Participation of Diasporas in Peacebuilding and Development

The document outlines the value added by diaspora engagement, such as context-specific knowledge and access to high-risk areas, while addressing challenges like community fragmentation and politicization. It provides a framework for capacity-building, funding, and recruitment to better integrate diasporas into mainstream development and peacebuilding efforts.

• Diasporas provide significant value to development and peacebuilding through context-specific knowledge of cultural practices, language, and current developments, as well as the ability to access geographically isolated or high-risk areas where bilateral cooperation is not feasible.
• Diaspora engagement is often characterized by fragmentation along regional, clan, socioeconomic, religious, gender, generational, and political lines, which can be a major obstacle for external actors seeking representative partners.
• To mitigate fragmentation and politicization, the document suggests creating 'depoliticized spaces' by focusing on professional requirements and common causes, such as health needs, rather than political affiliations.
• There is a mutually reinforcing link between a migrant's integration in their country of settlement and their ability to engage transnationally; successful long-term engagement requires a minimum degree of economic and social integration.
• Policy incoherence often exists between immigration/integration mandates and foreign policy/development mandates, meaning initiatives to support diaspora activities frequently fall between the organizational cracks of different institutions.
• Capacity-building for diaspora organizations should be viewed as a two-way knowledge exchange rather than a one-way training process to avoid 'cloning' mainstream practices and to preserve the diversity of perspectives.
• Top-down approaches to creating umbrella organizations for representation often fail or cause harm; instead, bottom-up organizations based on shared pragmatic interests are more successful.
• Temporary and circular return programmes for professionals, such as the UNDP/IOM QUESTS-MIDA project, allow for the transfer of human capital and expertise to the country of origin while providing reconnection opportunities for the diaspora.
• Diaspora members are frequently underrepresented in the recruitment and consultation processes of European development institutions, often being viewed as 'resources' or 'tools' rather than genuine partners.

APA

Horst, C., Ezzati, R., Guglielmo, M., Mezzetti, P., Pirkkalainen, P., Saggiomo, V., Sinatti, G., & Warnecke, A. (2010). Participation of Diasporas in Peacebuilding and Development. Peace Research Institute Oslo. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/e6942368-7ae6-47e5-ae59-251fca6957af/PRIO Report 2-2010.pdf?inline=true

Chicago

Horst, Cindy, Rojan Ezzati, Matteo Guglielmo, Petra Mezzetti, Päivi Pirkkalainen, Valeria Saggiomo, Giulia Sinatti, and Andrea Warnecke. Participation of Diasporas in Peacebuilding and Development. Peace Research Institute Oslo, 2010. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/e6942368-7ae6-47e5-ae59-251fca6957af/PRIO Report 2-2010.pdf?inline=true.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Horst |first1=Cindy |last2=Ezzati |first2=Rojan |last3=Guglielmo |first3=Matteo |last4=Mezzetti |first4=Petra |last5=Pirkkalainen |first5=Päivi |last6=Saggiomo |first6=Valeria |last7=Sinatti |first7=Giulia |last8=Warnecke |first8=Andrea |title=Participation of Diasporas in Peacebuilding and Development |publisher=Peace Research Institute Oslo |date=2010 |url=https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/e6942368-7ae6-47e5-ae59-251fca6957af/PRIO Report 2-2010.pdf?inline=true |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{horst2010participation, author = {Horst, Cindy and Ezzati, Rojan and Guglielmo, Matteo and Mezzetti, Petra and Pirkkalainen, Päivi and Saggiomo, Valeria and Sinatti, Giulia and Warnecke, Andrea}, title = {{Participation of Diasporas in Peacebuilding and Development}}, institution = {Peace Research Institute Oslo}, year = {2010}, url = {https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/e6942368-7ae6-47e5-ae59-251fca6957af/PRIO Report 2-2010.pdf?inline=true}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }