So now what we are seeing is that national conferences are now featuring people from the diaspora from, with their country of origin. For example, let me use Ghana as an example. So people from the Ghana diaspora, they feature heavily in conferences about the diaspora, sorry, diaspora in Ghana now. So that way, they also have a different view of how things should be done. And people also who are local, they also kind of have a different view of how things should be done most of the time. So the two of them coming together, for a conference or to share ideas, they kind of get to a middle ground asking the best practices and how they can replicate it to the local markets, for lack of a better word. So let's say there's a way of doing, there's a way of communicating in the U.S. Sorry, Teri, I think we... Environment for the African and that. Yes, so you might not exactly copy what was used in the U.S., but then you can copy the basics of how it was successful. And if it can be translated into the local market, then that's also beneficial to both parties. So the national conferences are really important and now it's digital. So there's a lot of engagement, there's a lot of participation. And for me, what I like about it is that both the diaspora and the locals are coming together to find solutions to challenges that they are facing in terms of, is it foreign affairs? Is it in terms of financial things? Is it in terms of philanthropy? So that collaboration for me is one of the big things I see with these national events. Thank you for that, Teresa. Jackie, Vivian, any comments in terms of the national conferences and sort of how you see it as a place for sharing results of activities of diaspora? Let me just go in, just to continue from where Teresa left it. For me, this is very, very important to have that because even nowadays you see them inviting. The way Teresa has just given an example of Ghana. You hear them call like, if there's something, there's a delegation that is being sent to Kenya, to Ghana, to wherever. We are being called in. And if there's some ministries coming from Kenya who want to come to Germany, the first people they do a lot are the diasporas. It's like, can you give us a view on this, on that? This is very important because it is time. It is a high time that we write our own stories. It has been written for us for quite some time. And by writing our own stories, this can make them understand us better because it is us going through this and not the people who are writing those stories. So we have to sit on that table with them being called to the table. To table our problems, to table our challenges, to table our, how do you say that, the good things that we've done all along and all that we've gone through, that is always the best part. Talk to the people themselves and not above the people. So these dialogues and conferences are one of the best things that can ever happen for diasporan organizations and diasporans. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Jackie, for that. And I hope that Vivian can pick it up in the next set of questions that we will ask. Very nice to also see the conversations that are happening in the chat. Thank you for sharing in the questions and also some of the reflections that are coming in. Thank you so much in terms of what communication, you know, the place that communication should have and also particularly I think the link that communication should have in terms of the follow-up, but also the emphasis on ensuring that there is an integration of young migrants into the whole ecosystem. I hope that we'll be able to hear from you. I think it's Diaia, Diaia, thank you for sharing in. On espère qu'on va avoir l'opportunité pour entendre un petit peu votre point de vue. A tout à l'heure, merci. Thank you for that. And then just making a segue then to our next point of reflection in this conversation so that we can be able to open the floor. I just wondered from our panelists, we've talked about this sharing of results of the various activities, the various platforms that you're using, the various means that you're using, the targeting also that is happening around the different messages and the different results that you would like to share across. And I wonder just as a final question, how can diaspora then align the goals that you have with the communication strategy? So maybe kicking off with Vivienne, how do you sort of see that alignment between the goals that diaspora organizations or diaspora would have with their communication strategy? Vivienne, the floor is yours. Okay, now I'm going to use the development of the global diaspora humanitarian hub as an instance. So we had consultation meetings where we had diaspora organizations come, share their needs, share their experiences, their opinion recommendations. Afterwards, then we had a validation meeting which is a follow-up meeting, basically a feedback group where we had them come back and say, okay, this is how far we have gone, the system aligned with your needs, are we still on track? And then it also gives us time to be better prepared, go back, look at our goals, look at what we have done so far, and ensure that we're still on track, still in line with the original goal that we had for that project. I think this is the best thing to do for every diaspora organization, a feedback system, a feedback group. Don't just organize events and then say, okay, fine, we've gotten it. Have constant, continuous meetings, validation meetings, when it will come back and still share and see that, okay, we are still doing what we had originally discussed. So this is what we do. It gives us better time to be better prepared and ensure that we are not derailing from the purpose, we are not deviating because it's very easy to get distracted in project implementation. So most times we'll go back and think back and look at what we have done and ensure that it is still in line. So feedback system, this is the best, the best system we can do, the best strategy to ensure that your goals are still aligned with your communication strategy, yeah. Absolutely, thank you for that. Teresa, did you want to come in in terms of talking about this alignment between goals and communication strategy? Yeah. So in terms of that, we'll go back to all that we've all said as panelists and as an audience and give yourselves. So it goes back to communication, still being clear and consistent to the goals of the project, the language of the project, and having an open mind for the latest trends in communication, maybe I'll touch on that a little bit because of what technology has done to the way we communicate. So there are a lot of positives you can leverage from digitization. There are negatives too, but the positives are a lot. And we can use them in effective communication. So for example, if we have targeted platforms, let me use the Aspera Digital News. So we have a resource page where we even post jobs. We have reports and everything. So it's like a one-stop sensor but getting information on migration and Aspera information. So that's also one way in which we can align our goals to the communication stuff. And the events that we're going to talk about that Vivian talked about. I think GDC has organized lots of events. So I think that's why she mentioned that, which I've also clearly followed, the diaspora humanitarian hubs and the global diaspora week and everything. So these things are also a great example. And speaking of the trends, one trend that I have noticed in terms of events for a lot of diaspora organizations and international organization is the hybrid nature of the events. So it's a virtual event or it's an in-person event, but the society event, which is being held virtually. So it's enabling a wider participation of all stakeholders from all around the world. So Dr. Martin Russell of the Global Diaspora Insights, he always seems that diaspora engagement should be high tech, but also high touch. So we should embrace digitization, but we shouldn't lose the human touch. As in if there are opportunities to hold events in person, it's a great way of networking. It's even a more believable way of networking because we still have people who have doubts with technology and all that. So that blend of offline, in-person, online kind of thing, it's a trend that I've noticed in the Global Diaspora Summit last year was a hybrid event. We've had this humanitarian and partnerships, networks and partnership we start going on right now. It's also a hybrid event. There's a Judith's Future Forum Outcoming I think in November. It's also going to be a hybrid event. So that way people who cannot attend, can also, in-person, can also attend online. So it caters holistically for diaspora engagement. So if there's a project or there's an event, which will allow for a hybrid nature, I think we should encourage that. So we cover all sides of engagement. Absolutely. Thank you so much. Jackie, having heard about these different ways of aligning goals with communication strategies, I wondered whether if you could just take us through what you see as some of the important principles for alignment. The first thing that we have to do is, first of all, to define our goals, that has been said by both Trisa and Vivian. And we also have to involve all the parties and bring them on this board when we are communicating because they will feel to be part of the project other than when we keep them in the darkness during the whole project and we just don't communicate. Communication is key. The other thing is there are three major principles that I would like to touch on this. This is to understand the language, the culture. I think I'd mentioned that before and just to listen to the people. Listening to the people is something that listening, the skill of listening, not all of us do have that because there's that deep listening. So in a group like Quig, I can say we are so lucky to have Kenyans from all over, so a diversity of Kenyans. So if a sister or a brother from a different community has a problem, the first person we have to look within those who can help is somebody who has the cultural background. The same cultural background as this person and speaks the same language. I know most of us from Africa, we know that most of our countries have like several different kinds of languages. So about 50 in our country, that is something that most Europeans never understand. And the diversity helps all of us to improve our communication skill and to make us understand the deepness of communication and makes that person you're communicating with feel like being understood. It is very important to understand the person. So the language and the culture and the listening, those are for me the most important things that I will put in there to help in the communication. Thank you, Jackie. Thank you. Thank you so much for sharing these. And I'm just thinking, as our panelists have shared here in terms of looking at the strategies that we have for communication as diaspora and what diaspora organizations would put out as their goals and what that alignment looks like. But I think the wealth of the build up to the various questions that we've asked you and the reflections that you have come in and how effective strategies, because our topic today is obviously to look at effective strategies and we're looking at effective strategies around communication. Writing our own story, it's really been interesting to also to just hear in how we should be very much targeted and so on. And I know that in the audience we have different members, we've also got members of civil society organizations that are supporters of diaspora or have or work with diaspora organizations. So I think it would be great for us to hear from everyone if you followed any of the questions and you wanted to give in your own opinion about this or share indeed how you in your own diaspora organizations or those that you work with who are partners of diaspora organizations, how you see effective strategies around communication. Please feel free to share with us because now we've opened the floor for us to hear it in and I'm very happy to see that my big sister Fambaye Ndoyi is here with us in the room. Ma grand-sir, vous avez la parole. Fambaye. Bonjour. Bonjour, bienvenue. Bonjour. Voilà, merci beaucoup. Merci à ma petit-sir Padi. De nous avoir partagé ce lien qui nous permet aujourd'hui de participer à cette rencontre très importante à mon avis. En fait, je suis très très contente qu'on puisse parler de la gastro-raphe et d'abord je me présente c'est madame Fambaye Ndoyi, chef du département migration de l'Union nationale des syndicats autonomes du Sénégal mais aussi présidente de la RFM qui est le réseau d'appui aux femmes et enfants en migration. Donc aborder la communication par rapport à la diaspora me semble très important. La diaspora on a l'impression que la diaspora communique entre elles-mêmes, mais la communication de la diaspora avec les autres organes ou associations de la société civile doit être amélioré mais aussi la diaspora doit avoir un regard critique sur ce que les autres communiquent sur la diaspora. En fait, l'essentiel de communication sur la diaspora tourne autour des envois de fonds. On dirait que la diaspora est une banque. Alors contrairement à cela, le transfer de technologie est plus important. La participation de la diaspora au développement local est très importante mais nous demandons aussi plus de participation de la diaspora à la vie politique des pays. Les implications aux politiques publiques de leurs états. Cela me semble d'une importance capitale surtout par rapport aux politiques d'emploi. Parce que si nous interrogeons les causes profondes de la migration, l'emploi est en bonne place. Quelle communication la diaspora doit porter sur les politiques d'emploi des pays de destination et d'arrivée. C'est important quelle implication de la diaspora par rapport à l'évolution du droit social c'est-à-dire des conditions de vie et de travail, des travailleurs. Parce que la diaspora c'est avant tout des travailleurs. La diaspora travaille dans les pays d'accueil. Donc, elles sont intéressées par l'évolution du droit social. Donc une meille implication dans cette ligne c'est en fait une demande. Mais la communication aussi c'est ce que fait la diaspora pour permettre à ceux qui ont des projets qui peuvent s'inscrire dans leurs lignes pour avoir toutes les informations pour pouvoir accéder. Certes, il y a des plateformes mais l'accessibilité à ces plateformes la communication qu'il faut pour qu'on puisse s'approprier de ces plateformes aussi demande des améliorations. Et je pense qu'on a parlé de ces conférences aussi qui sont des moments de communication et de change. Mais ces conférences doivent être plus ouvert, plus inclusive pour permettre à d'autres d'y participer, de s'engager avec vous et de mieux comprendre vos stratégies, vos orientations. Cela aussi est en fait une demande. Mais le dernier point sur lequel je voulais un peu vous dire c'est que nous disons toujours que la migration au niveau régional est interne à 80%. Donc la migration africaine est d'abord africaine. Donc cette diaspora afrique aussi doit être plus visible et plus audible. C'est les questions qui interpellent nos espaces régionaux. Je vais parler de la CDAO et de lignes africaines. La diaspora aussi doit plus simplifier sur les instruments au niveau de ces espaces-là au niveau de la CDAO, au niveau de lignes africaines pour voir en fait sur les questions de mobilité où il y a des aspects que nous dénonçons et que nous continuons de dénoncer. Quel rapport la diaspora, surtout Afrique-Afrique donner un peu ses avis impliqués sur la dynamique de la progression des accords et des prêtés au niveau de notre continent. Merci Padi, voilà les quelques points sur lesquels je voulais en revenir. Merci pour cette belle opportunité. Merci beaucoup. Thank you so much for sharing in those reflections and very important points that you have alluded to. Thank you so much also for highlighting to us the diversity that's there around diaspora and talking also predominantly about the African diaspora that is within Africa. And that often sometimes remains neglected or whose contributions as well remain invisible. And thank you for bringing in that. But I think also the communication, the first point that you raised in terms of ensuring that the diaspora communicates with others, the communication between diaspora and others also has to improve so that the visibility is really indeed beyond remittances and looks beyond diaspora as a cash machine, as has been paraphrased in other spaces and how the diaspora can actually be real actors in the political and development space in the homelands. Coming in to, I know Dr. Raj, I just wanted to check if you are here with us in the room and you'd like to share with us. I think I did see a comment in the chat. So just checking, it says invitee, it may be that you have not managed to change your name in the group. Dr. Raj, you want to take the floor? Yes, please. Thank you very much. Thank you, Paddy. Yeah, I mean it's important, communication is important and it has been emphasized that effective communication at all levels, whether at the level of the project, thinking of the project and implementation and the communities that benefit from that project. I want to flag this issue of diaspora as an effective partner in development because we are talking about the SDGs, how the diaspora can contribute to the implementation of the SDGs as well. What's the thinking among diaspora groups? Do they want to be at the seat at the table with governments when it comes to doing development projects would they rather be independent that they don't want to be controlled by governments whether at the municipal level or state level or country level that they would like to operate as independent development partners but themselves but have nothing to do with because the governments often sometimes, well, sometimes they derail what you're doing because they have certain bureaucratic issues to comply with and so on. So what's the feeling of diaspora groups? That's one, whether they would like to have a seat at the table with politicians do they want to be recognized as development partner and secondly, the other thing I have in mind is that how do they conceive of projects? Do they just say, okay, you know what? In my village, they need XYZ and I'm going to start working on that or do they go to the constituents and ask them what are your dire needs and how these needs are changing and how they can accommodate those needs and how they can go back to them and say, okay, this is what we are doing what do you think you can do? How can you partner with us? So it's both at the mini level and macro level engagement of diaspora. Thank you very much. Dr. Raj, thank you for those insightful questions to our panelists and yes, indeed, do diaspora want to be given the seat and be recognized as development partners or is this a big assumption that countries, families and communities back home seem to be making so it will be very interesting to hear from our panelists as well as you will respond to that but also particularly talking about communication around projects how do projects actually become conceived so that will really be interesting to hear a little bit later on from our panelists. I realize that we also had some other questions that came into the group but I think one was actually also a share but I wondered if Moinime Diaier may have seemed to have lost Diaier there but yet again I think thank you for the contributions that came through the chat in talking about communication being very, very critical but also in us ensuring that we are bringing young people into the ecosystem and I think maybe that would be an important point as our panelists are coming to circle back in wrapping up where do you see communication, effective communication for the young, for the youth and young adults so how are you working or what do you visualize as some of those important tools? I know TikTok is one of the things that really often comes up when we talk about communication I mean it's there even for four-year-olds these days they know that TikTok exists and then you would see some of us still fidgeting with our phones and trying to figure out how TikTok actually works but I think that there is something to be said in some of these different spaces interesting enough having also a conversation with diaspora around COVID times in seeing how family members became even much more vigilant in the use of WhatsApp so you know grandmothers could even make video calls you know things that never used to happen before and join Zoom calls and so you know how does that look like in your world in terms of dealing with younger people as well so it would be interesting to hear a little bit more but I think one of the other things that Andia had raised was also the voice for you know not speaking on behalf of others but actually allowing those that are concerned to be able to speak in their own name so it would be interesting as well to hear where is the place for diaspora themselves in the messaging so that would be interesting to hear do we have anyone else who would like to share some contributions? I see there were some shares as well that continues again Veronica thank you very much on sharing the link that would allow people to engage further on after this webinar is done here and with that we can have other people sharing but maybe we circle back to our panelists Vivian what do you think around some of the questions that Dr Raj has put across Fambaya also has brought up some interesting challenges there as well which you can pick any of these questions and feel free to address it Vivian the floor is yours reading from the chat how do guys by projects are communicated this too when I'm trying to communicate so basically through this event this online event is amazing how people have a lot of challenges that they are waiting to voice of they are looking for channels so share during these meetings that we have had at GDC I have come to realize that there is so much to be done in diaspora engagements so this is one way of identification and that way is social media most of these diaspora groups also share their events share what they need on their social media platform especially Facebook I realize that Facebook is an effective tool for most diaspora communities because they have these communities here their Facebook where they share their challenges so one can plug in and see that okay Disney this is a need for diaspora communities and then find a way to develop a project around it and form partnerships because diaspora organizations partnerships is key within diaspora organizations so that your work can be more effective so I would say most of these events and there's so many events happening regularly you just have to be on the lookout LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter you will definitely see one or two that you could attend and you'd be amazed at how much help that diaspora communities and organizations need so this is one way to identify projects and also share back with your beneficiary communities Thank you Vivian Jackie what are your thoughts on this? There are questions that have been put up there so I wonder if I just pick up a question or I continue with Vivian's part You can pick a question maybe also talking about engagement with young diasporans and also the picking of different projects Yeah There is a question that has been or two different questions that have been put out there by Dr Raj whether we want to have a sit with the government with the government and the other one is whether it is us just deciding for those back home on which projects suits them these two questions suit together because first and foremost for me if I am asked that question I'll answer it this way for them to know what we are going through what is good for us diasporans they have to sit with us on a table Of course we can have we still have our groups working and the work streams or different diaspora groups associations working but to sit with us on that table so that we can tell them this is what is affecting us on the ground There is a work stream or part of the diaspora group part of Quig that and also a group that calls itself African nurses they've started a work stream that goes like bringing in the nurses from Kenya that they cannot do it on their own they need the government because this is a policy that has to be put out there and to be passed by the government so this is a place where I say we need them we need to sit with them we have to say okay we've realized you have a shortage in this work stream we've realized there's a shortage over there why can't we partner together so that it can be closed down the gap can be closed down we need them to sit down with them the other thing is the same way we need to be sitting with them on the table here is the same way we cannot identify a project there and just work on the and start working on it it is the people at home to tell us of course we have to do our due diligence we have to go there we have to check it out first but it is them to tell us what they need you will never know what the other person needs until the person tells you you might be thinking you're going to help but you're just bringing things in surplus you're doing a surplus instead of helping effectively so both sitting on both tables is very very important to have to define a goal and to know exactly what you're going to help out thank you very much for that thank you thank you so much for sharing in those reflections Teresa did you want to come in and share with us reflections your last reflections as we wrap up yeah same on Dr Raj's question to continue from where Jackie left off I think with diaspora organizations they don't like to be to have a political tag because then again I'll use Ghana as an example for 30 years we've had about four different governments from the same different parties but then it's been like an eight-year cycle for each government and people who usually affiliate to one government when that government is out of power they face a lot of challenges there are a lot of stories like that so I think a lot of diaspora organizations would prefer to be independent partners development partners and there are lots of people who have done that there are lots of organizations who have done that and it's worked for them so regardless of whichever government it's in power they are able to partner to collaborate to get their views across so it's tricky because you still need the government intervention you still need the government support a lot of diaspora organizations don't have a communication strategy or a communications wing or a marketing wing because they don't have the funding right so then if they have support from government that would help but then does that also translate into the government kind of showing them what to do when to voice out when to support so it's kind of tricky I think maybe like we said earlier we could share we could learn from independent development partners how it worked for them and what we can learn from them and also I think diaspora media is a big part of it not because I'm from the diaspora media but Veronica just shared a diaspora a diaspora I think at the end of last year to the beginning of this year I saw they were sharing about youth in the diaspora they were sharing their experiences there were people from all over the world so they are I think they're very engaging there was a photo contest last year and there's been a lot of things so I think also the diaspora organizations should approach the media for we have people who send us press releases and we publish it we don't we don't make any financial demands because we are also advocating for it and in dealing with I-diaspora they are very embracing too so if you don't contact them you might be complaining that all your stories are not being told but what attempts have you also made because most of the diaspora media I know and the typical example is I-diaspora they are very embracing they are a global platform so I think diaspora organizations should also think about the communications part of it because if you're thinking of communications then you think of BR then you think of contacting the media and all that I know funding is a problem but most of these things you can do them for free even on social media like I said diaspora is how I-diaspora there are people you can contact to get your message across so I believe organizations can also leverage on this Jackie feel free to come in and I think I totally agree with the Theresa Theresa believe me Quig will be contacting you sooner later but there is a difference that I kind of think we have to define which government I spoke I had a feeling Theresa spoke about the government of our home countries and I was speaking about the government in Germany so that we should differentiate which government do we want to sit on the table with or which government are we not sitting on the table with so for me it is the government of this country of Germany that I would like to sit and discuss such matters that affect us as diasporas here but when I am going back home going to the government of my home country because this is something that I am now bringing to them we better be independent because we know most of those governments when you are too much into one party when they fall you also fall it will be a bit difficult again to join when the new party comes in and that is something that Theresa mentioned so the government that I was speaking about was the one in Germany and not in the home country that is just something that I wanted to make clear now that is a very interesting perspective actually Jack I think bringing it in is in terms of building trust and I think that Vivian had also touched on this and it is also one of the topics that together with I diaspora GRF, DTC, Sanad and the African platform that looks adept as it is called there was a publication actually that is available and maybe I will ask that Veronica that could also be posted in here where we are talking about building trust and essentially this is also the point that you know engagement communication strategies and everything that has to do with the life of the diaspora organizations its goals its ambitions and its activities in the homeland or even in the country of residence on the country of destination depending on how you see that would really depend on the level of trust isn't it that is there as well so it's also in setting the seat what is the level of trust what is the level of partnership and it also speaks a lot into mobilizing your resources as well as sustaining these relations we've really seen as independent partners and sometimes maybe you would see things shifting from one space to another but I feel that and this is me kind of speaking out my notes to Larissa and Veronica in the back room but also other organizers maybe in terms of the next next kind of topics that we need to look at you know that we don't take a lot of things for granted when we talk about diasporas development partners and maybe it's sort of in which context that we have to look at it and I guess you know people would have different shareings on this particular one I think we still had one more question before I will ask the panelists to take a break so we can get some some closing remarks I was just going to check on it and yes indeed it's from part of the core organizers so Larissa writes there there are international frameworks implemented in monitoring and evaluation for instance the OECD evaluation criteria which looks at relevance coherence effectiveness efficiency impact and sustainability now can these type of frameworks be applied in diaspora engagement and specifically how would we use them to extract key activity achievements and communicate results I don't know if Teresa Vivian whoever has you know just feel free to to go through this I mean I would talk it through so that maybe we can digest it a little bit of course in the space of evaluation we've got bodies that create some kind of a criteria you know so when we are when when projects have been implemented there's a type of framework or two that you use for your monitoring and evaluation and with the OECD they've set up a number of criteria and those are the criteria that you go into evaluate a project and these are the kind of criteria they would use for development projects if you like or different types of projects that are being implemented so there's a kind of guideline that has been adapted to even in the monitoring the evaluation space where you look at is the project relevant how coherent is it to national policies to the needs of the beneficiaries it talks also about effectiveness do you want to measure effectiveness of the project activities or the outputs that are coming out do you want to look at things like efficiency how efficient have the project the use of resources and so on what about impact and sustainability and then I will also take my evaluators part here and say that sometimes it is very difficult to talk about impact depending on which time of the project is being evaluated but just thinking about this and this kind of frameworks and there are many others I know for instance on the African continent you also have some principles of evaluation from the African evaluation association but at the national level you also have different national groups trying to sort of say all kinds of projects need to be subject to some kind of criteria for evaluating them so the question is can we use these types of frameworks to diaspora projects what are your thoughts around that Vivian can I put you on the spot sure that's fine you know in the beginning I had said that social communication ensures sustainability of projects and yes these frameworks can be applied in diaspora engagement because in the end you want to be sure that your project is relevant it is impactful and it can be sustained throughout the project cycle so I believe that these kind of frameworks should be employed in diaspora engagement because it would also help in infant seamless it would help in the generally in the successful implementation of such diaspora projects and as an M and E it is as this key indexes that have been listed here are very sufficient in my opinion to ensure that projects are implemented successfully so yes so as an question it is yes and I think it had also been mentioned earlier how to communicate results through reports through validation meetings to ensure that you check you have a check with your project against this performance indexes to ensure that everything went according to plan so yes this is my opinion this is my take on this thank you Vivian Jackie any thoughts of how you you see the application of these global frameworks on evaluation to the projects that you're implementing as quick well thanks very much for that and actually of Vivian's opinion because this evaluation needs to be done and it shows the the correctness it shows that the money that has been put out there is being used in the direct place and to implement it it shows the it's the accountability of the whole thing which helps the donors or the sponsors even to want to continue working with different diaspora organizations and for a yes on this thank you thank you so much Teresa what are your thoughts on this well yeah I I also agree because the guidelines of these frameworks and they are proving things that are proving they've been put together by international organizations and they are proving methods of how things could work in terms of evaluation monitoring and evaluation and so in terms of the application though it might be different depending on the which diaspora you are trying to implement but with the guidelines I think it should work across not totally but it could work across just that with the implementation you have to consider like we said the language the audience their culture and everything so it might not be one size fitting all but I believe it's a great way to start when you have the guidelines yeah you can build on that and then you can you can bring it into your own culture or you can diversify it in a way that fits your projects yeah so by all means yes thank you Teresa I think a good take from all our panelists that indeed they are applicable but they have to work within the context and I feel like you know bringing in also my take there as moderator of the session I think this is what everybody seems to talk about in terms of any kind of framework that's out there I think Teresa you also talked about sort of some of the examples that we would see of best practices of different things around communication strategies that could work in one place work in another place but it's really about tailoring it to the environment that it's in so while frameworks may be widely available that tailoring also remains very important and often as one would say you know we don't want to also turn you know diaspora diaspora partners and actors into a mainstream type of work but that they remain engaged as diaspora and engage with these different platforms but allowed to work in the space that gives them the level of independence the level of comfort and also that you know the advocacy and all the other activities that have brought them together remain authentic so I think that's that's very important and thank you for sharing that I know I see much more reflections coming in it's always like this when we're at the end but I also realized that we're running against time I see there's some more questions thanks again Nandia for sharing those questions in terms of you know integration of migrants in two different countries but I think that we've touched on some of these aspects that have been shared in various by the various panelists in different ways in how they engage for instance also with young people that's another question that's been raised and Fambaya again thank you for sharing in your your reflection in terms of the use of evaluation criteria for for particular projects and that they have to really be better elaborated I think at the same time in looking at the type of evaluation in question so very much echoing what has been shared also by our panelists I think we are at a good juncture to make a small run to the closing and I will now call upon Natalia Natalia here you are Natalia is here and Natalia if you could give us some closing remarks from your side Natalia the floor is yours thank you for the floor as Fadi already mentioned my name is Natalia Kosovska and I'm here representing the migration youth and children platform MYCP but before I delve into the final remarks and summarize what has been said during the past two hours I would like to bring you closer to what MYCP stands for and how the organization as well as EM related to the youth diaspora and so MYCP is a self-organized space of more than 100 entirely remote youth volunteers who facilitate and coordinate the engagement of thousands of youth led organizations and 56% of our team members are diaspora members located all over the world with our six thematic and five regional teams so we are truly encompassing and connecting the youth diaspora globally and with our work we need to progress youth and children's voices issues challenges and provide recommendations at the local regional and international levels on a more personal note I am also I also experience what's like to be a migrant myself I was born and raised in Poland but at 17 I moved to Slovakia and a few years later to the Czech Republic and further in 2020 to the Netherlands where I am based right now so I have a first-hand experience with what's like to be youth on the move in search of better educational and employment opportunities and during the time I witnessed how migrants are more than capable of contributing to the origin host and transit countries yet there's a lot of untapped potential in terms of engaging diaspora youth even though we constitute a significant proportion of current and future diaspora that's why I believe that strategic communication and building engagement with the partners is so so pivotal for the visibility and success of diaspora projects that like no other understand the lived experiences of migrants and first and second and third generations that's why for diaspora mobilization we need strategic communication and as part of the strategic communication it is crucial that the diaspora organizations also share their expertise in the international debate on migration issues and outcomes of their local projects so that they can promote diaspora contribution among governments and our stakeholders and one of the examples is MICP's work as a steering group that's mandated for facilitating youth engagement and youth diaspora contributions to the global foreign on migration development GFMD and currently we are actually organizing a call for projects and this call will allow local youth led projects focused on the socio-cultural contributions to the diaspora and migrants to showcase their work at an international GFMD event in Paris so if you would like to participate yourself or you know any organization that would like to participate please join our network and the link will be shared at the I-Diaspora event page for today's event well you will also access today's session recording so now let's get into what has been said I made a lot of notes and I think the things that were said by Teresa Vivian and Jacqueline were so inspiring that I just couldn't put everything into into what I've just written I think that one thing that stood out to me is that strategic communication is such a versatile tool that is crucial for every aspect of the diasporas activity and the session has actively reminded us why strategic communication is so important I have a few quotes from Vivian, Teresa and Jacqueline so Vivian said that there are good ideas that get lost into communication right while Teresa said that communication is how the receiver takes the message and the outcome is how we can achieve the goals of the project and align it with the vision while Jacqueline highlighted that communication is a whole when there is a message with a meaning that is being shared and there's also a need to collaborate with other diaspora actors need to also define the goals we want to achieve the age group the relevant platform for them the socio-political context of our target audience and we can never over emphasize the use of the social media because this is crucial also for gaining feedback that actually can align the communication strategy with the goals and strategic communication allows to build partnerships it allows to explain needs and challenges of the organization but also it allows us to know that we do not need to duplicate the project that's already there and someone also in the audience mentioned that we need more connections among the diaspora community to maximize our activity so if we duplicate the projects and all we do we cannot actually fill in the gaps that need to be addressed so for strategic communication the organizations have to be on top of everything and what was surprising for me to hear was that the importance of the packaging of the message especially during crisis time and that's what Teresa highlighted in her while she spoke that for example we need to make the message exciting and make it more human because migration ultimately is about human beings and we need to make it inclusive and appeal to people's emotions but to communicate the message in a professional way so that our point comes across and I think what really stood out to me is that one of the most profound strategies to maximize the communication skills is in Jackie's words to understand the language the culture and the fact that we need to actively listen to people to address what has to be addressed and last but not least today's session has shown us that what we need to change about our approach to effective communication is that we need to highlight the good things that are happening how do we identify that and how do we make sure that these stories are being thought we need to still figure that out but I think it's not the hardest part of that we also need to start collaborating more so that we can change the image of diaspora's impact that goes beyond the topic of remittances and there are also a lot of things that diaspora can contribute to but we need to share the impact of our activities and we need to frame the presence of diaspora as a win-win situation for the country of origin and the host country and we need to allow diaspora to speak for themselves rather than be spoken on behalf of so it is the time to give a seat for diaspora by decision-making table but it is up to diaspora to decide by which table we want to sit thank you so much to all the speakers Vivian Therisa Jacqueline and Patti for moderating the session as well as Monica for your wonderful remarks I hope each of us can take something from today's session to our daily lives and I'm more than sure about that and I would also like to thank IOM, IDiaspora especially Larissa and Vera for the opportunity to have my voice and the voice of the youth in such a great diverse company Natalia what a wonderful way to have wrapped up this conversation I don't think I would have done it any better than you did and bringing in these very different elements from our various panelists from our three panelists that joined us today but I think also in setting the scene from where Monica started us from in terms of this really being at that learning event and I feel you've really wrapped up very well those lessons that we can take away and I think as often people would ask so what happens after this well immediately after which is on the second of May and I will ask that Veronica would put up if we still have the poster I think we have a link in the chat so we will have on May the third yes thank you on May the third the next and the final session that we will have in terms of the global they ask for virtual exchanges in this particular space where we'll be looking at impactful skills and I think we will share with you in the chat in a little bit so that you are able to sign up very similar process to how it was on this one and we will be able to engage with you and information will be shared through the various Twitter, LinkedIn and other tools that we use to communicate upcoming events from the various core organisers so we're really glad that you're able to join us today and we hope that you are making time to join us yet again for the for the next date I know we've been asked questions around people logging in and Zoom and so on I could see some messages also coming through once you register you will get a link that gives you a personal link and in this particular third session we are just trying to really dive in and then again I'm reminded the third one is on innovative tools we had the last one on impact for skills today we looked at effective strategies and the third one will be on innovative tools and I'm very excited to be able to be in that group in that audience and listening as that session is going to take place so it's taking place on the third of May and 3pm same time so it will run for two hours as well 3pm European time and we're looking forward to you joining us for that session and after that session we hope that we'll be able to share with you the results of what these different conversations have come to and we'll share a little bit more on what will happen more immediately after this we would appreciate if you could fill out a survey link that is going to be shared and it's coming up right now on your screen so we didn't want to leave the room as often that happens people would be able to dash out for your different engagements so if you could just take a few moments to fill out the survey and you will see that we only have four questions that's there