The IFHV hosted an online exchange workshop for humanitarian practitioners titled “Delivering Better Together – Partnering with Diaspora Organizations” on April 7. The workshop was part of a joint humanitarian training program of the IFHV and VENRO, funded by the German Federal Foreign Office.

During the morning sessions, participants received an overview the framework, actors, motivations and networks that play a role in the cooperation with diaspora organizations within the field of humanitarian action. After the lunch break, participants were split up into smaller groups to engage in a vivid discussion around diaspora cooperation and humanitarian principles. In their endeavor to explore the potentials, challenges and roles of diaspora actors in humanitarian action, the participants were guided by representatives from the Diaspora Emergency Action & Coordination Initiative (DEMAC) as well as representatives from different diaspora organizations who shared their first-hand experience.

At the end of the full-day workshop, facilitators and participants agreed that a more systematic approach to cooperation with diaspora actors and coordination of diaspora engagement in humanitarian crises would contribute significantly to more effective, locally-led and comprehensive humanitarian responses. To achieve this goal, advocacy within the humanitarian ecosystem and within the participants’ own organization were identified as a key step.

The workshop complemented previous trainings on localization in humanitarian action that have been conducted within IFHV’s and VENRO’s capacity strengthening project. These events are usually advertised under the umbrella of the academy for humanitarian action (aha), which offers a comprehensive and certified training program on “Locally-led Humanitarian Action”.

More on the course, here: https://aha-trainings.de/de/courses/diaspora-humanitarianism