Migration and the localisation od SDGs: the role of diaspora associations for sustainable development

Title The role of diaspora associations for sustainable development: new tools for analysis and measurement

Location Italy

Partners IOM-IOM International Organization for Migrations

Framework The role of diaspora associations for sustainable development: new tools for analysis and measurement

Funding MAECI UAP SDS – Contribution to study, research and analysis projects in the field of foreign policy and the promotion and development of international relations (Year 2021)

 

Context

Given the Italian context, where there are more than a thousand associations with a migratory background, the involvement of diasporas in the various processes aimed at sustainable development, both in the communities of origin and in the communities of settlement, is becoming increasingly important.

Diaspora associations are assuming an increasingly important role in co-development and cooperation processes between the countries of settlement and the migrants’ communities of origin, and may in the future play a decisive role in helping to localise the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The research project intends to create and test a new analysis and measurement tool in order to obtain an information base to qualify and quantify the role of diaspora associations for sustainable development and the localisation of the 2030 Agenda.

 

General Objective

The overall objective of the research – which can count on the collaboration of IOM Italy – is to provide the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI) with a picture of the opportunities that migratory phenomena offer in terms of sustainable development and trans-localism between Italy and the countries of origin.

Particular attention will be given to diasporas and the role that migrant associations currently play – and could potentially play in the future – in sustainable development and international cooperation with communities of origin.

The research project intends to create and test a new analysis and measurement tool in order to obtain an information base to qualify and quantify the role of diaspora associations for sustainable development from a localization perspective of the 2030 Agenda.

The research intends to directly involve some diaspora associations so that they themselves can provide qualitative and quantitative information regarding the role (actual and potential) that diasporas can play in cooperation in terms of sustainable development.

 

Our Contribution

ARCO Researchers’ study stated with a literature review on diasporas and their contribution in terms of sustainable development to communities of origin. Based on that review and on several discussion with IOM Italy staff and experts on the topic, the analysis and measurement tool was developed. The purpose of this tool is to allow to qualify and quantify the role of diaspora associations for the sustainable development of their communities of origin, from the perspective of the localization of the 2030 Agenda.

The analysis tool, that was elaborated as a questionnaire, was used by ARCO Researchers to collect information from a sample of diaspora associations distributed throughout the country and active in cooperation activites with migrants countries of origin. These associations have been identified thanks to the support of national actors such as IOM Italy and local ones such as ARCI Tuscana.

After listening to the diaspora associations answers to the questionnaire, the qualitative and quantitative information collected were systematized and analyzed, in a logic of triangulation and validation, using a new synthetic index developed by the researchers, the Diaspora Association for Sustainable Development (DASD) index.

To learn more about the background and findings of the research it is possibile to read in the report here (the report is available only in Italian):

Read more on our Local Development Unit