Encouraging diaspora youth to contribute to national development: The
Eritrean case
Rahel Weldeab
http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/87924
<
http://www.nueys.org>
There is a need to teach African youth in the diaspora to keep their
identity while also providing them with opportunities to play a role as
active citizens in their countries of origin. Eritrea has vibrant examples
of this
The role and contribution of Eritreans in the diaspora in the struggle for
independence cannot be undermined. As many young Eritrean students migrated
to North America, Europe and the Middle East during the 1970s, they became
the key in supporting the armed liberation struggle for independence that
was taking place in Eritrea at the time. This participation has laid the
foundation for today’s diaspora’s nationalistic participation in the
country’s development.
This transnational participation interprets and explains many features of
Eritrean diaspora communities and their relation with the Eritrean nation
state today. Besides having family ties to Eritrea and often supporting them
through remittance, Eritreans in the diaspora can enjoy the rights of full
citizenship, including opportunities to own land and open business, by
paying a 2 percent voluntary tax. Twenty-two years after Eritrean
independence, many from the diaspora continue to visit their homeland to
invest, to witness and contribute to development efforts, to encourage their
children to build a connection between their family and the Eritrean society
at large.
Although the fervor of independence has yet to die down, and despite the
fact that the threat to Eritrea’s sovereignty still exists with Ethiopia’s
occupation of sovereign Eritrean land, it would be naïve to think that the
strong connection Eritreans in the diaspora have with their country will
last forever without any plan or effort to have new generations build a
connection to their homeland. The nationalistic feelings of those in the
diaspora during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s are difficult to match or
recreate today. Besides the fact that Eritrea’s independence has since been
achieved, the anti-bourgeois progressive movements of the 1970s are no
longer with us. Today, youth aren’t as active in the fight for social
justice as they were back then, mostly due to the fact that technology
doesn’t require them to demonstrate as much commitment.
There is a need to teach and allow African youth in the diaspora to keep
their identity while also providing them with opportunities to play a role
as active citizens in their countries of origin. As Africa suffers from the
brain drain, diaspora youth participation allows the opportunity of
reversing the negative effects of it. And if the integration of the African
diaspora wasn’t a necessity, the African Union (AU) would not have
recognized them as the ‘sixth region of Africa’.
>From 23-25 May 2012, the AU organized the Global Africa Diaspora Summit for
<
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Heads of States in South Africa, and to make sure that women and youth had
the opportunity to include their input on proposed African Legacy Projects,
a pre-summit event for them was organized. The summit, under the theme
“Towards the Realization of a United and Integrated Africa and its
Diaspora”, was organized by the AU because one of its main policy goals is
to involve the diaspora more actively in the development of the continent.
Moreover, the desired outcomes for the summit were legacy projects aimed at
strengthening the economic and cultural ties of Africans around the world to
their continent.
The five (5) legacy projects proposed were the following:
1. Database of professional skills in the African Diaspora
2. African Diaspora Investment Fund (ADIF)
3. Remittances in Sub-Saharan Africa
4. The development market and youth development project
5. Volunteer Corps Program
Already prior to the summit, the National Union of Eritrean Youth and
Students (NUEYS) was conducting projects and programs that directly
contribute to the achievement of two of the legacy projects (development
market and youth development project, and the volunteer corps program), and
has since also played a role in achieving the goal of the legacy project
that aims to create a database for professional skills in the African
Diaspora. NUEYS, which is a non-governmental, democratic grassroots
organization based inside Eritrea, works actively to make sure that Eritrean
youth in the diaspora can still have a connection with their country through
other various programs as well.
NUEYS conducts a volunteer program especially for youth in the diaspora with
the aim of enhancing social, cultural and educational exchange through
volunteer work and internships, so as to develop the skills of Eritrean
youth for community leadership in Eritrea and abroad. This program aims to
strengthen the skills and development of young Eritreans from the diaspora
through the facilitation of internships, volunteer work, community service,
and national service, as well as through the support of community based
projects in their country of residence upon completion of internships in
Eritrea. In other words, this program aims at building youth leaders who
would play a positive role in community development not just in Eritrea, but
also in diaspora communities.
Also included in this program is the Youth Exchange Program and the Skills
Transfer Program. For youth who cannot commit a few months to volunteer
(often due to school and work obligations), NUEYS offers them smaller
volunteer tasks that still allow for cultural exchange and intercultural
dialogue between the youth from the diaspora and those who live inside
Eritrea. This Youth Exchange Program is most vibrant between the months of
May and August, as many Eritrean youth from the diaspora spend their summer
vacation in Eritrea.
The Skills Transfer Program allows those who would like to share their
skills or experience with interested youth to do so. For instance, if a
young person from the diaspora would like to give a workshop, let it be a
day or week long, NUEYS will provide them with the venue and equipment to
conduct this workshop, as well as mobilize youth and student participants
who would be interested in attending the workshop. This also holds true for
seminars and lectures on topics of interest, which are usually one or two
hours long.
Other programs conducted by the NUEYS that aim at increasing the involvement
of diaspora youth in Eritrea’s development include the Diaspora Youth
Participation program, as well as summer programs like the Zura nHagerka
(Know Your Country) Tour Program and the mobilizing Diaspora youth to
participate in the bi-annual National Eritrean Youth Festival (Eri-Youth
Festival).
The Diaspora Youth Participation Program focuses on guiding youth in the
Diaspora to conduct projects that contribute to the development of the
motherland. NUEYS guides them by advising them on which projects are
relevant and how they may raise funds for the project. NUEYS also acts as a
partner to make sure the project is successfully implemented and that it is
promoted through NUEYS’ media channels so that other youth can be encouraged
to also contribute to their country’s development. Diaspora Youth
Participation projects have already contributed to youth centers across the
country through the provision of books and computers.
The Zura nHagerka (Know Your Country) Tour Program, as well as the bi-annual
Eri-Youth Festival, aim at familiarizing youth in the diaspora with their
country. It is through these activities that the youth receive an eye
witness accounts of how thousands of young Eritreans in Eritrea are
contributing to their country’s development on a daily basis. The Know Your
Country Tour Program familiarizes diaspora youth with Eritrea’s history and
heritage, and it allows them to interact with youth in Eritrea to find out
how they live, work and actively participate in their country’s development.
The same holds true for the Eri-Youth Festival, which is conducted every two
years and which attracts some 25,000 participants, 3000 from the diaspora.
Recently, NUEYS has also been working to encourage youth in the diaspora to
contribute to the DEAIMS Database initiative taken up by the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of the State of Eritrea. By doing so, NUEYS plays an
aggressive role in increasing the number of young professionals who become
part of a pool for agents and partners for development in their homeland,
especially in critical sectors such as education, health, technology and
business.
All of these efforts that aim at connecting Eritrean diaspora youth with
their homeland are done in recognition of the valuable role the diaspora has
and continues to play in Eritrea’s development. However, in spite of this
important role they play, NUEYS holds the conviction that diaspora youth
benefit just as much (and maybe even more) by taking the opportunity to
contribute and participate as doing so strengthens their own identity and
meaning in life. The youth of Africa’s diaspora face many challenges to
integrate, and in many cases suffer from the negative effects of
stereotyping, racism and xenophobia. An intimate connection with their
country of origin plays a positive role to mitigate against these negative
effects. They often learn about the history of Africa not from the voice of
Africa but that imposed by imperialists. By connecting with their homeland,
they not only get to learn the truth about their history, but also play a
role in shaping their country’s future.
If all African countries took up programs similar to those taking place in
Eritrea, we would be that much closer to creating Pan-African knowledge and
historical dialogue. Moreover, today’s youth can play a key role in offering
creative marketing strategies and developing IT infrastructures that expand
the possibilities of global mobilization of people of African Descent.
* Rahel Weldeab is the head of the Foreign Affairs Department of the
National Union of Eritrean Youth and Students (NUEYS), and is currently
serving as the Vice-President of the Pan African Youth Union (PYU) for the
East Africa/Indian Ocean region.
Received on Sat Jun 22 2013 - 17:56:51 EDT