AFRICA EUROPE DIASPORA DEVELOPMENT PLATFORM, ADEPT AFRICA EUROPE DIASPORA DEVELOPMENT PLATFORM ADEPT’s mission is to improve and enhance the capacity and impact of the African diaspora organisations that are involved in development activities in Africa. This aim is pursued through delivery of services to diaspora organisations and individuals both in Europe and Africa. In particular, ADEPT will help diaspora organisations in the EU, Norway and Switzerland to: • Optimise their development engagement in Africa • Professionalise their organisations and activities • Create effective partnerships between/in Europe and Africa • Expand and improve their development activities in Africa • Influence the policy and practice of development cooperation. INDUSTRY: Entrepreneurship, Human Rights/Democracy/Governance, Gender Equality/Women's Empowerment, Other, Economic Growth and Development ACTIVITIES: Advocacy, Research/Development, Events, Communications, Volunteering/Mentoring, Investment/Business Development, Policy Development, Program Implementation, Technical Assistance/Capacity Development ADEPT is a service delivery platform working with African Diaspora Development Organisations (ADDOs) in Europe that are active in the development of Africa. ADEPT will work and engage with 84 countries (28 EU countries, plus Switzerland and Norway, and 54 African countries). We serve as a point of reference for those interested in migration, diaspora and development in Africa. We work with: diaspora organisations and enterprises governments and policymakers development and international agencies civil society organisations and academia ADEPT is funded by the European Union and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation Background Information The creation of ADEPT is part of an ongoing process originally inspired by the decisions of African and EU leaders to formally involve African diaspora groups in development processes in Africa, as reflected in the Joint Africa-EU Strategic Partnership (Lisbon, December 2007; Declaration of the Ministerial Conference on Migration and Development (Tripoli, November 2006); and the Declaration of the Euro-African Ministerial Conference on Migration and Development (Rabat, July 2006). In 2008 and 2009, the Africa Diaspora Policy Centre (ADPC) organised two groundbreaking policy seminars, bringing together 50 leading diaspora organisations from 10 EU countries as well as policymakers from Africa and Europe. The June 2008 seminar in Brussels was on ‘Engaging African Diaspora in Europe as Strategic Agents for Development in Africa’. The October 2009 seminar in Brussels was on ‘Participation of the Diaspora in the Joint Africa-EU Strategic Partnership’. This second policy seminar was organised in collaboration with the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), with support from the European Commission and the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During the proceedings of the October 2009 policy seminar, the African Foundation for Development (AFFORD), which participated in both seminars, drafted a proposal for the setting up of a permanent platform for African diaspora-development organisations in Europe. This proposal outlined the main purpose and activities of an Africa-Europe Diaspora Development Platform. It also set out practical action points to be undertaken to make the proposal a reality. By means of a vote, the diaspora organisations accepted and adopted the proposal. As set out in the Action Points of the AFFORD proposal, a consortium was created and funding was provided for what became the 2011-2013 Africa-Europe Platform pilot project (The formal name was ‘Europe-wide African Diaspora Platform for Development [EADPD]). The five consortium partners of the pilot project were: the African Diaspora Policy Centre (ADPC), the African Foundation for Development (AFFORD), the Coordination Générale des Migrants pour le Développement (CGMD), the Forum des Organisations de Solidarité Internationale issues des Migrations (FORIM), and the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD). Funding was provided by the European Union with additional support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Germany’s Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).