Naseem’s commentary and observations of South Asian diasporic issues may have relevance for other regions:
- “One of the more benign and virtuous aspects of globalization in the past three decades or so has been the increase in the migration of people from the poorer, labour-surplus economies of the South to the richer , labour-scarce economies of the North, as well as to some resource-rich, labour-scarce economies within the South, itself.”
- “…They remit a high proportion of their earnings to home countries and are eager to return home with some capital to start a better life in their countries. The Gulf emigrants, however, are treated as a lower species of the diaspora and command very small clout in public policy to the extent one exists in South Asian countries, which attach a much higher weight to the preference of the more affluent sections of diaspora and domestic elites. The phenomenon of elite capture is no less omnipresent than elsewhere in public policy.”

The transcript of evidence recently provided by three UK-based diaspora organisations – African Foundation for Development (AFFORD), AfricaRecruit, and the British Bangladeshi International Development Group – to the House of Commons International Development Select Committee is now available. Memoranda presented by two of the organisations are also available (a version from AFFORD containing an executive summary is available at www.afford-uk.org). Subsequent sessions will focus on the “brain drain” and international recruitment issues; on remittances; and on the economics of migration, and temporary mobility schemes.

“Africa 2005 is an international movement mobilising the African civil society and the international community to make 2005 the world year for Africa. Africa 2005 takes the year 2005 as the starting point to commit itself to increase African influence on a global level.” The organisation’s immediate objective is to unite and mobilise African and international strengths to create an equitable partnership between Africa and the rest of the world. From 2005 onwards, the organisation seeks to demonstrate Africans’ energy and drive; to change perceptions of Africa so it is seen as dynamic and proactive; and to involve people around the world to highlight a successful Africa.

It is not easy to talk of the African diaspora on the internet: it is a very broad and articulate phenomenon since the ties among Africans living abroad, and between the latter and their respective homelands and communities of origin, are strongly supported by the global network today. An initial analysis, however, allows us to establish at least four topic areas concerning the presence of the African diaspora on the internet: the phenomenon as such (that is, the diaspora as an "object" of interest and study); the diaspora as a political and strategic theme; services for the diaspora; and networking among diaspora members.

From February 12 to March 25, every Thursday evening at 7pm, Films from the African Diaspora from the Penn Library's video collection will be shown in the Van Pelt Library's Film Studies Classroom, room 425 (4th Floor). The screenings are sponsored by the Center for Africana Studies, Latino and Latin American Studies, and the University of Pennsylvania Library.

* Africana Studies: Resources for African and African American Studies http://dizzy.library.arizona.edu/library/teams/fah/subpathpages/African…
* Africa: Art of the Continent
http://www.artnetweb.com/guggenheim/africa/
* African Art: Aesthetics and Meaning
http://www.lib.virginia.edu/clemons/RMC/exhib/93.ray.aa/African.html
* African Art and the Internet
http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/about/press/internet.html
Visit the URL provided for a full list of websites.

With less than a month to go before the first session of the African parliament, interest in the new legislature appears to be at a low in various parts of the continent. In a message posted on its website, the Addis Ababa-based African Union (AU) has urged member states which have not done so to speed up the submission of names of representatives to the Pan-African Parliament. Each country is required to nominate five members from its national parliament to the continental legislature. The AU also requested member states to get formal approval from national legislatures as soon as possible for participation in the African parliament, and to send notification of this approval to the AU Commission. By Thursday (Feb. 26), only 32 of the AU's 53 members had submitted the names of representatives to attend the first session of the parliament.

AfricaRecruit aims to build robust and enduring productive capacity in Africa, especially by helping Africans in the diaspora to secure careers and work assignments in Africa.
* Strategic Skills Seminar for Africa
23-24 March 2004, Nairobi, Kenya
A participative review of best practices and policies aimed at strengthening performance, productivity and employment. This premier networking event will be of interest to all human resource practitioners as well as employers, consultants and policy makers.
* Careers in Africa UK summit 2004
April 23rd-25th 2004, London, UK
AfricaRecruit career/recruitment fair in partnership with Corporate Council for Africa.

Iteso Welfare Association (IWA) is facilitating four discussion forums/workshops to explore and discover realistic visions from ethnic diversity. The main objective is to address problems arising from deep-seated assumptions and attitudes towards self, others and one’s background of other ethnic groups and cultures.

Menbere Waldi Tzadik and her husband slipped into Israel from Ethiopia on tourist visas eight years ago and never left, living in the shadows as illegal workers. They cleaned houses and sent home the small sums they saved to support two children they had not seen since they left their homeland. Tzadik, 35, ached to see her daughter and son, now 14 and 12, and was planning to leave Israel for good within a month. Instead, she is to be buried this week in Jerusalem, one of 11 people killed Thursday on a crowded bus by a Palestinian suicide bomber.

ZNet's Africa Watch tries to present information not only on the African Continent but on the diaspora as well, including the Caribbean. The site currently offers some alternative perspectives on the looming Haiti crisis and the US government’s duplicity.

Emigration figures of highly skilled researchers remain high, but the greatest mobility of high–level skills is now within the country. This is a key finding of Flight of the Flamingos, the Study on Mobility of R&D workers, released by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) on 28 January.

It's a common sight in the Malian capital: large groups of young people queuing in front of the French and American consulates with one objective in mind - to obtain an immigration visa. "I have worked many small jobs (in Mali)...I've taken the...exam for the civil service many times, but without success. The time has come for me to try my luck somewhere else," says 30-year-old Cheikh Keita, a graduate of the National Business School of Bamako, while standing before the French embassy.

3rd March 2004
Speaking FOR the motion:
Richard Dowden - Director of the Royal African Society
Matthew Parris - Former Conservative Member of Parliament, and previously the Presenter of LWT's Weekend World, is a columnist for the Times and The Spectator
Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem - General Secretary of the Pan African Movement and Director of Justice Africa
Speaking AGAINST the motion:
Rt Hon Clare Short, MP - Labour MP for Birmingham Ladywood. She was Secretary of State for International Development from 1997 to May 2003.
Anthony Sampson - Former editor of the magazine Drum (Johannesburg) and author of "Mandela: The authorised Biography"
Sir Marrack Goulding - Warden of St.Antony's College, Oxford. He has held overseas posts in the Middle East, North Africa, New York and is the former Ambassador of Angola. He was UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping (1986-93) and Political Affairs (1993-97).
The debate will be chaired by Nik Gowing, Presenter of BBC World TV News and the former Diplomatic Editor of Channel 4 News.
The debate will take place at the Royal Geographical Society, 1 Kensington Gore, London, SW7 Doors open at 6pm. The debate starts at 6.45pm and finishes at 8.30pm. Tickets £20 each To book tickets call 020 7494 3345 or email [email protected].

Out in the green, rolling hills of eastern Uganda, near the city of Mbale in the shadow of Mount Elgon, the Abayudaya Jews live as Ugandans always have, supporting themselves through subsistence farming and struggling against the elements to bring in the next harvest. These rural Ugandans share much with their neighbours; the surrounding fields bursting with mango trees, sugar cane, banana trees and cassava, the frequent communal festivals to celebrate birth, marriage and death, the uncertainty of rapidly changing national politics and the exhaustion of poverty. A significant difference between the Abayudaya and their countrymen is that when they raise their heads to the heavens in prayer, their God is not Jesus, Allah or any tribal spirit, but the God of Israel. They set themselves apart through devout Judaism and their adherence to the belief that some day they will become an accepted part of the international Jewish community.

The September 2003 edition of the electronic journal of governance and innovation contains an excellent overview of recent efforts to effectively mobilise the African diaspora for the benefit of Africa’s development.

Repression by the government and an ongoing economic crisis have caused an exodus from the troubled nation.

With more than 5 million African refugees and internally displaced people preparing to return home, the United Nations refugee agency announced plans to hold a ministerial-level meeting next month on comprehensive regional approaches to repatriation and sustainable reintegration on the continent.

The Conference is to be held April 12-14, 2004 at the Washington Hilton Hotel, 1919 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC. More than 2,000 delegates anticipated globally.
Topics include:
· The Critical Role of Local Governments in National Development Political
· Small Enterprise Investments and Entrepreneurship Economic
· Formation of strong Linkages-The Status of the African-American Male Social
· Caribbean Agriculture in the 21st Century Economic
· The Caribbean culture and its role in the Inter-Caribbean Movement Economic
· Investment opportunities through Remittance Socio- Economic
· Iwokrama and Biodiversity for Sustainability Environmental/Economic
· AGOA and the Caribbean Partnership Economic
· Brief Description: Expanding the definition of a Free Trade and the benefits to the Caribbean peoples
· FAATIS - Economic Revitalization through Tourism Economic/Political
· The Role of Nonprofits in Community Development.

There is considerable optimism among Ugandans living abroad following the release of the Sempebwa Report, which recommends dual citizenship for those holding citizenship in another country. Currently only South Africa, Ghana and Egypt have the provision for dual citizenship written in their constitutions. In the amended Citizenship Act (Act 88 of 1995), a South African is allowed to retain his or her South African citizenship when becoming the citizen of another country. Meanwhile, with an estimated 1.5 million Ghanaians living abroad and contributing as much as $400 million to the national coffers annually, Ghana officially launched the Dual Citizenship Regulation Act on July 3, 2002. The only other African countries that informally allow dual citizenship are Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Lesotho, Nigeria and Morocco.