While the Future Forum is still months away, our preparations are already in full swing! The EUDiF team is hard at work building the agenda, booking the venue, preparing speakers, and sending out invitations to almost 200 invitees…

Thank you for your interest!

We were thrilled to receive around 400 pre-registrations from individuals all over the world, encompassing a wide variety of sectors and organisations. From this initial list, we have selected and invited just under 200 to be part of the Future Forum audience in Brussels this October. In the selection process, we sought to create a balanced audience that reflects the diversity of the diaspora development ecosystem in terms of actor type and region. Selection is never easy, and we wish we could have invited all those who expressed an interest in joining the conference. In the meantime, we have created a waiting list which we will use to contact more pre-registered individuals and organisations in case space becomes available.

The huge interest in attending is a testament to the growing interest in diaspora engagement and a strong message to policymakers that dialogue is in demand. We thank each individual who registered for their interest and hope those we were unable to invite this year will be able to join other EUDiF activities in the future.

Who is in the audience?

The diaspora-development space is home to a wide variety of actors, each with valuable assets and unique perspectives. This is why we made sure to fill the room with attendees from different sectors – from public to private, within the European Union and beyond.

The majority of this year’s Future Forum invitees will be representing  diaspora organisations (31%) ensuring the presence of the interests and voices of diaspora communities from around the world. The second largest represent EU member states and institutions (22%), organisations which amplify and support diaspora in countries of residence. Central and local government authorities from our partner countries (16%) will bring the perspective of countries of heritage whilst non-diaspora civil society (25%), such as from NGOs, international organisations, academia and think tanks, as well as actors from the private sector (6%) will complete the audience, enriching discussions on cross-sector partnerships..

Lived diaspora experience is vital to dialogue, policy-making and programming so diaspora engagement, so we are delighted that 57% of our audience self-identifies as diaspora, with roots all over the world. As there is no fixed definition of diaspora, and our identities evolve, who knows whether this number will increase during the conference!

Moreover, we are also pleased to announce that the room will be balanced in terms of gender.

Our goal

We have tried to create the audience as a microcosm of the hyperdiverse global diaspora-development ecosystem. We know such a dynamic group will inspire new ideas and drive discussions that will collectively push the agenda on diaspora engagement for development forward.

If you had registered your interest in attending but have not received either an invitation, or a notification about being on the waiting list, do let us know at eu-diaspora@icmpd.org .

We look forward to seeing all invitees in October!