Objective 19: Create conditions for migrants and diasporas to fully contribute to sustainable development in all countries

Consitution Article 27(ii)

The government provides equal access to legal protection and social services to all migrants. This is guaranteed in both the constitution and statutes. Article 27(ii) of the Constitution states that every person is equal before the law and has the right to equal protection and equal benefit of the law. This equality includes the full and equal enjoyment of all rights and fundamentals freedoms for both women and men. It guarantees the right to equal treatment, including the right to equal opportunities in political, economic, cultural and social spheres.

In 2009, the Government of Burundi created a Directorate for the Diaspora at the Ministry of External Relations and International Cooperation. Several activities by this department eventually led to the launch of the National Policy for the Diaspora on 3 June 2016. This included a recommendation to develop a strategic implementation plan.

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 Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation supported the creation of a platform for the Bosnian and Herzegovinian Diaspora in Switzerland, which connects the Diaspora in Switzerland with the purpose of joining forces to support the development of the country of origin beyond the many existing individual contributions at family or community level.

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 CTRS project is an initiative of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in Tunisia. The project interventions focus on cooperation with the Tunisian Government in line with its efforts in strengthening Tunisia’s links with its diaspora and to promoting the diaspora’s engagement in Tunisia’s national and local development.

The project aims at acknowledging the competences and skills of Tunisians living in Switzerland with view to strengthening their contribution to the socio-economic development of Tunisia in four areas:

This project is a part of a larger multi-year intervention “Moldova – Making the Most of Migration”, funded by the Swiss Development Cooperation and beginning in mid-2015.

The project is implemented in partnership between IOM Moldova and the Diaspora Relations Bureau (BRD) in synergy and close coordination with the two other SDC commissioned project (implemented by UNDP and IASCI).

The SECO Start-up Fund is a risk capital vehicle launched in 1997 by the Swiss Goverment. The Fund is fully owned by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and is an instrument of SECO’s Economic Cooperation and Development Division. The Fund is managed by FinanceContact Ltd., a Zürich-based private management company.