Episode 30: What homelands can do to engage their diasporas - Oleg Chirita's insights from Moldova and the world

The Migration & Diaspora Podcast

Good morning and you're listening to the Migration & Diaspora Podcast, a show about anything and everything migration and diaspora.

Today, I am most excited to share with you this interview with Oleg Chirita, Head of Global Initiatives at the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), about his experiences as an engaged member of the Moldovan diaspora, as well as he and ICMPD's work to support governments worldwide to engage their diasporas.

Oleg joined ICMPD in 2009, working extensively with ICMPD's programme of technical assistance to governments (the MIEUX programme). Over the years, Oleg rose through the ranks and is now Head of the Global Initiatives Programme, under which the MIEUX+ programme sits. Oleg is Moldovan and Romanian, and studied International and European Law at universities in Moldova, Sweden, Poland and Belgium.

We're really lucky to have Oleg with us to share his insights from his many years of migration and diaspora work. I personally enjoyed how Oleg relates his own diaspora experience with the global diaspora work of ICMPD. So we start with Oleg's background and experience with his own diaspora, before moving on to talk about what diaspora homeland governments - that's governments in countries of origin - are doing - and can do - to engage their overseas populations. We close with some thought-provoking observations (from Oleg, that is 😉) about policy and practice transmission and to what extent we can identify a selection of so-called "good diaspora engagement practices" for replication across countries.

As always, thank you for tuning in. If you want to support this channel, please do feel free to share this episode on the socials (tag us @TheMDPcast) and leave us a review on iTunes. In any case, I hope you enjoy the show.

Useful links

• Connect with Oleg - https://www.linkedin.com/in/oleg-chiri%C8%9Ba-4875511/
• Follow Oleg - https://twitter.com/Oleg_Chirita
• ICMPD - https://www.icmpd.org/
• ICMPD European and Global Initiatives - https://www.icmpd.org/our-work/capacity-building/european-and-global-initiatives/
• Oleg's blog post on diaspora engagement - https://www.icmpd.org/news-centre/news-detail/expert-voice-diaspora-engagement-an-unfinished-business/
• Oleg's interview with Free Europe on engaging the Moldovan diaspora - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMX6aaahDz4&t=65s
• EU Global Diaspora Facility - https://diasporafordevelopment.eu/
• The MIEUX programme - https://www.mieux-initiative.eu/en/
• DAR 1+3 programme - https://www.md.undp.org/content/moldova/en/home/presscenter/pressreleases/2020/diaspora-dezvoltarea-localitatilor-de-origine-devine-o-practica-nationala-prin-programul-DAR.html