Involving the Diaspora through Co-participative Programs. The case of Fondazioni4Africa-Senegal

The paper presents the results of a three year project (Fondazioni4Africa-Senegal), a unique experience in Italy where 4 Italian NGOs, 4 Senegalese associations and the research institute CeSPI participated in defining, projecting and putting in place development and co-development activities in Italy and in Senegal. The research activities highlighted a wide range of results and outcomes, among all the importance (as a precondition) of gaining the public recognition of the diaspora as actor of development (in both countries); the necessity to build and reinforce migrant capacities as actors of development to better evaluate their interventions in the homeland; the difficulty to channel remittances into job generating activities (to break dependency paths) and the necessity to build up institutional and economic corridors and conditions between in the two countries