Diaspora for Development: Leveraging Africa’s Sixth Region to Realize the Continent’s Promise

2022 UNGA Side Event

Theme:
Diaspora for Development: Leveraging Africa’s Sixth Region to Realize the Continent’s Promise

Date: 26 September and 27 September 2022

Hosting institutions: African Union, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Regional Bureau for Africa, Office of Historically Black Colleges and Universities Development

Participants: Senior African leaders, prominent scholars, development practitioners,
development partners and civil society representatives will be invited to participate inperson and virtually. Consistent with previous iterations a virtual audience of 1500 is anticipated.

Background and context:
Africa is a development paradox. A continent rich in minerals, natural resources and
enormous human potential, but also home to 33 of the world’s 46 Least Developed
Countries and two-thirds of its extremely poor population.

One way to bridge this gap between potential and needs is to leverage Africa’s sixth
region – its diaspora – to help realize the continent’s promise. While people of African descent live in many countries, the African-American diaspora is uniquely positioned to unlock the continent’s financial, educational and economic potential.

A 2021 McKinsey study showed that African-American graduates of Historically
Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and those attending Predominantly Black
Institutions (PBIs) of higher education in the US, have higher socio-economic mobility than their those who attend other institutions. And these schools also include centers of excellence in business, agricultural development, political science, law, medicine and many other fields relevant for Africa’s progress towards Agenda 2030 and Agenda 2063.

HBCUs are thus strategically positioned to work with UNDP, the African Union and
African countries to unlock the continent’s intelligence development code, facilitate
regional integration, improve agricultural productivity and food sovereignty, and make the most out of education in African institutions.

Information for Participants:
This logistics note will help you plan your participation at the high-level event coorganized by UNDP Africa, the African Union and the Office of Historically Black
Colleges and Universities Development & International Cooperation. The theme of
this two-day event is “Diaspora for Development: Leveraging Africa’s Sixth Region to
Realize the Continent’s Promise”, and it will be held on Monday, 26 September and
Tuesday, 27 September 2022 in New York. This is a hybrid event.

For In-person participation:

Venue:
The high-level side event will take place in The Permanent Observer
Mission of the African Union to the United Nations at 2nd Avenue,
305 East 47 street, 3 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, 5th floor, New York, NY, 10017.

Nearby Subway:
53rd St-Lexington Avenue 42nd St-Grand Central Station

For Online participation:

To connect to the event virtually as a speaker or panelist, a personalized link has been sent directly to each speaker by UNDP IT Technical Support. The personalized link will be your access to the event. Please look out for an email from Leyla N’Doman: Leyla. ndoman@undp.org.

We will conduct a 15-minute sound and video test check 30 mins before the event on Monday, 26 September and Tuesday, 27 September (9:30 EST). We would appreciate if you could connect or assign someone from your organization to join on your behalf.

Registration:

In-person registration for the event will be available at the venue in the morning for both days of 26 and 27 September beginning at 9:30 am EST. Please show valid photo ID card.
Tea/Coffee will be available.

Agenda:

Day 1, Monday, 26 September 2022

Day 2, Tuesday, 27 September 2022