We are currently launching a new Diaspora Professionals for Development (DP4D) action, this time focused on how to profile diaspora skills effectively.

The new action will be implemented in partnership with the Diaspora Directorate of Madagascar, which is within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Madagascar and in charge of engaging with Malagasy Ampielezana (translating as “Malagasy abroad”). The Diaspora Directorate seeks to better know its diaspora in order to identify the skills that could contribute to achieving Madagascar’s development goals. Whilst Madagascar’s diaspora is relatively small compared to its population size, profiling the skills of over 180 000 people is no mean feat and there are a plethora of ways to go about the task. Who better to help the Diaspora Directorate with this task but members of the diaspora themselves?

Following the DP4D ethos, Malagasy diaspora professionals are at the heart of this action. Four diasporans will help equip the Diaspora Directorate with the tools and knowledge needed to profile the technical, intellectual and financial skills of the Malagasy diaspora.

The action will run for one year and lead to the development of a methodology for profiling the skills of the Malagasy diaspora; the methodology will then be used to profile the diaspora in France and Switzerland

Who are the Malagasy Ampielezana?

The government of Madagascar has already made progress in recent years in building its knowledge of the diaspora. One of these initiatives led to the publication of a study on the profile of the Malagasy diaspora in France, the country of residence of the majority of the Malagasy diaspora. This study highlighted certain socio-cultural and economic specificities of the Malagasy diaspora – notably the high proportion of individuals with a Master’s or Doctorate degree – as well as the high number in managerial positions or in the intellectual and liberal professions in France.

For Madagascar, the next step in this process of building knowledge is now to identify the tangible skills within the diaspora which could contribute to achieving development goals in the country, which is where our new DP4D action comes in.

Action objectives

The diaspora professionals will use their experience, knowledge and networks to:

• Identify and assess different approaches to profiling diaspora skills, including the use of networks and diplomatic services;
• Develop a standard methodology for profiling the skills of the Malagasy diaspora;
• Pilot the methodology with the Malagasy diaspora in France and Switzerland and enable the replication of this methodology in other countries of residence in the future.

Intended impact

Through this action, we will support Madagascar in the continuation of its diaspora engagement efforts with the long-term vision of establishing the Malagasy diaspora as a major actor of the country’s development in the coming years. The action will lead not only to the profiling of the Malagasy diaspora in France and Switzerland, but also to the development of a standard profiling methodology that could be replicated in other countries of residence of the Malagasy diaspora. Furthermore, the Madagascar action will serve as a case study for other diaspora profiling initiatives to learn from.

For more details on the action and an overview of the activities, have a look at our step-by-step methodology, available in English and French:

EUDiF greatly values the work of the diaspora and fairly compensates all assignments and deployments made under the DP4D mechanism. For more information about DP4D, click here.