Patterson encourages Jamaicans to participate in Diaspora Mapping Project

Former Prime Minister, the Most. Hon. P. J. Patterson, is encouraging Jamaicans living abroad to participate in the Government’s ongoing Diaspora mapping exercise.

The Mapping Jamaica’s Diaspora Project, which involves an online survey, is geared towards identifying the locations, skills, expertise and interests of members of the global Jamaican Diaspora.

It is being conducted over an 18-month period, in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Speaking at the 52^nd Jamaica Independence Gala, at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, New York, on August 16, Mr. Patterson stressed that the engagement of the Jamaican Diaspora has to go beyond the importance and value of remittances.

“Particularly in this era of a global community and with the advances of technology, we have also to benefit from the skills and from the brainpower which our Jamaicans living abroad possess in unlimited quantities,” he said.

The mapping project seeks to create a database of Jamaicans worldwide, who are interested in contributing to the nation’s development through social investment. It also aims to match skills in the Diaspora to fill the needs that exist locally.

Mr. Patterson noted that when this information is gathered and collated, the Government as well as the private sector will be in a better position, “to identify the gaps which currently exist in its engagement of the Jamaicans in the Diaspora, ranging from first to the fourth generations.”

He assured members of the Diaspora that they need not be concerned about the confidentiality of that information, stressing that “whatever you supply will be kept in the strictest confidence and the database managed and controlled by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, once that data has been collated…and analysed.”

The project, which was launched in Jamaica in June, is being conducted over an 18-month period. It has since been launched in the United Kingdom.

Jamaicans in the Diaspora may log on to the website: www.mapjadiaspora.iom.int, to fill out the survey.