Tanzania - IOM Tanzania this week organized a workshop on “Women and the Diaspora” as part of a project: “Enhancing the Migration Evidence Base for the Development of Tanzania”.

The two-day workshop took place in Zanzibar on 25th-26th June 2014 and explored a number of topics, including the organization of women in the diaspora; their contributions in the form of knowledge and skills transfer; remittances, current challenges and priorities for women in the diaspora; and how their contributions to development in Tanzania can be maximized.

IOM co-facilitated the training with representatives of the Ministries of Finance, Community Development, Gender and Children, Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs. Participants previously attended an IOM training of trainers on migration and development in January 2014.

The event also offered an opportunity for participants, including private sector agencies, government ministries and academia, to draw up strategies on how to encourage further engagement of diaspora women in the country’s development.

The workshop was opened by the Deputy Director of the Department of Diaspora Engagement and Opportunities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and by the IOM Tanzania Chief of Mission.

The IOM International Development Fund (IDF)-funded project “Enhancing the Migration Evidence Base for the Development of Tanzania” followed a government request for IOM’s technical and financial support to promote enhanced coordination amongst ministries on migration matters, to undertake a comprehensive migration profile, to enhance the understanding of approaches to diaspora engagement and to support the creation of a diaspora web site.

For more information, please contact

Mia Immelback
IOM Tanzania
Tel. +255.688 53 73 25
Email: mimmelback@iom.int