Towards Common Definition and Measurement of Diaspora: Practices and Lessons from South-Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe a

1. Towards Common Definition and Measurement of Diaspora: Practices and Lessons from South-Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe and Central Asia UNECE/Eurostat Work Session on Migration Statistics 19 October 2012 Geneva

2. Outline Know your diaspora – role of evidence in diaspora engagement Diaspora definition in SEEECA Diaspora measurement in SEEECA Conclusions and recommendations

3. 1. Know your diaspora

4. 1. Know your diaspora • Diaspora engagement and mobilization – high on agendas • 2nd Stage of IOM-MPI Diaspora Engagement Roadmap Handbook • No common definition – no agreement on best ways to estimate/describe diasporas

5. 1. Know your diaspora – policy needs

6. 1. Know your diaspora – rapid assessment in SEEECA • Rapid Assessment: • 14 countries out of 20 in the region • Special questionnaire plus desktop research of laws, policies and statistical office web-sites (methodologies) • MANY THANKS for • IOM colleagues, facilitating the assessment • State and non-state partners who filled in the questionnaire and provided clarifications

7. 1. Know your diaspora – global context (definitions) • Internationally used criteria: • Place of residence established in a country different from the country of origin on a longer-term basis • Remaining ties with the country of origin

8. 1. Know your diaspora – global context (definitions)

9. 1. Know your diaspora - global context (measurement) • Emigrant stock as a proxi for diaspora stock • Pilot diaspora surveys to describe diaspora characteristics

10. 2. diaspora definition in SEEECA

11. 2. Diaspora definition in SEEECA – three key groups of terms 3 categories of terms used: * Persons residing abroad, compatriots and ethnic groups returning back

12. 2. Diaspora definition in SEEECA – law and policy framework

13. 2. Diaspora definition in SEEECA – statistical criteria

14. 2. Diaspora definition in SEEECA – possible common framework

15. 3. diaspora MEASUREMENT in SEEECA

16. 3. Diaspora measurement in SEEECA – stocks and characteristics • Diaspora stocks via • Emigration data of destination countries • Consular authorities data • Diaspora own estimations • Characteristics • Specialized surveys

17. 3. Diaspora measurement in SEEECA – surveys • Piloted surveys • B&H, 2011 • Serbia, 2010 • Moldova, 2012 • Tajikistan, 2012 • Georgia (forthcoming) • Methods • On-line surveys • Structured personal interviews • Focus group discussions

18. 4. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

19. 4. Conclusions and recommendations • Concerning diaspora definition: • Need to differentiate among three terms (diaspora, emigrants and other categories) • Need to develop a common understanding at national level • Recognized need for an internationally agreed definition

20. 4. Conclusions and recommendations • Concerning diaspora measurement • Need for two types of data – on diaspora stocks and diaspora characteristics • Limitations of using emigrant stock as a proxy for diaspora stocks – need to develop a combined method • Need to refine specialized survey methodology to enable extraction of compatible data

21. Thank you very much for your attention! Questions/comments? mmanke@iom.int