Who we are

Diaspora Forum for Development (DFD) is a platform of more than 40 diaspora organizations, platforms and networks representing more than 30 countries coming from Africa, Latin America and Asia. DFD was formally registered as a foundation in the city of The Hague, The Netherlands on October 2008.

DFD envisions a just and humane society where migrants - both men and women - are equally empowered and visible and can exercise their fundamental human rights. DFD recognizes the unique transnational role of migrants as actors in development. It seeks to harness the capacities of migrants so that they can actively participate in social, economic, and political sphere and contribute to initiating viable interventions to improve the quality of life of migrants, their families and their wider communities.

Mission

• Engage, stimulate and empower diasporas to be actively involved in the field of migration and development both in the Netherlands and in their countries of origin;
• Encourage solidarity and collaboration  among the diaspora organisations within and beyond the boundary of The Netherlands by promoting a broader unity around a shared platform and based on the spirit of complementarity in diversity;
• Strengthen and enhance the social capital of diaspora organisations through capacity building and its mobilization for development;
• Enhance endogenous skills and capacities of diaspora organisations and provide a platform to launch effective lobby and advocacy;
• Engage in constructive dialogues with policy makers, development agencies, private   sector, microfinance institutions, and other stakeholders and establish strategic partnerships that support gender-sensitive initiatives that contribute to the  improved quality of life of the  poor, marginalized and vulnerable sectors specifically in migrants’ countries of origin; and
• Facilitate capacity building activities for migrant organisations to enhance their skills and highlight their positive contributions to the development of their countries of origin.

Background

The Diaspora Forum for Development was established after an expert meeting on “Diaspora Organizations: Building Partnerships in Challenging Times” organized by Oxfam Novib in cooperation with African Diaspora Policy Centre.  Twenty-one diaspora organizations were represented from Argentina, Sudan, Philippines, Somalia, Bolivia, Cameroon, Afghanistan, Ghana, Guinea, Burundi, Congo, Tanzania, Turkey, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Indonesia.

The 21 participants unanimously decided to form the Diaspora Forum for Development (DFD) to serve as a coordinating body of diaspora organizations active in migration and development.  

DFD outlined 4 urgent tasks of the platform namely:

1. broadening of migrant constituencies,
2. building strategic alliances of transnational networks both national and international,
3. increasing the voice of diasporas in the policy making processes at all levels, and
4. stimulating active involvement of diasporas in the development of their countries of origin.

Migrant communities
DFD mirrors the diversity of migrant communities engaged in migration and development issues. Members originate from different countries and have come to the Netherlands for different reasons. Some fled for safety; others came for work, to study or for family reunification. They are organized around various thematic development priorities such as peace building, economic empowerment, remittances and microfinance, human and migrants’ rights, gender and violence against women, youth, education, health (HIV/Aids), IT and development, good governance and democracy. A good number of DFD member organizations have local counterparts and support projects in their countries of origin. This diversity enables DFD to cover a wide range of development issues and establish a common stock of multi-faceted knowledge, skills and expertise from its members. Hence, its principle of complementarity in diversity allows these individual strengths to become part of the common good.

Membership
As of July 2009, the membership of DFD has grown from 23 to more than 40 including large networks and federations such as ENNOS (Ethiopian/Netherlands Network for Development), FAVON (Afghan diaspora platform), Recogin (Ghanaian diasporas), Sudan Civil Society Forum (Sudanese diasporas), Multicultural Women Peacemakers Network, Migrant women Initiatives in Netherlands for Development (MIND), etc. Countries presently represented in DFD are: Afghanistan, Argentina, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Burundi, Cameroon, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Georgia, Ghana, Guinea, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, the Philippines, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Turkey, Venezuela and Uganda.