Specific area: M&D - Diaspora affairs
Duration: February 2014 - October 2017
Experts involved: France, Austria, Mali
Description
The political situation in Burundi has remained more or less stable since the 2005 elections with the country's signing of the peace agreement. Owing to the previous tense political situation, migration was largely ignored in policy approaches until 2005. By the time of the MIEUX request, authorities recognised that Diaspora engagement could be a vital factor for the economic development of the country.
In this contect, the Ministry of External Relations through its Diaspora Directorate, requested support from MIEUX to facilitate the dialogue with Burundi's diaspora in order to move various development objectives forward.
Due to the political context in the country, the Action had to be put on hold and eventually closed with no improvements on the situation. Even though it was not fully completed, it contributed in equipping the Directorate and other agencies with the theoretical knowledge and practicaly skills on policy creation and practices on diaspora engagement. It has also involved diaspora organisations in EU MS to bring their perspectives as well as the finalisation of the National Diaspora Engagement Policy.