ADE - Afghan Diaspora Engagement
Afghan Diaspora Engagement aims to promote enhanced dialogue and empower the diaspora community by fostering increased agency both within the diaspora itself and in its interactions with civil society in their home countries. Our objective is to strengthen coordination, foster greater collaboration among organizations, and facilitate a higher level of engagement and influence for the diaspora in Europe and other regions worldwide.
2023-Ongoing
Strengthening exchange with civil society inside Afghanistan
DRC's Afghan Diaspora Engagement aims to empower and support the constructive role of transnational Afghan civil society in support of Afghans affected by conflict and displacement.
Spanning from June 2023 to May 2024, this project will provide a safe platform for meaningful exchange and dialogue between civil society inside and outside of Afghanistan. It will foster mutual understanding and increase influence, focusing on two thematic pillars:
2022-2023
Promoting human rights and rights-based approaches with a focus on Afghan women and girls
This project focuses on “Promoting human rights and rights-based approaches with a focus on Afghan women and girls and is part of a broader project led by DRC Afghanistan focusing on Resilience and Economic Assistance for Communities Towards Recovery (REACT), funded by Danida.'
Main activities
(i) Providing technical and financial support to strengthen the ability of Afghan women in the diaspora in efforts to promote the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan to European policymakers and donors
Recent support
- DAKDIF Conference: Afghan Women as Change Agents, 21 September 2022.
- Professional Development Course on Evidence-Based Advocacy for the Afghan Diaspora, Copenhagen, 3-7 November 2022. Co-organized with ADSP, MMC and CAPRS.
- Advocacy Toolkit for Diaspora Organizations, January 2023
- Enable participation of Afghan women in various conferences, and events to advocate for the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.
(ii) Increasing knowledge on the nature and impact of Afghan diaspora engagement with special focus on the role of women in the diaspora.
Afghan Diaspora - Advocacy Toolkit Launch & Discussion - FULL
A panel to discuss the value of diaspora advocacy
2020-2022
ADEE - Afghan Diaspora Engagement in Europe
This project strove to improve coordination, increase collaboration across organisations and facilitate higher level of engagement and influence for the Afghan diaspora in Europe.
Main activities
Established an Afghan Diaspora Advisory Board (ADAB) to inform both the content and execution of the following activities.
- A series of webinars on the peace process, access to asylum in Europe, and the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.
- A 3.5-day Professional Development Course on Advocacy for Afghan Diaspora to strengthen participants’ capacity, expertise, and knowledge in advocating for the rights of Afghans in need of protection.
- A dialogue between Afghan diaspora women and Members of European Parliament event to provide a platform to Afghan diaspora women to voice their concerns and start a dialogue with key European Union stakeholders.
- An online advocacy workshop for Afghan diaspora in Europe to discuss and underline their advocacy priorities
- A 2-day Afghan diaspora European conference with the two following objectives:
- A 1-day online development training on development policy towards Afghanistan to enable the diaspora to direct their proposals and demands to those responsible actors and institutions. Strengthening relationships between leading organizations in the diaspora as well as with civil society actors in Afghanistan to improve coordination, share best practise, help start new collaborations and strengthen the diaspora response to Afghans in need. Civil Society Actors will be present or will participate in hybrid-formats.
- Providing a platform to assert the importance of the diaspora for the future of Afghanistan, explore opportunities for collaboration on the humanitarian & development response, and allow Afghans in Europe to voice key messages to EU institutions and member states related to humanitarian and development needs, access to protection, respect of human rights especially for women, girls, ethnic and religious minorities. The first day focused on “Getting together”. It will be internal and focus on how the diaspora can better coordinate and collaborate, The second day will be: “A call for action” and will bring external actors to the table for exchange on the role of the diaspora.
6. A 1-day online development training on development policy towards Afghanistan to enable the diaspora to direct their proposals and demands to those responsible actors and institutions.
2018-2019
Our initial engagement had the following 3 components aiming at setting the analytical framework for our programming.
- A study & mapping of the Afghan diaspora in Europe in collaboration with the Maastricht University: “Afghan diaspora in Europe”.
- A series of national consultations to better understand the needs of diaspora organizations.
- The first Afghan diaspora conference in Europe, discussing the finding from the study and discussing key thematic that came out of the consultations.
2019 was also the beginning of our collaboration with the Vienna Institute for International Dialogue and Cooperation (VIDC), who also held a conference in 2019 resulting in the : “Guide to Afghan Diaspora engagement in Europe”. Our first joint event was an online workshop on Covid-19 in Afghanistan in 2020. We will continue collaborating with VIDC and other relevant organisations supporting the Afghan diaspora, to ensure best possible outcomes for the Afghan diaspora.
Deutsche Gesellshaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit
Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Publications
Webinar Report - Herat Earthquake Response (2024)
1 file(s)
Webinar Report - Principled Aid in Afghanistan (2024)
1 file(s)
Advocacy Toolkit for Diaspora Organizations (2023)
1 file(s)
European Conference Report - Diaspora Action for Afghanistan (2022)
1 file(s)
European Conference Declaration “AFGHAN DIASPORA CALL TO ACTION (2022)
1 file(s)
Diaspora Humanitarian Engagement in Afghanistan Real-Time Review 2022
7 file(s)
Real Time Review - Diaspora Engagement Efforts in Afghanistan (2021)
4 file(s)
Webinar Report - Asylum lottery, Afghan access to protection in Europe (2021)
1 file(s)
Webinar Report - Dialogue with Afghan Diaspora Women (2021)
2 file(s)
Webinar Report - Afghan Peace Talks: A Road to Nowhere? (2021)
1 file(s)
Mapping Study - Afghan Engagement in Denmark, Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom (2019)
4 file(s)
Afghan European Conference - Diaspora Support to Durable Solutions (2019)
2 file(s)
Benedicte
Storm
Afghan Diaspora Engagement Coordinator
Avin
Mesbah
REACT Project Officer