… Insists it is key to have information of emaSwati in diaspora
BY PHUMELELE MKHONTA
MBABANE– EmaSwati in diaspora will now be accounted for.
This comes after the Under Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Vulindlela Kunene, revealed that the ministry was intending on having a diaspora unit.
Kunene said this yesterday at Hilton Garden Inn in Mbabane, during an engagement with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation is currently engaged in a Diaspora Engagement Project with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the objective of this project is to facilitate, enable and encourage meaningful communication between the Kingdom of Eswatini and the Eswatini diaspora with the aim of promoting diaspora engagement in the national development agenda.
According to the Oxford Dictionary, diaspora is a group of people who spread from one original country to other countries.
The Under Secretary (US) said one of the key outcomes in this project was to see the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation establish a diaspora unit.
“It is envisaged that this unit will be responsible for helping identify emaSwati who are ready and willing to contribute positively to the Kingdom in the first instance. Thereafter, it will then look to involve the mapped diaspora communities in cultural and economic cultural initiatives in Eswatini.
“This project had developed impetus, much of which was lost during the period when the globe was faced with the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic, as had happened with many other initiatives in multiple spheres. Most of the planned activities including such as meeting with emaSwati living abroad to sensitise and engage with them, had to be put on hold,” said Kunene.
He further said, however, with the eventual reopening up of interactions post COVID-19, the ministry and IOM had renewed their resolve to see their plans through to fruition and efforts were underway to restart the programme and see it through to its eventual completion saying this was proving a challenging given the socio-economic impacts that COVID-19 wrought upon the world and individual country economies and was further compounded by other geopolitical issues that have seen greater strain placed on us as countries, with Eswatini no different and its economies.
“Therefore, this initiative by the IOM and the Government of Eswatini could not have come at a more opportune time. We need to revitalise our economies in impactful ways. Harnessing the collective strength of emaSwati living in the diaspora is one such intervention. As we re-embark on this initiative, we call upon all of us to re-commit to our country and work together for the benefit of Eswatini.
“Having contextualised our event today from our perspective, I am hopeful that the presentation of the findings will help us to begin effort towards harnessing the population of emaSwati who are living outside the country. The information shared here, including their gender composition and understanding the various skills, experience and expertise that they now possess can assist us greatly as a country,” said the US.
Kunene revealed that as previously mentioned, prior to the various lockdowns, government and IOM organised a one-day workshop to brief emaSwati living in South Africa about the diaspora initiative.
According to the US in the above mentioned ministry, Eswatini had three cabinet ministers participating in that engagement and multiple issues were discussed.
“These included, amongst others, investment opportunities, potential for ploughing back by emaSwati from their various areas and enhanced consular services were raised by the participants, in particular those who attained South African citizenship for economic reasons, as that is one of the key drivers of migration in this increasingly globalized environment.
“By way of example as to how the mapping exercise will assist Eswatini, at the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, government had challenges in repatriating emaSwati students in the affected areas. One of the primary challenges emanated from the fact that the Kingdom was not aware of the numbers of citizens that were staying in Ukraine. This resulted in the country implementing its repatriation strategy in fragmented stages which led to the frustration of both government, parents of students and relatives of the affected. This mapping exercise will result in the creation of a database from which strategy can then flow and plans be implemented.”
