AEGIS ECAS 2007 - View abstract

Panel	75. Migration reshaping the landscape of African development: bridging theory-practice and sending-receiving gaps
Paper ID	396
Author(s)	Horst, Cindy
Paper	No paper submitted
Abstract	In recent years, various European governments have discovered migrant diasporas’ potential for contributing to development. Especially the sending of remittances has been seen to have great potential. In countries like the UK, the Netherlands and Norway, various strategies are tried to find ways of ‘engaging the diaspora’ in African development: conferences and debates are organized, trainings provided, and funds are set up. Yet, there are many problems involved, and attempts are often not successful. In the meantime, members of various African migrant communities continue to support their relatives and contribute to community projects to improve infrastructure, health and education. This paper will look at the question of whether there is really a mutual interest in bringing the diaspora-oriented western development programmes closer to community-based assistance already provided; by looking at the case of Somalis in Norway. What are the problems faced when trying to engage migrants into western development thinking and practices? Are failures related to incorrect assumptions between migrants and policy makers, or even of a lack of knowledge on both sides? Is it related to the bureaucratic requirements, that migrants just find hard to fulfil? Are there, as is often stated, too many groups and interests in specific migrant communities to make it work? Or can we identify more structural problems, for example related to the core assumptions of the ‘development project’. Through comparing transnational assistance provided by Somalis in Norway with Norwegian attempts to engage the Somali diaspora in development processes in the Horn of Africa, this paper will try to answer some of these questions.

A monopoly on assistance: international aid to refugee camps and the role of the diaspora