Authors: Delphine Ancien | Mark Boyle | Rob Kitchin
The NIRSA Diaspora Strategy Wheel and Ten Principles of Good Practice
2009
A Diaspora Strategy is an explicit and systematic policy initiative or series of policy initiatives aimed at
developing and managing relationships between homelands and diasporic populations. These policy
initiatives vary from highly formalised and structured programmes to projects that are quite light in
conception and application. A diaspora strategy is perhaps best thought of then as an overarching
framework for providing a level of coherence to the range of diaspora policies devised and implemented by
a variety of agencies.
The NIRSA Diaspora Wheel is designed as a checklist for policy makers currently formulating and rolling
out diaspora strategies. It identifies eight policy spokes around a set of five challenges at the hub. Clearly
in practice some spokes overlap with others. Within each policy spoke a set of key considerations and
critical measures are identified. Work is currently being undertaken to specify a range of concrete
indicators and benchmarks of progress within each spoke.