Session title: Alternative funding modalities for humanitarian interventions in partnership with non-traditional humanitarian actors
26 Apr 23 14:00-15:30
UTC+2 (Pleniere E)
Humanitarian needs continue to escalate rapidly, yet assistance continues to fall short of targets. In this scenario, alternative funding modalities such as diaspora financing or leveraging diasporas' interventions may contribute towards addressing the chronic funding gap. While diaspora contributions are commonly measured in terms of remittances and sponsorships, diaspora organizations have the potential to play a significant role in meeting urgent and longer-term humanitarian needs in their countries of origin or heritage if their interventions are invested in as well. The sub-granting modality opens new avenues to develop and implement creative humanitarian interventions that can benefit the most vulnerable, remote, and underserved populations.
Complementary to localization efforts, diaspora organizations are uniquely positioned to empower local communities, understanding their cultural contexts, while responding to the most pressing needs. These interventions also tend to promote the operationalization of the humanitarian-development nexus. The innovative solutions paired with sub-granting mechanism and others, also lead to the strengthening of capacities of diaspora partners adding to the credibility and sustainability of their efforts, thereby strengthening synergies between traditional and non-traditional humanitarian actors.
These assumptions were tested in several projects. Examples include IOM COVID-19 response in Africa and MENA region working with worldwide diaspora organizations from Europe, USA and Africa, a project with Ukranian Diaspora Organizations based in Italy providing humanitarian assistance to affected communities in Ukraine, and other projects promoted by the Diaspora Emergency Action & Coordination (DEMAC) global initiative. The results and lessons learned will be presented during the session. The audience will hear from humanitarian actors as well as partner Diaspora organizations.
The overall scope of the session will be to:
1. Present case studies of alternative funding partnerships with the US and European diaspora organizations including sub-granting modalities.
2. Discuss the pros and cons of subgrants modality, as well as other mechanisms with diaspora partners including lessons learned from the subgrants project implementation in different countries.
3. Explore jointly with the audience additional alternative funding and partnership modalities towards innovative solutions to meet gaps in humanitarian assistance.
For those wishing to attend remotely, please register here: Meeting Registration - Zoom
April
26, 2023 (12:00-13:30 UTC)
Time (CEST)
Presentation
Speaker
14:00
Opening
remarks
Elizabeth Warn ;
Head, Labour
Mobility & Social Inclusion Division, IOM HQ
14:05
Subgrants
Funding modality to worldwide Diaspora Organizations to implement projects on
COVID-19 relief and recovery in Lebanon, Tunisia and Zimbabwe
Introductory
remarks and COVID-19 relief and recovery project introduction byAbigail
Maristela and Noha Shalan - IOM Washington DC
14:15
10-minute
presentations by each of the 2 COVID-19 Implementing Partners
1. Associazione Pontes Ricerhe E Interventi (PONTES) (Italy/ Tunisia)
2. Society for Advancement of Science and Technology in the Arab World
(SASTA) (USA/Lebanon)
1. Dr. Afef Hagi,
Director - PONTES
2. Dr. Myriam Mrad,
Assistant Professor, Chairman - University of Balamand, Public Health
Department - Beirut, Lebanon
14:40
IOM Italy
small grants to Ukrainian Diaspora Organizations
Daniele
Panzeri, IOM Rome
14:50
DEMAC on
learning from DRC diaspora funding mechanism
Sofia Jarvis , DEMAC
15:00
Discuss the
pros and cons of subgrants modality, Lessons Learned from the implementation
IOM and
Diaspora Partners
15:15
Q&A and
open discussion
Elizabeth Warn , Facilitator
Elizabeth (Liz) Warn , Head of the Labour Mobility and Social Inclusion Division, IOM
Liz has worked for the International Organization for Migration (IOM-UN) since 2001 and in June 2022, she became the Head of the Labour Mobility and Social Inclusion Division.
Prior to taking up her duties in IOM’s HQ, she was Deputy Chief of Mission in Ukraine - one of the largest IOM missions. She was responsible for oversight for all IOM programming, engagement with UN agencies and IOM’s input into the UN Cooperation Framework. Prior to this, Liz served as the Senior Regional Immigration and Border Management Specialist for Southern East and Horn of Africa where she was instrumental in advancing IOM’s work on trade and migration. Between 2001-2015, Liz was the Senior Regional Labour Migration and Migration and Development Specialist, based in Argentina. She also initiated IOM’s regional work on migration, environment, and climate change.
From 2006-2011 Liz was based in IOM’s Headquarters in Geneva as the Specialist for Labour Migration and Migration and Development in the Labour and Human Development Division. From 2001-2006, Liz worked with IOM in Albania, working on a diverse portfolio of issues including supporting the development of the first National migration policy, and was responsible for implementing IOM’s first programme to support the EU/Albania Readmission Agreement.
Elizabeth has a BA in Politics from Sheffield University, an MA in International Relations and European Studies from Central European University (CEU) in Budapest, and an MSc in Development Management from the Open University in the UK. Liz is a dual British/Italian national and also speaks Italian and Spanish.
Afef Hagi , Ph.D . (PONTES)
She was raised in Tunis, Tunisia, and graduated with a PhD in research methodology for socio-educational services from the University of Florence (Italy) after studying psychology at the University of Paris 8 Vincennes in France. She was a co-founder of the PONTES Association of Tunisians in Italy in 2006 and had a role in the establishment of Pontes Tunisia in 2011 as well as the effective implementation of projects involving international cooperation between Tunisia and Italy. Her understanding of international cooperation is founded on an interdisciplinary scientific profile that incorporates contributions from intercultural studies, psychology, and education. She has been coordinating programs in the areas of health, migration, education, and local policies as Pontes Association's Director of International Cooperation since 2015. Combining research and field interventions, she is the author of books and academic papers on a variety of subjects, including the role of the diaspora in the Tunisian democratic transition process, transnational citizenship, cultural diversity, and modern migration dynamics .
Dr. Myriam Mrad (Lebanon) (SASTA) :
Myriam Mrad is an environmental health expert, assistant professor, and chairperson of the Public Health Department at the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Balamand . Between 2008 and 2016, she lectured and conducted research on the health impact of air pollution at the Faculty of Sciences at Saint Joseph University and the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM). Around that same time, Myriam led the Research and Development (R&D) unit a t “ arcenciel ,” a Lebanese non-governmental organization whose mission is to participate in the sustainable development of society by supporting fragile groups and integrating marginalized persons. Her main work related to infectious healthcare waste management, hazardous waste, and, more specifically, cytotoxic waste management, and their impact on health and the environment. She oversaw the medical and hazardous waste management training program for medical staff at Lebanese hospitals. Myriam has experience in several types of industries as a Health, Quality, Safety and Environment consultant.
Sofia is Project Coordinator for the Diaspora Emergency Action & Coordination (DEMAC) initiative, hosted by the Danish Refugee Council (DRC). Through DEMAC she works to support diaspora organizations in their efforts to respond to emergencies and crises, with a focus on DEMAC’s mission to enhance diaspora coordination and operational response.
Over the past eight years, Sofia has been actively involved in supporting civil society and diaspora organizations. She began her career focusing on refugee resettlement, integration, and capacity development in the U.S. and Sweden. Sofia also provided critical support to local partners and communities affected by conflict and displacement through her work with IOM Lebanon's Emergency and Community Stabilization unit from 2019 to 2020.
Before joining DEMAC in March 2023, she served for three years as a coordinator for the DRC Diaspora Project Support Fund ( DiPS ). In this role, she managed the DiPS funding mechanism and capacity development for diaspora organizations, implementing development and resilience projects in Somalia and Afghanistan. Sofia holds a Master's degree in Peace and Conflict Studies from Uppsala University, as well as a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences with a focus on conflict and identities from Maastricht University.
Maryna Vyrvykhvost , IOM Italy – Focal Point Peace and Recovery
Maryna has been facilitating coordination between Ukrainian diaspora organizations and institutional stakeholders in Italy since the early stages of the humanitarian crisis in March 2022. She also works on a sub-granting mechanism coupled with capacity-building activities to enhance the Ukrainian diaspora organizations’ humanitarian interventions in their country of origin. As Focal Point for Peace and Recovery at IOM Maryna supported mapping of the Afghan diaspora in Italy and its role in crisis response after 2021, and carried needs assessment with the Pakistani diaspora in Italy. Maryna holds a Ma ster’s degree in Human Rights and Multi-level Governance and, prior to joining IOM Italy in 2017, worked in Protection at UNHCR Ukraine in Kyiv.
Daniele Panzeri, IOM
Daniele is the Coordinator of the Migration and Development Unit at the International Organization for Migration-IOM Coordination Office for the Mediterranean. He previously worked for various international NGOs (UNA, CESVI, Save the Children, ActionAid) and for the Italian Cooperation. In twenty years of international experience in the Development sector he has worked in Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Nepal, Pakistan and Burma/Myanmar, where he lived with his family. Graduated in Sociology at the University La Sapienza, he later obtained a Master's degree in Applied Anthropology and Participatory Development at the Australian National University and he is currently a PhD student in Public Governance Management and at the University of Bologna . During his career he has been working on a variety of different sectors focusing on Participatory Development, Migration and Social Impact.
Noha Shalan, IOM Washington
Noha Shalan is an Operations Assistant for IOM’s Diaspora Engagement Unit in Washington, D.C. where she supports diaspora engagement in their countries of origin through various initiatives and projects in humanitarian assistance . Prior to joining IOM Washington DC, she worked for the Egyptian Ministry of International Cooperation and the GIZ in Egypt on different development projects (education, health, and governance sectors) that address challenges of the global SDGs. Ms. Shalan received her Master of Arts (M.A.) in International Development Studies from the Elliot School of International Affairs, George Washington University (GWU). Her technical concentration is on gender and social protection through the provision of education, child protection, migration, and humanitarian assistance programs.
Abigail Maristela, Project Manager, IOM Washington
Abigail Maristela is a Program Manager with the Diaspora Engagement Unit at IOM in Washington DC. She oversees projects dedicated to diaspora engagement in humanitarian assistance where the added value of multi-stakeholder engagement creates more effective and streamlined assistance to affected communities. Prior to joining IOM, she has worked with a variety of migration organizations including International Catholic Migration Commission, International Rescue Committee, and Legal Aid of North Carolina. She holds a Masters in Macro Social Work from Boston College and was a Brueggeman Fellow at Xavier University.
