Shima Foundation |

2023 African Diaspora
Year of Return & Connections

Our key Events

Launch of 2023 Year of Return

The 2023 Year of Return and Connections (YORC) is an initiative that offers an opportunity to not only celebrate the AU’s decision

Global African Diaspora Summit

The Global Africa Diaspora Forum will be held between 5th and 7th July 2023 in Nairobi Kenya. Our aim is to ensure

The Year of Return is a 12-month celebration of the 20th Anniversary since the African Union Declared the African Diaspora the 6th region of Africa.

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In Africa, The African Union recognizes the role played by the Diaspora in the development of the continent. The Extra –Ordinary Summit of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union in its meeting held in February, 2003, declared the African Diaspora as the sixth development region of the continent. That declaration has yet to be fully realized as most in the Diaspora have no knowledge of it. The year 2023 will represent 20 years since this AU statement, and it represents an opportunity to be intentional about the continental and the African Diaspora relationship.

The sincerest way to show someone they are family, welcome or a part of you is to welcome them in to your home. 2023 should be a year of return and Connections for the Diaspora. The gift of the connection between continental Africans and the Diaspora, will manifest itself culturally, economically and socially. But intentional connections leading up to the year of return will move this interaction from being merely transactional to being transformative whereby:

We shift from Traditional Investments to Transformational Investments

We start shifting from Traditional investments from foreign sources into Africa have been extractive, with investors seeking to maximize profits often at the expense of the local population to Transformational investments from the Diaspora that will be based on relationships and a desire for development in the best interest of the local population.
We shift from only Traditional Tourists to having Transformative Visitors

Whereas Traditional tourists see themselves as separate from the local population and therefore engage in practices that are exploitive and without regard to the welfare of the indigenous population, Transformative visitors are based on authentic relationships with the people and the land they are visiting. It is a return home, so interactions are respectful, and visitors come with a desire to learn and share.

The Steering Committee

Our 2023 Year of Return and Connections is managed by a steering Committee consisting of representatives from the following agencies:

- East Africa Philanthropy Network
- National Museums of Kenya
- The Imperative Fund
- The Shima Foundation
- Uthabiti Africa Advisory Services
- University of Nairobi Kiswahili Department
- Future First

Would you like to participate?

During the Year of Return, we will encourage organizations in Africa and across the African Diaspora to organize activities that celebrate 20 years, as well as those that,
begin to imagine a better future of strengthened relations between the African Diaspora and the Continent. If you want to develop activities in this regard, and for more information, please contact: info@theshimafoundation.org.

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