On the 12th of February 2016, the Diaspora Relations Bureau (BRD) of the State Chancellery of Moldova, in partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM Moldova) and the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), launched the Diaspora Engagement Hub – a new program of thematic grants for Moldovan citizens abroad, including diaspora associations and initiative groups.
Through its bridge-building character, this platform aims at improving and enhancing the capacity and impact of African diaspora organisations involved in development activities in Africa, and connecting the e-Diaspora organizations in Europe. Effective network dynamics and activities are best managed on a permanent platform, setting structured grounds for a competent delivery of relevant and appropriate context specific services to diaspora organizations, countries of destination and countries of origin.
The overall goal of IOM's project in Moldova is to create enabling conditions for Moldovan diaspora’s systematic engagement in their homeland’s socio-economic development through sharing technical expertise and knowledge they acquired abroad and cultivating Romanian language skills among the second generation of migrants.
The association ‘Migration and Development’ is a civil society organization which has been engaged in integrated and participative development with migrants in southern Morocco for many years. Its engagement is anchored in the intention of enhancing the synergies between migrants and their territories in their community of origin. As such, the communities of origin are strongly involved in defining their needs and ensuring that migrants’ contributions are factored in when seeking to contribute to the development of communities of origin.
The program’s overarching strategic goal is to improve the overall market for remittances and ultimately achieve further financial inclusion, broader usage of electronic payments and the reduction of the cost of remittances while maintaining financial stability. This will allow migrants and their families a net increase of the available resources for their daily needs, savings as well as investments.
The program is executed by the World Bank’s Financial Infrastructure and Remittances Service Line, which is part of the joint WB/IFC Finance and Markets Global Practice.
6Degree.org is a crowdfunding portal to support voluntary return and sustainable integration of human trafficking victims launched in 2015 through a partnership between IOM and Microsoft. The site is backed by Microsoft Azure cloud-computing platform, while IOM provides the resources to help human trafficking victims. The platform meets IOM`s strict requirements for victim privacy and protection and is in place not only help victims, but also to raise awareness for human trafficking and enhance the global commitment to stopping it.
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has a number of projects around the globe aimed at facilitating and enhancing the effectiveness of diaspora investment in local economies, including:
Switzerland supports Moldova in maximizing the positive impact of migration on the country`s socio-economic development. This is done by implementing a program with three interlinked components:
Launched in 2009, PLURAL+ is a joint initiative of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), with a network of more than 50 partner organizations around the globe.
In 2009, the Japanese government introduced “bridging schools” to help in the educational integration of migrant children whose parents were affected by the 2008-2009 global economic crisis.