Gov’t Successfully Widening Engagement with Jamaicans in the Diaspora – Minister Johnson Smith

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith, says the 10th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference is a demonstration of the success of the Government’s work to widen and deepen diaspora engagement.

“I use the word success with confidence here… because we have 1,200 participants coming from 17 countries. Our beautiful US, UK and Canada diasporans have showed up in full force. But we also have gone beyond, as close as [the] Cayman [Islands] and [The] Bahamas, and as far as Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa and the UAE (United Arab Emirates) and beyond the UK to continental Europe, with France, Germany, Kingdom of the Netherlands and Belgium, and they are here doing work,” she said.

Senator Johnson Smith was addressing Wednesday’s (June 19) post-Cabinet press briefing at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St. James where the Diaspora Conference has been under way since June 16.

Meanwhile, she advised that Dr. Sandra Colly Durand, who is from the French community, will be launching a mentorship academy with a virtual framework that allows young people to benefit from mentorship and connections within the diaspora.

This, Minister Johnson Smith said, is among the amazing and tangible results that will emerge from the Conference.

For his part, State Minister, Hon. Alando Terrelonge, noted that the Conference has been energetic and abuzz with a clear message about unity.

“One of the strongest feedbacks from this Conference is the inclusivity with which the Government has approached diaspora affairs over the last few years. Certainly, with the inauguration of the Global Jamaica Diaspora Council and the Global Jamaica Diaspora Youth Council in 2020, under the stewardship of Minister Johnson Smith, we have taken the diaspora beyond the traditional areas,” he said.

Mr. Terrelonge noted that there is a diaspora sector leader who is very experienced in the areas of crime and citizen security and who sits, advises and helps to make positive contributions to the Minister of National Security.

“There is a diaspora rep who is charged with education. Again, she has a direct link to the Ministry of Education [and Youth] and… in other fields, including the creative industry and tourism. So, these are some of the changes that we have made, as we have extended the eight-member Advisory Board panel to now a 30-member Global Diaspora Council,” he stated.