Jamaican Diaspora
Foundation to be Formed (JIS)
Participants in the just concluded Jamaican Diaspora Conference
endorsed the formation of the Jamaica Diaspora Foundation, which
will seek to strengthen the links and support systems between Jamaicans
living overseas and those at home and to deepen the collaboration
and cooperation between the stakeholder groups that serve them.
The Foundation will also facilitate and increase the scope and
impact of the contribution of the Diaspora to the Development of
Jamaicans. State Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
Foreign Trade, Senator Delano Franklyn, who tabled the document,
explained some of the functions of the Foundation would be to serve
as a liaison between Jamaica Diaspora communities and the government,
the private sector and community based organizations in Jamaica;
and conduct research and serve as a central repository and clearing
house for research and data relating to the Jamaican and Caribbean
Diaspora.
Areas of focus would include citizenship, migration, Jamaican professional
networks, deportation, remittance flows, demographic patterns, analysis
of second and third generation Jamaicans' affinity to Jamaica and
business formation by Jamaican immigrants. Further he said the Foundation
would organize and host conferences, symposia and roundtables on
topics of relevance to the Diaspora; undertake activities to strengthen
networks in the Diaspora communities; and promote the formation
of strong, active and responsive lobby groups in the Diaspora to
protect the interests of Jamaicans at home and abroad.
The Foundation will facilitate projects on both sides of the divide
including projects targeted at serving the needs of the Diaspora
and projects in which the Diaspora can invest.
It will provide independent views and recommendations for government
policies related to the Diaspora and raise funds to support the
implementation of the above mentioned activities. The Jamaica Diaspora
Foundation, which will be located at the University of the West
Indies, will be a limited liability non-profit organization with
a board of directors comprised of well-placed Jamaicans at home
and abroad as well as representatives from the public and private
sectors and community based organizations.
The proposed Foundation will also have the Jamaica Diaspora Institute
as an operating arm. The Institute will among other things also
function as a secretariat for the Foundation and it is envisaged
that it will have a collaborative working relationship with stakeholder
groups and task forces in major centres where the Diaspora reside.
A preamble to the resolution pointed out that a number of other
countries with large migrant communities have recently moved to
establish independent foundations in order to facilitate and deepen
the linkages with their Diaspora and to promote the development
of their nationals at home and abroad. Among these countries are
the Dominican Republic, South Africa, Brazil, India and Israel.
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