Engaging the diaspora in home state development

Abstract

In recent decades, many governments worldwide began to focus on their respective diasporan communities to maximize ways in which they could draw on their expertise and resources for the development of the country of origin. Approaches and best practices have varied and depended mostly on the history of respective Diasporas, as well as on the size and resources. Some governments place emphasis on formulating policies and regulations that would attract Diasporans to get interested in contributing to the development of their home states. A number of studies have shown that the Diaspora as an institution is able to significantly contribute to home-state development, naming it as a development agent. Key areas of Diaspora engagement include assistance in the form of foreign direct investments, contributing skills, and knowledge, investments in infrastructure, etc. This research deals mainly with discovering the institutional arrangement that would best fit Armenia-Diaspora relations aimed at the sustainable development of the home state. Considering that Armenians are spread all throughout the globe, the essay takes into account the key communities of the Diaspora but, more importantly, it considers the engagement of Diaspora organizations, although some discussion is devoted to business and entrepreneurial engagement. After careful analysis of the experiences to date and lessons learned by Diaspora organizations since the 1988 earthquake, the essay proposes an institutional model that is expected to serve as an arrangement that would create the channels and mechanisms to augment Diaspora involvement in Armenia’s development.