Bujumbura – Burundi’s second national Diaspora week is taking place from 1-4 August in the country’s capital organized by the Ministry of External Relations and International Cooperation. Diaspora and officials will also visit selected rural villages throughout Burundi. All events focus on the theme of “Burundi and its Diaspora: Partnership for Integrated Development”.

The aim of Diaspora Week is to have dialogue on diaspora and development, in order to build opportunities for diaspora to play a role in promoting trade and foreign direct investment, creating businesses and encouraging entrepreneurship.

This is in addition to being senders of remittances and transferring knowledge and skills.

Over the course of the week more than 200 participants will have been brought together from Burundian Diaspora Associations in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Ethiopia, France, Italy, Netherlands, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States and Zambia. Non-governmental Organizations and government partners, public and private sector partners will also take part in the events.

This week of events builds on Burundi’s strategic framework set out in the National Diaspora Policy and the Policy on Migration, the creation of which IOM, the UN Migration Agency, supported. 

The tripartite project (Régie National des Postes du Burundi, Universal Postal Union and IOM), "Migration and Development" integrated postal project on remittances, will also be presented to inform the Burundian diaspora of a money transfer channel to send money and promote exchange through post offices throughout the country. 

This week will contribute to raising of awareness on migration and development, which benefits the diaspora, communities, countries of origin and host countries, paving a way forward to sustainable development.

Diaspora week is open to media and the public.

For more information, please contact Jiraporn Supha in IOM Burundi, Tel: +257 75 40 04 45, Email: jsupha@iom.int