Episode 32: Connecting Diaspora For Development and the story of Zuhur's diaspora return to Somaliland

The Migration & Diaspora Podcast

Good morning and you're listening to another episode of the Migration & Diaspora Podcast, with me your host, Loksan Harley from Homelands Advisory.

I'm delighted to present to you today a lovely interview with a team member and diaspora participant of the Connecting Diaspora 4 Development (CD4D) programme, which is implemented by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in the Netherlands.

CD4D engages members of the Afghan, Iraqi, Nigerian and Somali diasporas to support the development of their countries of origin through the transfer of knowledge and expertise.

We're very lucky to be joined by Nina Staal, the CD4D Programme Coordinator, and Zuhur Mohamed, who was a participant to the CD4D programme in her country of heritage, Somaliland, and now one of CD4D's ambassador.

A bit about both our guests. Nina leads the IOM's Dutch office's migration and development team, including their work with local diasporas in the Netherlands. Prior to joining IOM in 2012, Nina also worked for VluchtelingenWerk Nederland and the Dutch Embassy in Eritrea.

Zuhur considers it her mission to ensure equal opportunities for everybody, regardless of their origin. She and her mother came from Somaliland to the Netherlands when she was three years old. After internships in London and New York, she worked as a financial adviser at the Dutch bank ING. Three years later, Zuhur felt the need to give back to her country of origin and, after some searching, found IOM’s CD4D programme. She started with automating financial systems at the Somaliland Ministry of Justice and soon applied her skills in other departments. During her last assignment she even co-wrote the national development plan.

Really enjoyed getting to know how CD4D is run and what's in it for both its participants and the countries of origin that receive them. I especially enjoyed learning about Zuhur's wonderful journey of discovery of Somaliland through CD4D. Of course, we also touch on some more challenging issues, such as how CD4D identifies willing diaspora participants and receiving institutions, and why there is not a private sector solution to the issue that a programme like CD4D seeks to address.

As always, I'd like to thank you very much for listening. Remember, you can listen to this podcast on Spotify, iTunes, Google Podcasts and most other worthy podcasting platforms, and our website homelandsadvisory.com/podcast has links to them all. Without further ado, please do enjoy the show.

Useful links

• CD4D promotional video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CekiOIyopMY&feature=emb_title
• CD4D project website - https://www.connectingdiaspora.org/
• CD4D assignment vacancies - https://www.connectingdiaspora.org/vacancies/
• CD4D Ambassadors - https://www.connectingdiaspora.org/ambassadors/
• Dossier on Diaspora Inclusion - https://www.thebrokeronline.eu/category/project/diaspora-inclusion/
• IOM iDiaspora platform - https://idiaspora.org/en
• Connect with Nina on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nina-staal/
• Connect with Zuhur on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/zuhur-jamila-mohamed-442899aa/