Guatemala Diaspora Development Efforts and Lessons From the Israel-Jewish Diaspora Rebecca Bardach JDC’s Center for International Migration and Integration at the International Conference on Diaspora for Development The World Bank Washington,

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Guatemala Diaspora Development Efforts and
Lessons From the Israel-Jewish Diaspora
Rebecca Bardach JDCs Center for
International Migration and Integration at
the International Conference on Diaspora for
DevelopmentThe World Bank Washington, D.C.
13-14 July 2009
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Overview

• Part I The Guatemala-Diaspora Initiative
• Need
• Program
• Outcomes
• How it works
• Vulnerabilities and safeguards
• Cost effectiveness
• Part II The Israel-Jewish Diaspora experience

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The need

• Underdevelopment in Guatemala
• Guatemala has one of the highest poverty rates
  and income distribution inequality in Latin
  America poverty primarily affects rural and
  indigenous populations
• Migration
• 1.3 million emigrants, mostly in US
• Most are young males, unskilled laborers with
  limited education gt70 lack legal status

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Remittances to Guatemala

• USD 4.3 billion sent in remittances (2008) from
  81 of migrants.
• Average transaction size 280 USD.
• Remittances equivalent of 80 of exports 21xgt
  FDI 30xgt ODA
• gt 50 go to highly impoverished rural areas most
  recipients young rural females approx. 3.7
  million of pop of 12.6 million
• Purpose go towards personal use by migrants
  family members consumption, education and home
  improvement
• Serve to smooth consumption, ease severity of
  poverty (reduces extreme poverty by 22), promote
  human development
• Concerns around dependency and limited impact,
  but impact is also conditional upon broader
  structural factors

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Collective remittances

• Some migrants send collective remittances,
  pooling their resources to address broader social
  or economic needs in country of origin, often
  through migrant or hometown associations (HTAs)
  focusing on communities of origin
• Approx. three percent of Guatemalan remittance
  senders belong to an HTA, and groups generally
  raise between US2,000 and US8,000 a year
• Collective remittances fraction of overall flows
  HTA flows account for approx. 1 of all
  transfers to Central America, however

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The potential of collective remittances

• according to the International Fund for
  Agricultural Development these funds could rise
  between three and five percent in ten years if
  their management and institutional capacity
  improves
• Consider individual remittances for school fees ?
  collective remittances for school materials,
  computers, teacher training ? system-wide impact
  

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Strengths and challenges

• Motivation high personal basis
• Knowledge Often high on local conditions often
  low in project development, organizational
  conditions
• Organizational Informal, grassroots, limited
  capacity
• Financial base community members, sometimes
  leveraging larger sources (Mexican 3x1)
• Migrant associations often informal, small,
  voluntary, grassroots, weak institutions
• The issue of weak institutional and
  implementation capacity is common to many migrant
  associations in the US, UK and other European
  countries
• Broad need for capacity-building efforts
  targeting diaspora-led development initiatives

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Analysis of a capacity-building practice The
Guatemala-Diaspora Initiative

• Govt of Guatemala MFA request to CIMI in 2005
  led to
• A capacity building process consisting of
• A series of capacity building workshops (over two
  years time in US and in Guatemala)
• And project support (technical advice, challenge
  grants, funding possibilities)
• Targeting both Guatemalan immigrant groups in the
  US (FL) and their partners in Guatemala

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Methodology Reflective action

• I. Workshop series
• Skill building (organizational, project)
• Community building and identity development
• Vision and inspiration around idea of diaspora
• II. Project focus
• Technical and financial support
• III. Participants
• Involve both diaspora and COO partners
• Repeat participants encouraged to allow community
  building process, additional participants
  encouraged to expand network, tap into new
  energies, ideas
• Finding common ground across diverse groups,
  stakeholders

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Examples of projects

• Develop sugar, citrus and poultry cooperatives in
  rural Guatemala through leadership development
  and loan support for materials.
• Facilitate export possibilities for a coffee
  cooperative in rural Guatemala, while also
  developing a family literacy program for the
  workers at the cooperative.
• Support socio-economic development of women
  through selling and exporting womens textiles.
• Develop an eco-tourism project in cooperation
  with a Guatemalan returnee.
• Develop potable water projects in rural
  Guatemala.
• Supporting high school students with scholarship
  opportunities, and obligating recipients to be
  involved in community development projects.
• Assisting the elderly, especially those who are
  alone and without family support.
• Support the return and socio-economic
  reintegration of Guatemalan deportees through
  financial education, small businesses and
  employment, and assistance upon arrival.

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Partners

• Guatemalan diaspora groups
• US non-profit organizations and academic
  institutions
• Governmental, NGO and businesses in Guatemala
• American Jewish and Israeli partners
• Donor agencies and development oriented
  institutions

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Outcomes

• Organizational development
• Projects
• Identifying commonalities across heterogeneous
  groups
• Empowerment, self-efficacy
• Vision inspiration
• Leadership development
• Networking and cooperation

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Other features of implementation design

• Practical project focus, results-orientation
• Responsive
• Non-formulaic
• Partnership
• Multiple intervention points
• Layering, sustainability

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Vulnerabilities and safeguards

• Capacity
• Education
• Government
• Language

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Cost effectiveness

• Financial resources low
• Human resources high

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Guatemalan Diaspora community projects

• Individual ? Family
• Diaspora community ? Hometown community
• Philanthropy ? Development

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Part II

• Learning from the Israel-Jewish Diaspora
  Experience of Partnership for Development

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Jewish Diaspora support for Israels development

• More than six decades of Diaspora support towards
  Israels social and economic development
• Jewish Diaspora raises USD 1.2 billion annually
  for Israel
• Some 500,000 Diaspora households, of all income
  levels, contribute annually to diverse Israeli
  needs
• Philanthropic funds directed to institutions and
  projects public institutions such as Parliament,
  Supreme Court universities scientific and
  research institutes community centers public
  parks, forests hospitals vocational schools
  education and vulnerable populations
• Israel bonds Currently USD 1 billion per year,
  totals since inception in 1951 more than USD 26
  billion, benefiting major infrastructure projects

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How it works Analysis of the Israel-Jewish
Diaspora model

• Communal identification
• Connection religious, historical, cultural,
  linguistic
• Values tsedakah-charity, kol yisrael aravim zeh
  lezeh-all Jews are responsible for one another,
  tikkun olam-fixing the world
• (Israelis v. Jews)
• Institutions umbrella (national and local)
  sectoral, etc.
• Action various forms of socio-economic support
  for Israel (philanthropic, business, tourism,
  etc.)

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Application / adaptation

• Communal identification
• Basis for connection what does it mean to be
  Guatemalan?
• Values personal altruism, community traditions
  of self-help, philanthropy
• Institutions strengthening existing
  institutions, networking, partnership
• Action remittances collective remittances
  projects investment

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• For further information contact
• Rebecca Bardach
• US Representative, CIMI
• rebeccab_at_jdc.org.il
• www.cimi.org.il