Global Jamaica Diaspora Council eyes fundraising bid

Some leaders of the Global Jamaica Diaspora Council (GLJDC) are looking into launching a global assistance fund to help Jamaicans in the diaspora who may be impacted by crises.

To be known as the Diaspora Global Resource Fund, the concept is born out of the impact on Jamaicans by the COVID-19 virus, which resulted in Jamaican seasonal workers, students and Jamaican visitors to the United States of America being stranded when Jamaica and the US closed their borders to travel.

The need has also been brought into sharp focus by the current situation with the Jamaican students in Ukraine.

Dr Karren Dunkley, GLJDC member for the US Northeast region, said the fund would support Jamaicans during times of extreme global distress.

In a release, Dr Dunkley said of the need for such a fund: “The Ukrainian crisis, coupled with the lessons learned from the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, has amplified the need for a more long-term, coordinated response from the Jamaican citizenry in the diaspora during times of distress.”

She said the Jamaica Diaspora Northeast USA Think Tank remains committed to providing vital financial and humanitarian assistance to the Jamaican students displaced by the Ukrainian crisis, and will continue to collaborate with the Government of Jamaica and our counterparts in the United Kingdom to ensure sustained support.

JAMAICA DIASPORA RAPID RESPONSE FUND

“As a result, the Jamaica Diaspora Northeast USA Think Tank, in collaboration with School News Nationwide, as the major fiscal partner, launched the Jamaica Diaspora Rapid Response Fund,” she said

The Jamaica Diaspora Rapid Response Fund will support Jamaicans during times of extreme global distress, including:

1.Helping Jamaicans access safe passages that lead to reunification with fellow citizens, family, and friends;

2.Maintaining contact with governmental agencies, personnel, and family members;

3.Providing food, safe drinking water, shelter, emergency healthcare, and social-emotional services.

The Jamaica Diaspora Northeast USA Think Tank commends the efforts of the many donors who have contributed towards this crisis. Further, they are calling on everyone to generously support the immediate humanitarian needs of Jamaicans impacted by the situation in Ukraine and surrounding regions.

Dr Kevin Brown, a member of the GJDC in London, said the situation in Ukraine with the Jamaican students highlights the need for such a fund.

“The situation in the Ukraine is a timely reminder that there is a need to have a more long-term, institutional approach to helping Jamaicans overseas who fall on hard times or find themselves in exceptional circumstances, such as war. A solution to better support Jamaicans who need help in foreign countries is for diaspora associations to establish a welfare fund. The establishment of such a fund would avoid the current reactive and somewhat chaotic scramble to seek donations for the students in the Ukraine,” he said.

Brown said he is encouraging all Jamaican diaspora associations across the world to establish a diaspora welfare fund immediately to help Jamaicans in the coming years who don’t always find foreign lands a bed of roses. The financial contributions for welfare funds would be solicited from individuals and businesses in each diaspora region.

Dr Allan Cunningham, the GJDC member for the Southern US region, has also said there is a need to established such a fund to assist Jamaicans in times of crisis.

“It is the right time for the diaspora to move in this direction. The mission of the Global Diaspora Fund should be to mobilise diaspora funds for structured, profitable investments to assist Jamaicans who are impacted by crises such as COVID-19 and the situation in Ukraine,” he said.

Cunningham said the fund should mobilise diaspora resources to assist Jamaicans in the diaspora as well as those on the island.