Netherlands - IOM has launched a new website linking diaspora expertise in the Netherlands to selected host institutions in the countries of origin. The website is part of the Connecting Diaspora for Development (CD4D) project.

Through short physical and online assignments, professional diaspora experts are linked to key institutions identified by the six target countries: Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Ghana, Morocco, Sierra Leone and Somalia.

The website provides relevant information about the priority sectors and institutions in all target countries and an overview of all vacancies with host institutions. Interested candidates can apply directly via the website.

Selected participants are encouraged to give visibility to their engagement with the host institution via blogs and vlogs on the website. The strengthened connections between diaspora individuals and the host institutions will contribute to reconstruction and sustainable development in the countries of origin.

One such CD4D participant is Aziz Arrouchdi, a social worker with an international track record related to training counsellors working with vulnerable young people. Arrouchdi was assigned to the Rawabit Assadaka Association in Tangier, Morocco, which empowers 8 to 18 year olds from socio-economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods by offering activities in arts, education and sports.

He has coached the centre’s instructors in social and psychological guidance. He has also developed a special training kit manual and coached trainers how to train other staff involved in the centre’s activities. His key motivation for this assignment was to share his knowledge as a sociologist and psychological specialist to help create opportunities for a better future for young people from underprivileged backgrounds.

The CD4D project is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and is a continuation of IOM’s successful Temporary Return of Qualified Nationals (TRQN) project. 

Find out more about CD4D here: http://www.connectingdiaspora.org/en/

For further information, please contact Marian Lenshoek at IOM in The Hague, Tel. + 31 651 576013, Email: mlenshoek@iom.int