Radboud University in the Netherlands is researching the organisational identity and activity profiles of diaspora organisations as part of a new study on the role and position of small-scale voluntary organisations for Citizens Initiatives for Global Solidarity.

If you represent a diaspora organisation based in Belgium, the Netherlands, France or the UK that is working on development, Radboud University would like to hear from you via a new survey, open until 1 November 2021.

The researchers, led by Dr Sara Kinsbergen, aim to learn more about the identity, position and role of small voluntary organisations around the world and the contributions they make to sustainable development, from global citizenship to poverty alleviation. This research will help improve knowledge of the global mosaic of diaspora and civil society organisations working for development.

Practical details:

• The survey can be completed anonymously and all responses will be kept confidential
• There are questions about the characteristics and financials of the organisation (e.g. annual budget), so it may be useful to have such information within reach when completing the survey
• It requires approximately 25 minutes to complete the survey
• It is possible to complete the survey in instalments, but only by accessing it from the device you begin the survey from

 Access the survey for the country your organisation is based in:

• Belgium (available in Dutch)
• The Netherlands (available in Dutch)
• France (available in French)
• United Kingdom (available in English)

If you have any questions about the survey, please contact the research team by email (cigs-ineurope@ru.nl).

Why is this important?

At EUDiF, we strongly believe in the importance of evidence to have informed discussions and be able to contribute to policy making and programme implementation, from local to global level. A recurrent theme in diaspora engagement is the super diversity of diaspora actors. This is certainly something to celebrate, but it can also be a challenge to capture and analyse for informed programme and project development and implementation. We welcome initiatives such as the Radboud University research as they strive to fill in these knowledge gaps.

In parallel to Radboud University’s survey, we are currently working on a complementary analysis of diaspora organisations in Europe based on the combined results of our global mapping, the series of diaspora consultations, regional meetings, Future Forum and additional research. We look forward to sharing the results of this exercise before the end of the year.