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Gov’t Close to Implementing Committee on Diaspora Affairs

February 26, 2007

The Full Story

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Delano Franklyn, has said that the proposed Joint Select Committee on Diaspora Affairs was close to being implemented.
Senator Franklyn, who was speaking in the Upper House on Friday (Feb. 23), informed that the Diaspora Advisory Boards had submitted recommendations for the terms and reference for the Joint Select Committee.
“These recommendations emerged from the broad-based consultations with the Diaspora in the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK) and Canada conducted by the respective members of the Jamaican Diaspora Advisory Board,” he informed.
Meanwhile, he informed the Upper House that Jamaicans living in the UK, Canada and the US would be holding Diaspora conferences in June.
Planning for the regional conferences continues apace, he said, noting that the meeting to be held in the UK would have as its theme: ‘Reflecting on the past, inspiring the Future’.
“The conference will have a strong focus on the youth. This is critical as one of our major challenges is how to engage second and third generation Jamaicans, whose ties and sense of belonging to Jamaica would not have been as deeply rooted as those of their parents and grandparents,” said Senator Franklyn.
About 1,000 representatives from the UK and Europe are expected to attend the UK conference, while the meeting of Jamaicans in the US will be held in New York, with 300 participants expected to be in attendance.
In the meantime, Senator Franklyn said that the conference to be held in Canada would, among other activities, “honour outstanding Jamaicans, who have made a contribution to the Diaspora Movement”.
Underscoring the importance of the meetings, Senator Franklyn said that, “not only do they serve as the preparatory events for the biennial conference in that they provide issues for its agenda, but they also bring together Jamaicans of all stripes and from several communities in the Diaspora, to discuss and take action on issues affecting Jamaicans at home and in the Diaspora.”

Last Updated: February 26, 2007

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