MEDIA ADVISORY

Consultation/Workshop on the African Union Diaspora Flagship Legacy Projects

INVITATION TO REPRESENTATIVES OF THE MEDIA

When 25-28 March 2013

Where Washington DC, USA

Who African Union Commission (AUC) in partnership with the World Bank
CIDO as the responsible department within the AUC will lead the workshop process, in collaboration with the AUC representational office in Washington.

Why The purpose of the proposed workshop is to begin the process of operationalising the Summit Outcomes and implement its related Decision. Worth noting that the Diaspora Summit held in Sandton, South Africa on 25 May 2012 endorsed five projects as follows: (i) The Skills Database of African Professionals in the Diaspora; (ii) The African Diaspora Volunteer Corps; (iii) The African Institute for Remittances (AIR); (iv) the African Diaspora Investment Fund; (v) The Development marketplace for African Development as a framework for promoting entrepreneurship and innovation. The workshop would establish a baseline study for the implementation of these projects. It will prioritise among them, conduct preliminary evaluation assessments with specific focus on deliverables, timelines, feasibility studies, schedule of activities and program components. It will also include assessments of costs and funding requirements, manpower and project support needs, review and monitoring processes including benchmarks and indicators for assessing progress and performance. Effective and intending project partners will also be identified and associated with a clear framework for project implementation. Partners would be required to stipulate their proposed value additions alongside other actors involved in the process and the wider range of actors and primary stakeholders. The consultation will also harness the contributions of experts in the continent and the Diaspora to enrich the synthesis of diverse inputs with a view to developing effective project preparatory documents in each of the five project areas.

Objective The Workshop will serve as an instrument for timely implementation of Assembly/AU/Dec 443 (XIX) of July 2012 and set the pace for wider implementation of the outcomes of the Global Diaspora Summit and the attainment of its overall objectives.

Format The workshop-consultation is conceived as part of workshops and technical consultations to arrive at the “Diaspora and development-road map” and project preparation documents for each project, participatory and inclusive-especially since (a) Diasporas are spread all over the world and have diverse views and expectations; and (b) governments are engaged at different levels of planning and engaging with diasporas; it will also be a risk management exercise to ensure quality product after the workshops/consultations. In each of the five areas, prospective partners put forward framework and project proposals which have been assessed by professional experts in each of the areas. Subsequently, it will be reviewed and refined through general discussion. On each specific issue, there would be a focus around pertinent technical questions.

Expected outcomes The expected outcomes are two-fold, namely, project preparatory documents for each of the five legacy projects that would be consolidated by a limited follow-up seminar within the African continent to consolidate the five project documents into a general framework document for consideration by a workshop of representatives of Ministries of the Member States of the Union as anticipated by Assembly/AU/Dec.443 (XIX) of July 2012 in June 2013. The workshop of Diaspora Ministries will finalize the Roadmap for implementation of Summit Outcomes and submit its report through the Commission to the 22ndOrdinary Session of the Assembly of the Union in January 2014. The presentation should include ready to implement proposals and means of enabling them.

Participation Professional experts including World Bank and African Union officials; selected partners; Diaspora groups will also be invited as observers and beneficiaries. For the purpose of developing an intellectual knowledge base and expertise academia are also invited from Europe, US, LA and Asia to share best practices and lessons of engagement; skilled personnel will also be associated with the process.

Background
The first African Global Diaspora Summit held in Sandton, South Africa on 25 May 2012 ended with the adoption of a Declaration that would serve as the Magna Carta or fundamental law of the African Union Diaspora Program. The Declaration had four basic elements. The first was a political statement embodying vision, purpose and main objectives. The second was the implementation plan highlighting areas of necessary action and activities and measures that should be taken to enable fulfillment. Third were instruments and mechanisms that would be employed to facilitate the implementation process. Fourth and final were flagship projects that would give immediate, urgent and practical meaning to the implementation agenda so that it can leave a lasting legacy on the integration and development agenda of the continent.

The important challenge that confronts the African Union in the aftermath of the Summit is how to operationalize these outcomes. That challenge was well recognized by the Summit and the two Ministerial Conferences that preceded it. The outcome documents of the three meetings emphasized that the Summit would not begin and end with the Diaspora Summit. Thus the real task of actualizing the agenda would begin with the effective Implementation of the Diaspora Summit outcomes. The 19th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union that considered the outcomes placed premium on using the flagship projects as a framework for accelerating the pace of practical action intended to deliver on the goals and objectives of the Diaspora Summit Declaration.

Accordingly, it adopted Assembly/AU/Decision 443(XIX) that specifically endorsed the five flagship or Legacy Projects and requested the African Union Commission to urgently organize the appropriate Seminars and Workshop of Member States of the Union to consolidate their feasibility and present the outcome to the Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly for consideration. The five projects endorsed are: (i) The Skills Database of African Professionals in the Diaspora; (ii) The African Diaspora Volunteer Corps; (iii) The African Institute for Remittances (AIR); (iv) the African Diaspora Investment Fund; (v) The Development marketplace for African Development as a framework for promoting entrepreneurship and innovation.

It should be noted that the preparation of the African Institute for Remittances (AIR) Project has proceeded to completion along a separate track with technical assistance and funding from development partners. A progress report aimed at sharing this experience will be delivered at the Workshop, which will also serve as an opportunity to sensitize participants to the core objectives and thematic areas that AIR will prioritize once established.

The program of the event is attached

Contacts
The African Union Information and Communication Directorate (DIC)
PO Box 3243
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 551 77 00 Ext. 2558 / +251 11 518 2558
Fax: +251 11 5 18 2578
E-mail: habibam@africa-union.org
Web: www.africa-union.org