Having reviewed the team’s findings on new diaspora engagement developments in 123 countries in 2025, Communications Officer Nalé shares his thoughts on the many policies and practices discovered.
The latest update of the global mapping identified a further 154 initiatives, 59 policies, 32 organisations and eight public institutions. These new additions and more are now available to explore via the interactive map and the 123 individual country factsheets in the library. Over 700 initiatives are now available to explore by sector of engagement, Sustainable Development Goal or country in the practice database!
A lot can change in 12 months, and 2025 was no exception…
A proliferation of policies
In 2025, we identified 59 relevant policies, a 68% increase compared to the 35 identified in 2024. The new policies are broader national or sectoral policies, including elements of diaspora engagement. One focus area is labour migration (such as the cases of Eswatini or Somalia), whilst national development plans/strategies from Fiji and Mozambique factor in the diaspora.
Although no specific diaspora policies were introduced in 2025, the increase in other policies incorporating elements of diaspora engagement speaks to greater mainstreaming of the topic.
An ecosystem full of initiative
Practices are the other key area where a big increase was registered. Within the 154 initiatives identified, there is a huge variety in focus and a lot of innovation. In fact, 33 out of the 41 sectors of our classification system saw new activity with many practices addressing more than one sector at the same time.
This year, communication and information initiatives topped the sectors of intervention. This was largely led by websites (e.g. Nigerians in Diaspora Response (NiDRes)) and applications (e.g. Shuveccha in Bangladesh) that allow for better communication between public institutions and diaspora communities.
Consular services was the second most prominent category. New initiatives focused on facilitating diaspora access to services through, for instance, exclusive desks for diaspora during peak hours in Guyana and Honduran licence renewal services in Europe.
Finishing the podium, diaspora investment was the third most common area of focus identified. Diaspora investment is not new (see our Learn by Doing dossier) and new initiatives, such as Uzbekistan’s sovereign Eurobond or the Your Farm and Your Home projects in Egypt, continue the trend of investment for social impact as well as for economic growth.
Where can you look deeper?
This article is but a small teaser of all the new policies, projects and organisations that we managed to identify this year. If you would like to take a deeper dive, we invite you to explore our interactive map and individual factsheets in our library.
Diaspora engagement is always evolving and we value your input to stay on top of the developments. In advance of our 2026 update, you can share suggestions, fresh developments or missed information via email at EU-diaspora@icmpd.org.