Zimbabwe diaspora hold a strong desire to engage and contribute to the economic and social development of Zimbabwe. Given the diaspora’s critical role in contributing to Zimbabwe’s socio-economic development, the Government of Zimbabwe is prioritising and putting in place measures to engage with its diaspora, as reflected in the recently drafted National Diaspora Policy.
The draft National Diaspora Policy seeks to provide a comprehensive national framework and reference point for formal mainstreaming of the Zimbabwean diaspora in the national development agenda. The draft policy framework identifies challenges to effective diaspora contribution to national development and proposes some policy strategies to address the identified challenges
This project aims to support the Government of Zimbabwe in strengthening its engagement with its diaspora for the purpose of socio-economic development. The project will lay the foundation for a government-led diaspora engagement and consultative process through implementation of two key components:
• Supporting the establishment of a National Diaspora Focal Unit and supportive mechanisms for effective diaspora engagement and consultative processes; and
• Supporting the finalization of the National Diaspora Policy.
The project will also support development of effective diaspora consultation processes through arranging a Look and Learn visit to Ethiopia and by planning diaspora consultative meetings that will facilitate meetings between the senior government officials and the Zimbabwean Diaspora in South Africa, Botswana and the United Kingdom.
The expected outcome is improved capacity for coordinated and systematic government led diaspora engagement while the key outputs are a functional National Diaspora Focal Unit and a finalised National Diaspora Policy for Zimbabwe.