Paving the way towards a CIDO and League of Arab States (LAS) engagement strategy

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 28 August 2015 – The Citizens and Diaspora Directorate (CIDO) of the African Union Commission conducted a working session with the League of Arab States and the African Union Permanent Delegation (AUPD) in Cairo.
The working session was convened in the headquarters of Las in Cairo, Egypt. The session was led by Mr. Ahmed Al Basheer, Head of Diaspora Division, CIDO and comprised of the Deputy Head of Mission of the AUPD and a team from the Population policies, Expatriates and Migration Department in LAS. The working session is part of the ongoing operationalization of CIDO’s strategic vision aimed at engaging the Diaspora communities in the Middle East and Gulf regions to support the integration and development agenda of the African Union. This strategic vision is also in line with the Africa-Arab partnership strategy.
The working session discussed various elements necessary for creating a joint Diaspora for Development (D4D) engagement framework between LAS and CIDO; preparing for the Gulf Regional Consultative Conference (RCC) scheduled in 2016 and establishing an understanding of the various modalities of cooperation based on the regional specificities.
In addition the CIDO team held meetings with the Director of Civil Society Organizations Department in LAS. The purpose of the meeting was to provide general overview of the activities of CIDO and particularly the civil society division while understanding the different activities carried out by LAS in their Civil Society department. The goal of the meeting was to establish a relationship that leads towards developing a framework for cooperation between the civil society divisions of CIDO and LAS.
The initiatives of CIDO were welcomed by the LAS as they stressed their readiness to engage with CIDO on an ongoing basis in order to ensure mutual support in matters of the diaspora and civil society engagement.
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CIDO, AUPD and LAS Population policies, Expatriates and Migration Department

CIDO, AUPD and LAS Director of Civil society Organizations department.